Red or White

To research this question, we headed out with friends Mark and Ellen to the Paso Robles Wine Country Harvest Wine Weekend.  You may remember this town from the movie Sideways that was filmed in the area.  We learned of the festival from Harvest Hosts, our farm stay provider.  We selected Rio Seco Vineyard and Winery as our base.

They have graciously allowed us to spend the weekend here while we explore the temptations of the area.

Rio Seco, was founded by Tom Hinkle, a retired baseball scout for several major league teams  and his wife.  The tasting room, previously an abandoned pot (yes, pot) barn with bullet holes as “decoration”, displays memorabilia from his career. 

 Tom passed away last year but his wife and daughters now run the winery.  They pour a very nice selection of wine, some of which will find its way to our home.  All of their wines reflect a baseball theme, eg Grand Slam, Clubhouse white, etc.  We selected MVP for our collection.

 We spent the rest of our day sampling the delightful culinary treats of Paso Robles.  Spice of Life has a luscious selection of olive oils, vinegars and teas.  DiRaimondo’s cheeses and breads will be part of our dinner.  Brown Butter Sea Salt Cookies is generous with its samples, but our assorted selection will be dessert later. 

At Falcon Nest we picked up a bottle of wine for dinner.  This guy guarded the gate as we left.

All this sampling whet our appetite so we enjoyed potato soup, salad and lox pizza for our late lunch at Artisan.

Tasting is so tiring.  We returned to the motor coaches for rest and recuperation before assembling our purchases into a delicious dinner.  

On Saturday we visited the Farmers Market to get some local produce.  Then we spent the day concentrating on wine (that concentration weakened as the sips increased).  We started at Justin, a winery we had visited in our first motor home.  The winery has grown in ambiance and the wine has gotten even better as the case in the trunk proves. 

Next was Tablas Creek for more tasting and purchasing.  Hunger pangs led us to stop at Alta Colina for some tacos.  Then we returned to Rio Seca to put our purchases away.  They were serving sloppy joe’s which we had to sample.

In the afternoon we did an art tour (okay and a bit of wine tasting, too).  The grounds at Sculpterra are filled with outstanding sculptures.  The wine inside is also good.  Visitors enter the grounds through master blacksmith/iron worker Robert Bentley’s gates.

 Inside his ornate chandeliers hang above the tasters. 

This 20,000 pound granite “Puma” by the late John Jagger greets visitors to the grounds.

The windchime was quiet on this very pleasant day.

Miniatures of his work are available in the tasting room.  The prices run in the four and five figures.

This spring artist Dave Evers added his work to the collection including the 24-foot tall FOCUS.

We stopped at Clautiere to check out the tree.  Glass spheres hang like fruit from the limbs of the oak tree.

Our dinner at Berry Hill Bistro was delicious.

In this land where there is so much to see and do, we enjoyed a sampling of the sights and tastes while pleasantly ensconced at Rio Seco.  We hope to add to this experience on future weekends

Salt Lake City

This city is where we turn toward home but first we have a few things we want do here.  The LDS Family History Center houses the immigration records and census reports for the past two hundred years.  We returned to the Center to explore more information on our families.  It is easy to spend hours searching their computers.  The volunteers are very helpful.  We each found some new facts about our parents and Jerry’s grandparents.

AAA magazine had an article on Jewish delicatessens, one of which is in SLC.  We had a good lunch at Feldman’s and learned the owner’s story of coming from New Jersey to SLC as a drug tester for the Olympics.  His job changed and he and his wife decided to stay and follow her dream of opening a restaurant. 

The Utah State Fairgrounds are just down the street from the campground.  We spent a nice evening browsing the exhibits.  This wood carving was excellent.

This young boy gives his sheep a hug during competition.

 and the flower arrangement was whimsical.

Anna Lee fulfilled a lifelong ambition and saw a butter sculpture.

 In the morning we took another 10 walk, this one with a bit of modification.  It was the same walk we did last November.  Volkswalks have directions but no one forces you to do as written, so we went a bit off path to see sites beyond the Temple Square.  The Court House is a beautiful structure built in 1894 with Columbia holding her torch above the clock tower. 

