Monday, October 4, 2010

Riding along the Russian River













The Hop Mill Winery; Mo & Jason taking a break; grapes!

What a glorious day for a bike ride! The temperature dropped as the tribe traversed towards the coast: no more 103*F days in sight! The terrain along today's route was so so beautiful! We rolled through the end of the Napa Valley, the Alexander Valley, then the Russian River Valley. I thought the wine country was just the Napa Valley: some of the greatest wineries are located elsewhere! We stopped at the Hop Mill Winery for a quick tour; it is on the historic register and is really quite a place! The roads through the valleys are steep and winding with little shoulder, yet it is a cycling mecha! We passed many, many cyclists all day long.

The tribe lunched in the Redwoods then dropped along the Russian River out to Casini Ranch. This is a working cattle ranch with a HUGE campground. The water for the ranch comes from a natural spring on the hill above the ranch and is so good that the ranch owners having a bottling plant to sell the water!

As the tribe rolled into the ranch so did the fog. It's a pretty erie sight to see a fog bank rolling up the valley and engulfing the camp. It is nice to be out of the heat!

We had a nice clubhouse to use tonight, complete with a kitchen! So tonight's new menu was a go! YEAH! And the tribe loved it: Jamaican theme! Jerk chicken, calypso beans and rice, grilled patty pan squash, steamed fingerling potatoes and Aaron's chocolate pudding surprise! The jerk chicken was amazing; I will post the recipe as asked by many!

The tribe took advantage of the indoor facility and stayed up way past their bedtime. This has been a great group: I am beginning to get a little melancholy about having this be the last trip of the season. Looking forward to some time at home, but I will miss feeding my tribes!

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