On Tuesday night we headed to Napa.

We stayed at Avia which (I believe) is the newest hotel downtown. It’s a lovely, modern hotel with awesome beds and bathrooms. Our room was very quiet, but that could be simply because the hotel wasn’t very busy. They still have some issues to work out, but none of them impacted our stay – like the wood floor in the lobby was being torn up to fix some buckled boards, the fireplace in the dining room was being dismantled to be repaired, and then a couple silly things like them automatically charging us for a tin of swedish fish from the mini-bar when neither of us so much as touched them. They also kept locking our fridge which was annoying since they leave one shelf open for guest use.

I will say that mid-week rates were very competitive. If a person were to pay peak season rates I would fully expect all of the above issues to be cleared up.

We only made a few winery stops. The first was Castello di Amorosa
. It was okay. The workmanship was impressive, the design is at least relatively true to castles I’ve seen in Europe. Therein lies the rub – if you’ve been to Europe and toured a bunch of castles this is only mildly interesting. The wine was okay, it didn’t wow us. The price for entry seemed steep even after we saved $16 with a coupon from Napa Visitors Center. To see 2 levels of the castle and taste 5 wines was $16 per person. A reserve wine tasting of 6 total wines (only 3 were reserves) was $26. They also offer a guided tour that takes almost 2 hours. My comment to R was, “if this was Neuschwanstein it would be worth it.” In fact I’ve toured Neuschwanstein twice.

We made a quick stop at Duckhorn because we were buying their wine a lot at business dinners in Montana.

Our last stop was Quixote. It was recommended to us by the folks at the visitors center with mention that the winery was designed by Austrian architect Hundertwasser. I’ve seen the exterior of a couple of his buildings in Europe and was really shocked to find out he had a building in the United States. I really enjoyed seeing the building AND their wines were really good.

Neither of us had been to Napa for over 10 years. A few tips if you haven’t been to Napa recently either:
- most of the wineries charge for tasting now, stated price range is $10-$40
- many of the wineries either recommend or require reservations
- do stop in at the visitor’s center. We found the staff to be very helpful and they may even offer you coupons for places you express interest in.
- do check the prices at Avia Napa. We would stay there again.
- if you like Asian food do try Annalien (no website) in downtown Napa for contemporary Vietnamese cuisine. The restaurant is owned by friends of ours and I wished I had taken photos so I could show you the food. It was delish.

Day 2 we made it to Hollister where some family friends of R’s live. We spent 2 nights here relaxing. While the guys golfed, J and I went to San Juan Bautista. It was Monday and town was quiet. I understand weekends are crazy busy. Even though many of the shops are closed on Monday, I prefer the quiet to fighting crowds.

On Tuesday, we stopped in Cupertino to visit R’s godmother and then we headed on towards Napa. More on that tomorrow!

About a week ago we headed to California to visit friends and have a little vacation. On the way down we took the coast road part way. It wasn’t always conducive to knitting. The signs sure make me laugh though.

We drove through the redwoods…

and stopped in Leggett, CA to see the Drive Thru Tree:

This flock of wild turkeys were also in Leggett.

As pretty as the coast road is, it can also feel very long as it twists and winds around so much more than I-5. The first night we stayed in Eureka at the Best Western (the more southern one, on the edge of town). Easily the nicest Best Western with the best buffet breakfast of any I’ve stayed at.

Alternative title: Supporting the Local Economy.
Today is/was our day to relax and show my Mom and Paul around town. It’s also their anniversary so we didn’t think packing was appropriate, plus we have lots of time before we drive to WA on Tuesday.

So, after a quick stop to drop some things off at Goodwill we hit the Clark Fork River Farmer’s Market. This is only the second time I’ve been; Richard and I went on opening day this year. It’s a really nice farmers market with a great balance of produce, organic meat, fresh baked goods, plants, flowers, and fiber.

Hand dyed mohair locks from Wolverton Mountain Mohair (no website, yet, but the owner says it’s coming soon). I don’t know yet if I’ll get some dog brush carders and card these or flick them open and spin. It’ll be an adventure either way!

Natural and handpainted batt from Raven Ridge Fiber Arts. The fiber content is wool, llama, and silk. I’m calling this colorway “manly” as I hope to spin it up into a heathery or marled yarn suitable for a man.

This is 3.6 ounces of roving from Sugar Loaf Wool. To be honest, I’m not positive whether it’s roving or top. It is in a strip like top, but it’s not so oriented and there’s lots of short staples. A bit rustic, but appropriately priced for what it is. Colorway is Sherbet. I picked it up, turned around and my Mom said, “that looks like sherbet.” Yup!

After the market (we also bought a huge focaccia with kalamata olives, feta, and artichoke) we headed up to put our things in the car. We popped into Macy’s to use the restroom and I found a new purse for a great deal. My old one has been held together with a safety pin for months.

