Were you in the Napa Valley this past weekend? If not, why not? Everyone else was! I have not seen the valley so packed since … I don’t know when. It was a perfect storm of spectacular weather, eye-popping mustard blooms, Valentine’s Day and President’s Day.
As promised in the previous post, Joel and I got in on the wine and cheese pairing at Darioush on Saturday. We had a lovely time. Our hosts, Rick and Paul, were knowledgeable and gracious and we enjoyed the pairings very much. Who doesn’t like cheese? Who doesn’t like wine? Who doesn’t like discovering how tastes of each enhance and alter flavors? Another couple on the tour raved about Duel, saying it is their house wine. Wineries take heart: there are people out there, even in this economy, that have $45 bottles of wine stashed away for everyday drinking. We bought a couple of bottles–for a special occasion. (Such are our resources.)
Sunday we took full advantage of the great weather. One of the county’s best kept secrets is Las Posadas State Forest located behind Pacific Union College in Angwin–you know that wee town atop Howell Mountain. We’d just started our hike when we came upon four Irish Wolfhounds! Let me tell you, it’s startling to encounter four dogs the size of small ponies!
The forest is lovely there and has everything a forest could want: oaks, redwoods, madrone, mossy rocks, and lots and lots of poison oak. There’s a spot that looks out over Pope Valley. In the darkest parts of the forest you can almost imagine trolls or elves or some such craziness trotting out onto the path. (There! I have an imagination!)
Sunday night we joined friends at the Lincoln Theater for a Sinatra tribute concert, performed by Steve Lippia and the Napa Valley Symphony. It’s true that we were among the youngest there, but I didn’t care. There’s nothing like a few Sinatra tunes to get you through Valentine’s Day.
(Photos courtesy my iPhone)
0 Responses
Stay in touch with the conversation, subscribe to the RSS feed for comments on this post.