In contrast to the classic look of the Court House is the new library.  Standing in a park, the  multi-level structure with its massive glass wall seems to open its “arms” in welcome.  We found more whimsy in this bike rack near the library.

Though the LDS Temple dominates the city,

 there are other houses of worship worth visiting.
The Cathedral Church of St. Mark, Episcopalian, was built in 1870 and has four Tiffany-design windows. 

The needlepoint kneelers and cushions were created in honor of the new millennium.

Cathedral of the Madeleine, Catholic, was built in 1909.

We passed a Greek Orthodox Church and a Lutheran Church.  We assume the synagogues are in the suburbs.  Each of these denominations have only several hundred members.

After resting from the walk, we did what we came for, had dinner at the Red Iguana, a tradition when we stay here.  The planned leftovers tasted even better as the sauces and spices had more time to blend.  This picture is the early crowd.  It gets larger as the evening goes on.

Jerry had heard the Morman Tabernacle Choir on his road trip with Harold in the early 60s.  He has always wanted Anna Lee to have the same pleasure.  We attended a rehearsal in the Tabernacle.  They began with Handel Hallelujah Chorus.

It was interesting to watch and listen to the interchange between the choir master and the choir.  He is charming but what he says is law, including blunt information on presentations they will be doing next year.

We are now leaving Walmart in Winnemucca and heading to our brick and mortar home in Rocklin.  The trip has been wonderful but as Dorothy says, “ .....

Fort Collins, Colorado

This is our neighbor at Sunbonnet Farms near Fort Collins, CO.

And this is the traffic jam.

We did our second Harvest Host stay.   Pam and her poodle Magan greeted as we drove in.

After we were settled, Pam took us to meet the other residents, the chickens who supplied our breakfast

 and the rescue donkeys for whom she provides a safe and welcoming home.  Longhopes Donkey Shelter knows her weakness for the most needy of their donkeys.  She first agreed to provide a place for one donkey but her heart led her to take four.

 She is a good storyteller and shared the history and background of her animals, such as the dying donkey who fell in love with another donkey.  Both now thrive under her care.

In addition, she is a born travel agent.  She gave directions to Cache de la Poudre River.  The river cuts a spectacular canyon in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.

Mishawaka, her dinner recommendation, was a lovely spot overlooking the river and with good menu choices.

In the morning, wr picked tomatoes, peppers and squash in Pam’s garden,  

We then went into Fort Collins for a 12K volkswalk along the creek and through Old Town and the University.   This was one of several pianos around Old Town that anyone could sit down and play.

Fort Collins suffered four severe floods in the past decades and signs along our walk told of the high water and how to be safe in case of flood.  There were several statues and plaques honoring the rescue personnel and those who died in the flood..

Pam had given us suggestions for specialty shops to visit in Fort Collins.  Her ideas were excellent and we were proud to resist the temptation they offered.

Sunbonnet’s location at the foot of the Rockies is perfect for relaxing and enjoying the ever-changing sky over the towering mountains.  We were tempted to stay longer and Pam assured us the gate is open for our return.

Wyoming Dinosaur Center

When we were last in Thermopolis we focused on our walk and the reward of the steam baths.  This time we took a short break from our drive to Casper to visit the Dinosaur Center.  This is an area rich in dinosaur digs and the museum is well regarded.

The building looks more like a warehouse but what is inside is an excellent lesson on paleontology.

 Exhibits are well labeled with scientific facts intended to educate visitors.  Evidence on the origin of life and evolution are well documented.  Our only complaint was that we needed more time to grasp it all. 

The path through the museum leads from the earliest life forms through to the period of the dinosaurs.  Time lines show the place of the many fossils throughout Earth’s history.

These are echinoderm who lived 535 million years ago.

This teleost, aka the uber fish, is from the Mesozoic Era.  He is a member of the most successful group of vertebrates that include his descendants like goldfish and salmon among others.

 This is a mother (or father) tending to a nest of thirty plus young Psittacosaurus.

This specimen was discovered by the eight-year-old son of the paleontologist leading the dig.  The rule is “finders-namers,” so the dinosaur is named Zuniceratops  Christopheri.

T Rex, as always, dominates the room.  The stegosaurus is the Wyoming State Dinosaur.  Does your state have a state dinosaur?