Then the Monte Dolack Art Gallery was open and this was on my Mom’s list to stop in. It was fun to browse and posters are very affordably priced.

When you work from home and live in a rental house*, sometimes you just need to get out. So when Richard said he needed to go up past Seeley Lake on Monday, but we could do it on Sunday together I said sure.

From top to bottom: Potomac Valley headed towards Missoula; approaching Salmon Lake; Ice Fishing; looking East from Condon; Cell Tower, ie why we went to begin with.

* all I’m saying is that if we were at our house in Washington there are a multitude of things we could be doing from projects inside and outside the house, to visiting family and friends.

After Richard flew home I drove out to Wickenburg, AZ to visit friends. I actually know 3 couples who live here (well, one is actually in the next town) at least part of the year. The town is just lovely, I can easily see why they’ve fallen in love with it. Everything horses and western can be found here, plus there are a couple golf courses for the non-horsey hubbies. What more can you ask for?

Around town there are bronze statues large and small. The large statues have audio stories you can listen as well. For more information about the statues you can go here.

Unfortunately I was sick while I was there so that curtailed my activities a bit. I was able to see several places where friends live, a couple of the boarding stables, a couple restaurants, the museum, an art gallery, and several retail stores around town.

I can’t wait to go back! I also can’t thank my friends enough for hosting me and taking care of me when I was sick. If you’d like more info you can see the official city website or the Chamber of Commerce site.

It was kind of a crazy trip. We flew into Mesa, AZ on the evening of November 26th. The next morning we drove to Yucca Valley, CA. Richard’s parents and his brother (and his family) all live in Yucca.

I don’t find it to be the most photogenic place, but it does have lovely blue sky and Joshua Trees which are interesting if you aren’t familiar with them.

On Saturday we drove back to Arizona to spend a bit of time in Scottsdale, then Richard had to fly back to Montana on Monday morning. This was not the plan. He was supposed to have the week off.

I didn’t take any photos in downtown Scottsdale. It was an interesting place to visit and it would be a great place to shop if you’re buying lots of gifts or a new wardrobe. I find the desert landscape and plants beautiful so I took a few photos trying to capture that.

More to come…

On our last weekend trip, if you remember, we went to Whitefish and Glacier National Park. This was when we first came up with the plan to spend the next 3 day weekend of the year in Yellowstone.

We left Missoula Friday afternoon, later than planned, but still with plenty of time to make it to our first night’s lodging in West Yellowstone. It’s approximately a 4 hour drive. We decided to take the drive through Gallatin Gateway, past Big Sky, and on to West Yellowstone.

This is where I’m remiss for not taking photos of West Yellowstone. The first thing that struck us, is that at 9pm the town was still VERY active. Most of the shops were open and many people were walking around, picking up dinner or souvenirs. The town is very cute, easy to walk around in, and surprisingly international. That was something that struck us more than once over the weekend – Yellowstone has a strong international draw.

The next morning we headed into Yellowstone. This was my first trip and Richard’s second.

Of course we saw Old Faithful (the first photo). We also saw numerous other small geysers, hot pots, and mud pots. I took many more photos including a handful of more artistic shots of the brilliant orange colors of the algae beds and aquamarine colors.

Then there was the wildlife. On the first section of road into the park from West Yellowstone we saw a bull elk. Unfortunately no photo, but the elk was standing in the river within yards of a fly fisherman. We saw another bull, a group of cows, and babies in this area the first evening and the next morning. There were a few individual bison in this area, but the large herd we saw was near the road South of Roosevelt Lodge.

I still find crossing the Continental Divide to be somewhat amusing. I’ve seen all of the West coast, including parts of Alaska, but until I moved to Montana I had never cross the continental divide. On this weekend alone we crossed it 4 times.

We spent all day Saturday and then Sunday morning in Yellowstone. Then we headed South into Wyoming and through Grand Teton National Park.

Sunday night we stayed in Jackson. We ran up to Teton Village to the arts show, chatted with artist friends we met in Whitefish and browsed around a few minutes. Then the rain and wind started. We headed back into Jackson to get out of the weather. It poured that evening and the lights flickered more than once while we were at dinner. The next morning it was still raining. Needless to say that’s my excuse for not getting photos of Jackson. What I can tell you, is that it looks like a fun town to wander around in even though we’re not looking to spend a bunch of money in shops catering to the wealthy.

This is the view looking back on the Jackson Hole valley.

Twice in recent weeks I had seen mention of the Victor Emporium in magazines, once in Sunset and once in Forbes (yes, a very odd combination of magazines). I suspected they were a place that’s open almost 365 days per year and I was right. The Emporium was smaller than I imagined, but I was thrilled to pick up a new pair of Dansko’s, a t-shirt, and a huckleberry milkshake.

We decided to take the more remote route back to Montana. Roughly, this is West from Victor, then angling northwest towards Salmon, then North to the Bitterroot. North of Salmon we were surprised to see two Big Horn Sheep grazing and drinking from a cow pasture.

