i had SO MUCH FUN this last weekend!!
i had decided awhile ago that i wanted to do this when the idea came up, and i have to say that when we first talked about it, i was trepidatious. a friend of mine was mentioning how much fun it is to go up to apple hill during the fall for all the apple and other neat sort of activities going on. i was skeptical. i was sort of wondering what there could possibly be to do and whether or not this would ACTUALLY be fun for me.
i needn’t have worried.
it was a fucking blast! i am ashamed to say that my entire life i have lived so close to this stuff, and have never gone and seen it. i drove past the spot where gold was discovered in california at sutter’s mill or sutter creek or something like that. it was interesting…the mill is still there. it’s all historical and stuff now. the drive was beautiful. the tail end of the fall colors were glorious. the roads were windy and i am not sure if i would drive them alone, a lot of the trip was cuvy and doing about 35 around very hard corners. but once we got in the area, it was just glorious. we bough asian pears and fresh preserves and YUM!!
oh, yeah, and did i mention the about million and a half wineries there are in this country? we found about half a dozen of them and tried probably three times that many wines. i am not a big wine drinker normally, but this was fun, fun, fun, and it’s all free. of course, you usually end up buying something just because the stuff is really good, or you can always find some trinket or something that’s useful. or FOOD. we even went tasting different olive oils and such. that was fun. i ended up with some jalapeno flavored olive oil that’s just to die for…it’s so good, and it’s HOT!
my favorite winery was called stone’s throw winery and it was just very festive. they had a very yummy champagne that i had to have, they also had a good chardonnay. we even managed a couple of places that also brewed beer. i was just a week or so ago watching a show on cable about how the personality of the wine maker is somehow imparted to the wine. from the experiences i had, this was definately true. we got to meet some of the folks who actually make the stuff and it was very interesting. seeing aged french oak or new oak casks and then getting to taste the differences this makes in the wines is pretty cool. seeing just acres and acres and acres of vines with grapes on them, also full of fall colors and such. rolling hills. just, gorgeous. made me wonder what the south of france or areas of italy look like. i do know that the views were glorious and awe-inspiring.
we ended up getting a really good room rate, just over $60 for a quaint little room. we all tried the wines and the beers and we all giggled uproariously and had good conversation and fun times with friends. after this weekend, i feel like one of the luckiest people ever. i feel this way because i have good, caring people in my life, and i know they love and care about me. i felt nurtured and i FELT laughter this weekend. it was needed. the heaviness and worry were still there, but they were at least at the back of my mind rather than the front. believe it or not, that makes a huge difference. huge, i say.
life is good, because i am privileged enough to be able to experience things such as this.
peace.
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