 Wind Canyon Scenic Drive is aptly named.  We made several stops along the road to take photos. 

Buffalo Bill Center of the West

This was another day spent at an outstanding museum, actually a complex of five museums.
William, Buffalo Bill, Cody founded his namesake town.  These museums tell his story and the story of the West that he so dearly loved.



DRAPER NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM

We started here with a guided Wildlife Tour learning about the history of Yellowstone, the native flora and fauna and the impact man has and continues to play on the park and the world.

In the 1800s, 30 - 60 million bison, the symbol of this area, roamed the plains.  By 1920 there were 50.  Today they have been restore to about 10,000, 5000 of whom are in Yellowstone.  The scientific name for this animal is bison bison; buffalo is a western colloquial term.

Dioramas include wolves, moose, antelope, elk and grizzlies like this

Pika are the “canaries” of the Rockies.  These small rodents do not hibernate, instead foraging in the forest all year long.  They are being found in fewer numbers as the Alpine regions move up in altitude due to climate change.

WHITNEY MUSEUM OF WESTERN ART

Artist-in-residence Linda Raynolds worked on a clay relief for a plaster cast. 

We later saw her sketching at the presentation on Raptors.

 Alexander Phimister Proctor was an outdoorsman and adventurer but he is known as an animalier, an artist who creates realistic sculpture of animals.  One room in the Draper is dedicated to his process and his work.  His art can be found throughout the US.   This statue of Teddy Roosevelt , shown in parts, may look familiar.  The full statue stands in the American History Museum in NYC and played a role in the movie “Night at the Museum.”

Famous Western artists Harry Jackson and Frederic Remington are well represented

Jackson’s Pony Express Rider

Remington’s Mountain Man

Remington’s Studio near New Rochelle, NY, where he would tell tales of what he saw in the West and would sketch and paint.

PLANES INDIAN MUSEUM

When the Europeans arrived in America there were 500+ native tribes speaking over 600 languages.


What unified the Plains Indians was the bison, from whom they got food, clothing, shelter, tools and weapons.  In the 1800s the US government, lead by farmers and ranchers, had a policy of.no bison, no Indians.  That led to wars, murders and reservations.

It took thirteen bison hide to made this teepee. 

 Women took care of putting the teepee up and taking it down.

With the coming of the reservation, the Indian economy changed from bartering to cash, from what they gathered or made themselves to what they had to purchase for which they had little funds.  The teepee was no longer made of skins but now of canvass.

Then the teepee disappeared and "modern" homes with rooms were built.

 Their artistry, from old to modern, was displayed in exhibits of beadwork.  This is one of the old ones set against a modern image.

BUFFALO BILL MUSEUM

Buffalo Bill greets guests in this Heliodisplay.

William Cody went from bull whacker to bison hunter to military scout to Buffalo Bill.  He became the subject of Ned Bunting’s 700 dime novels.  Under the tutelage of Nate Salsbury, Bill became an actor.  He was a poor actor who forgot his lines but he was a captivating storyteller and that made him a great success.  He changed the reality of the cowboy from a rowdy to the image of a hero fashioning a Hollywood mythology.  He created the image of the cowboy and Indian at war when in reality it was the army and Indians who fought.  He took Buffalo Bill’s Wild West all over the country and even to Europe.  He consider his Wild West an educational experience; in truth it was a grand show.  In his best year he made $1 million.  But he was a poor businessman who died broke even though some of his ideas were successful for others.

Here he scouts for the Army

CODY GUN MUSEUM

The Hawken rifle was the preferred weapon for bison hunters in the late 1800s.

This is one of Theodore Roosevelt’s rifles

RAPTOR Q AND A

Out in the sculpture garden, Mobile Perch, a raptor conservation organization, brought out a golden eagle with a seven-foot wing span

a Kestral falcon

a red tail hawk


The second best tourist attraction in Cody is the Cody Cattle Company with its western all-you-can-eat dinner and show every night.  The dinner, as expected, consisted of beef, chicken, beans, slaw, corn bread, and potatoes and it was good.  The show is the cowboy music Anna Lee so loved as a child growing up in Denver.  The performers are charming and sing well.  The young performers provided additional enjoyment. 

 This was an evening that befit the area and was good Western entertainment.