A last photo while we were on our way home – this is the pass on the way from Idaho into the Bitterroot. Silly me, I did not realize there was a big mountain pass here! I just thought the Bitterroot valley extended into Idaho through a valley between mountain ranges. It was a mixture of sleet and rain that was falling. Lowest temperature seen over the weekend? 36 degrees about an hour East of Salmon, Idaho.

There are many more photos of the trip in our photo album. There’s so much more to see in all the areas we visited, especially Yellowstone, that we’re definitely planning to go back.

I’ll bring you my WIPs tomorrow, but today I want to talk about Whitefish. We left Thursday night to spend the 3 day weekend in and around Whitefish. The trip was planned at the last minute with me choosing lodging and reviewing restaurant options on the Chamber of Commerce’s website.

We stayed at Kandahar Lodge at Whitefish Mountain Resort. From the pictures it looked like a nice place plus it had a restaurant that has gotten good reviews. It was an odd choice in that it’s 6 miles out of town on the mountain and we had no plans to hike or mountain bike while there. When I made the room reservation I also made a dinner reservation for Saturday night.

The odd choice turned out really well. The lodge was very nice and welcoming, the room was comfortable, and Cafe Kandahar…..the BEST food either of us has ever had.

On Thursday night, we were in Whitefish at 8:30 pm so I called the lodge to see if there would be anywhere to eat on the mountain or whether we should eat in town. The lodge desk passed us over to the cafe and they said to come on up for dinner. We both were a bit concerned about this from the perspective that if the meal was mediocre we wouldn’t be looking forward to eating there again on Saturday. Needless to say there was no need for concern! We were blown away by both the food and wine.

Friday we headed off to Glacier National Park to drive the Going to the Sun road. The road had just been fully opened a few days earlier and our hope was that the 4th would be a bit less busy than other weekend days. Getting into the park was busy, but once we got through the gates it wasn’t too bad.

The beginning of the drive is in the valley along Lake McDonald and Logan Creek. As we got closer to Going to the Sun Road I looked up and saw vehicles snaking along the cliffs above. Yikes! As you start climbing the road narrows, the rock cliffs jut out almost into the driving lane next to them, and the low rock wall seems very insignificant between you and the drop off.

The scenery was incredible and my photos don’t even come close to doing it justice. Each bend in the road reveals a slightly different angle over the valley with views down to the river you just drove along and, finally, to the snow at the top of Logan Pass. On the uphill side there are waterfalls, the Weeping Wall, and more mountain peaks. The mountains are HUGE. The valleys are DEEP.

On Saturday I wanted to spend some time in Whitefish. In the morning we browsed around the arts festival. We weren’t really looking to make any purchases, but when we came to Soaring Eagle Studios we changed our mind.

In the afternoon we stopped by Rebecca Farm for an hour to watch the dressage show. I really should have checked the schedule as I wanted Richard to see some upper level rides. The show was not very busy so we didn’t stay long.

When we got back to Whitefish I stopped in at Knit ‘n Needle Yarn Shoppe. It’s a very cute store, I should have taken a picture. The store has a wonderful selection of Berroco and I met Denyel – the first person I’ve ever run into who asked if I was on Ravelry. I’m currently obsessed with Norah Gaughan’s patterns so (of course) I purchased Volume 3 of her patterns. Once I decide what to knit first I’ll be ordering some yarn from Knit ‘n Needle.

As if that wasn’t enough, Saturday night we had the chef’s tasting menu at Cafe Kandahar. It has RUINED us for eating out anywhere else. I planned to tell you what we ate, but just like the photos above, describing it doesn’t really do it justice. Suffice it to say we had dishes that centered around lamb, goat cheese crepes, wild mushrooms, bison, oysters, duck pate, and cherries. Go to their website and read Chef Andy’s description of his dishes. We can’t wait to go back. We have talked about driving up just for dinner, spending the night, and driving back early the next morning. It was *that* incredible.

Over the weekend we took a quick trip to Billings to visit Richard’s brother, niece, and nephew. Neither of us had been to their home in Roundup and I hadn’t ever been further East in Montana than where you turn off I-90 to go to Helena.

As you can see it was quite the horsey weekend. From the top, buckskin Quarter Horse stallion, statue at Metra Park in Billings, big name natural horsemanship trainer* at Metra Park, Kristen with her a one week old foal, Montana scenery, rock formations, and a mine in Butte.

On the way back from Billings we briefly went into Bozeman and Butte to get an idea of what was there. I think a future weekend visit is in order to both towns.

*It was a coincidence that this event was the same weekend we went to Billings. Our relatives were going to the event so we went along for the first day. Regardless of whether you love, like, or hate a particular trainer there is always something you can learn by watching how that person interacts with horses. Whatever you do with your horses remember to BE SAFE.