Happy Cows Really DO Live in California

We took a road trip today starting out from Calistoga through the mountains to Occidental, making a large loop stopping at Bodega Bay, Dillon Beach and Petaluma before heading back to Calistoga. The drive is very scenic through rolling hills dotted with cattle (lucky cows) and sheep, and even a llama or two. There wasn’t much happening in Occidential, so after a short walk around we headed on to Bodega Bay.
We made a brief stop in Bodega, which is very bohemian with a good size artist community. We happened into an Artist Co-Op where the “artist of the day” was Annie, a 60ish, white-haired woman with braids who shared with us that the old school building across the street was used in Hitchcock’s The Birds.

Bodega Bay is incredibly beautiful. We parked at N. Harbor and followed a path to the bay through a bird habitat and marsh restoration project. Crossing over a bridge, we could hear sea lions even though we couldn’t yet see the ocean. Once we made it through the marsh to the beach we could no longer hear them and realized they were on a small rocky island off-shore. The beach has gray sand and even though is was fairly cold there were a few people in sweatshirts sitting in beach chairs with blankets over their legs and a cooler by their sides. There was even a family with two small children in swimsuits playing at the water’s edge. And a couple with their horses.

From here we headed south to Dillon Beach where the houses are not a grand as those in Bodega Bay, but the view is just as beautiful. We eat a late lunch at what seemed to be the only cafe at the beach and soaked in the view.

Petaluma is one of California’s oldest cities with a large downtown with beautiful old buildings. The egg industry started here due to high demand as a result of the gold rush, and Petaluma became known as “the world’s egg basket.” When we stopped in a garden shop Mr. Man asked if the chicken is the official bird of Petaluma. The woman running the shop informed us that they are trying to preserve this but with the passing of Proposition 2 it is hard. We must have had questioning looks on our faces because she proceeded to explain that chickens now have to be “free range,” and that her uncle has an egg business where the hens are in cages where the eggs drop onto a conveyor belt, but that people “want them to be able to spread their wings,” here she spread her arms out and rolled her eyes—at this point that Mr. Man very discretely (and gently) stepped on my foot— “and they only live... they only lay eggs for a few years,” as if the length of a chicken’s productive life is a measurement of the quality of life they should have—increased pressure from Mr. Man. She told us her uncle is loosing his business, and while I sympathize (okay, not really), I’ll be happy when all industries that profit from cruelty become extinct.

Calistoga

Calistoga is a quaint, charming little town within easy driving distance of all the Napa Wineries. We are staying at the Cottage Grove Inn which consists of 17 separate cottages, each beautifully appointed with everything you ask for. They serve breakfast each morning—wonderful made to order waffles, quiche, scones, fruit, cereal, yogurt—and regional wine and cheese each evening. If you are thinking about taking a vacation in the Napa area, I highly recommend this place.






























Today we drove into St. Helena—another charming town, but a little more upscale than Calistoga, stopping to see the Geyser on the way. What a disappointment. While this is one of only three “old faithfuls” in the world (the others being in Yellowstone State Park and New Zealand), it certainly isn’t worth $8, for once you’ve seen it erupt, that’s pretty much it. There are some terribly smelly goats, sheep and llamas for those of you with children looking for something to do in Napa other than drink wine, otherwise I’d suggest passing this up.

















We did a bit of gallery hopping in St. Helena and then headed back to Calistoga for our mud masques and massages at Lincoln Avenue Spa. This is what a vacation should be... great wine, good food, and lots of relaxation. The mud masques are prepared with different blends of herbs depending on what you want from your experience. We were escorted into the “mud room” were we slathered ourselves with mud and then laid down in our steam beds wrapped in a sheet. Our attentant then closed us in with only our head sticking out, added eucalyptus and rose oils (again our choice) to the water and then tented a towel over our heads so that we were totally engulfed in the steam. We steamed for about ten minutes when she came back in, added more oil to the beds, and put a masque on our faces, leaving us to steam for another tens mintues or so before showering and heading off to our separate massages. Heaven!

Since we’ve been in Calfornia, we’ve noticed that people don’t really acknowledge each other the way wedo in the South. You know, like when you’re walking down the street and you pass someone? In the South you smile and say “good morning” or “how ya doing?” or something. Our experience so far has been that we rarely get a response. Even in some of the stores the salesperson doesn’t acknowledge you until after you’ve made an effort to engage them, and sometimes even that fails. Tonight while we were having wine on the patio there was a couple checking in, when I went in to refill my wine glass the gentleman and I met eyes he gave me a hearty “How are you?” I went back outside and said, “I think they’re Southern” to which Mr. Man laughingly replied that this was also his first thought as he could hear us from outside. Sure enough, once they joined us on the patio we discovered they are from North Carolina.

Frog's Leap Winery

We spent the morning walking around downtown Calistoga and then went on a tour and wine tasting at Frog’s Leap Winery. They practice dry farming—growing their grapes without irragation. They don’t get any rain between May and October, and planting without irrigation forces the grapes to push deeper into the soil providing a strong foundation. For this reason the vines produce for 60-80 whereas other vineyards replace their vines every 13-16 years. Frog’s Leap is also totally organic, and have been since the 80’s (man, the Southeast has to catch up!), growing without pesticides or fertilizers other than compost and cover corps to build the soil. They grow herbs on the borders of the vineyards to encourage “good” pests, to kill the “bad” pests. Interestingly, they are the only fully organic, dry farmer in the region. They employ 45 full time staff, using no seasonal pickers. And the farm is operated by 90% solar power. The vineyard is absolutely beautiful, and the wine is exceptual... come by the house and enjoy a glass with us when we return.

Leaving San Francisco

When we left San Francisco early this afternoon the sun was shining for the first time since our arrival. Even so we were ready to be on our way to Calistoga. We stopped in Port Costa for a late lunch; Port Costa consists of about a dozen small shops/bars, all of which were closed today except for the Warehouse Cafe; although the restaurant wasn’t serving food, someone had set up an outdoor kitchen under a tent and were selling sauage, chicken wraps, and pulled pork, along with potato salad and sauerkraut. It wasn’t good, but the beer was cold and we were starving.

The place looks like something out of a sixties “Hell’s Angels” movie. Gray haired guys with long beards riding motorcycles along side tourists looking for a quick bite to eat on their way somewhere else. The best thing about this town is the drive in along a winding road overlooking the water and the house-lined mountainside opposite.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t give a shout out to Orange Dog Manor, our excellent accommodations while in San Francisco. If you are headed to the City by the Bay and looking for a place to stay that is convenient to everything, this is the place. Check it out, you won’t be disappointed.

Chinatown

Today we explored Chinatown starting with an incredible lunch at House of Nanking. We had to wait outside in the cold for an open table, but it wasn’t long and was well worth it. We started with hot and sour soup with tofu, followed by fried eggplant with black bean sauce, Nanking fried shrimp, chicken in lettuce wraps, and the most delicious fried fish in garlic sauce; all served by a brusque Chinese woman who abruptly moved on to the next table when we answered “we have a couple questions” to her inquiry of “are you ready to order?”.

We spent the next hour or so walking through the maze of streets, hoping to get off the tourist path and discover the real Chinatown where we might find something of value, but like most tourists wound up moving from one shop to another, all of which seemed to be selling very similar merchandise. We happened upon a funeral procession for which they blocked off side streets, seemingly very last minute, catching some motorist in a backup on oneway streets—many of whom were getting out of their cars to walk to the corner to see what the hold-up was. There was a lead car with a picture of the deceased, followed by a small marching band, followed by a long procession of cars.
The sidewalks were crowded with tourists and Chinese locals doing their Sunday shopping for exotic looking vegetables and dried seafood, all of which were on display outside the stores in boxes.
Afterwards we went to Crissy Field to view the Golden Gate Bridge and walk along the shore. There are beautiful views of the city as well, but today the fog made for poor photo opportunities.

San Francisco

I love almost everything about San Francisco; the great transportation system, the abundance and variety of restaurants, a corner market within a couple of blocks from just about anywhere you are, and it’s also very walkable. But, it’s chilly, especially when the fog rolls in. We came prepared with sweaters and lightweight jackets, but, at times yesterday as we walked to Golden Gate Park, we could have used something a little warmer.

We visited the Botantical Gardens which is beautiful and free to the public. You could spend days here wandering the paths and trails admiring the landscape. They have a tranquil Japanese Tea Garden (admission is $5) were you can visit the tea house for a cup of hot tea, which was a welcome respite for us and an opportunity to warm our hands around the hot cups of tea.

There is also an amazing Conservatory of Flowers full of tropical plants, ferns, and orchids. We quickly passed a few hours exploring the park.

Last night we went to Yoshi’s Jazz Club to hear Roy Rogers & The Delta Rhythm Kings. At great blues trio with a guest saxaphone player last night. Roy was born in Northern California but can play a slide guitar equal to any southern-born blues musician. San Franciscans are more reserved while listening to good blues than our table of southerners, not a lot of head bopping or dancing in their seats, but we had a great time and headed to North Beach afterwards to have drinks in a small bar in Little Italy (I’m not sure if that’s how it is officially referred to, but it certainly fits).

All in all a great first day of our vacation.

Our 15 Minutes of Fame

You may remember that we took a “crash course” on raising chickens back in March. While there we were briefly interviewed by local NPR writer/reporter, Kathy Lohr . We didn’t seriously think we’d get any airtime, or if we did, thought it would be on the local level.

On Thursday afternoon several colleagues stopped by Mr. Man’s office to tell him they’d heard him on NPR talking about chickens; since then the calls have been coming in… from a colleague’s daughter in D.C., my sister-in-law’s mother-in-law in Montgomery, our niece’s brother-in-law, and friends, all who had heard us on “All Things Considered.”

Here’s the link if you’d like to listen.

High School Reunions

Okay, it has been a few weeks since I last posted. My intention is to post at least once a week, but I have two hellacious projects at work that are converging on each other and I’ve been working what feels like non-stop hours. We caught a break today when one client decided that they may need to push things back a bit... which will give me some breathing room.

So, what’s been happening? We’ve continued to work on the backyard and finally got the frontyard fountain up and running for the season. We got up early (for me, anyway) Saturday two weeks ago to go to the Atlanta Zoo’s annual plant sale. They opened at 8:00am and we were there at 8:05; there must have been 30 people there already. We bought 27 plants: hostas, cora bells, African “love grass,” and some great ferns. We then spent the afternoon planting everything; working hard to beat the rain.

Last weekend was pretty full—on Friday our friends, Donna and Mary, came in to join in celebrating our mutual friend Amy’s successful defense of her dissertation!!! We joined her, her partner, and 13 of their closest friends at Watershed for celebratory drinks and dinner, after which all joined us at the house. It was a great impromptu party. Mr. Man and 15 women (13 of whom are lesbians). It was fabulous!

On Saturday, Donna and Mary, and Mr. Man and I, along with another high school friend, Janine, drove down to Macon for their 30th High School Reunion. I’m not sure why people attend these events... curiousity maybe? Donna and Janine were very nervous. Donna because she was bringing her life partner and publicly stating to her classmates that she is a lesbian, and Janine, well, I’m not sure why she was so nervous; she is thin (skinny even), beautiful and successful. They graduated from a relatively small class of approximately 75 people (compared to my graduating class of a few hundred). There was lots of hugging and “it’s so great to see you’s” from people who wouldn’t give David the time of day in high school, a slide presentation of senior year photos, a hor d’voures buffet, and an open bar. The three most asked questions were “Where do you live?,” “What do you do?,” and “Do you have any children?”

I’m cynical, I know, probably because you couldn’t pay me to go to my high school reunion. I went to my five year, which only served to reinforce that moving away from Plant City, Florida was the best decision I ever made (well, second best, after the decision to marry Mr. Man). The only thing I have in common with anyone I went to high school with is that we went to the same high school. Luckily for Mr. Man, Donna and Janine they made a lasting connection that few of us make in childhood... I envy them.