When we finally left the broad western horizon of the Pacific Ocean behind us, we had good incentive to cross the rugged coastal hills to the valleys of the wine country. It's a gorgeous area everywhere you look, fine for driving and exploring down roads that barely appear (or don't appear) on the maps. Drive by hunch! This is no place for a GPS. GPS devices come with built-in serendipity destroyers.

We have been to the Wine Country several times, and each time we get better at it. The first time, back before the turn of the century, we drove up the Napa Valley, visited some wineries and tested their wares, and thought it fun. On the next visit we planned ahead and drove up the Sonoma Valley, dutifully stopping at whichever winery we had on our list, checking them off as if we were still at work.

Then we discovered the byways of the Anderson Valley and the Russian River Valley, with smaller, more interesting, and far more unique wineries. One of our favorites is Goldeneye, a pinot noir maker on Route 128 in the Anderson Valley. The photo shows a setup for a tasting on the back patio by the garden and the hills of vines.

Indeed, every you go you see green corduroy hills covered with orderly rows of vines, meticulously maintained and irrigated. The labor and expense are worth it: an acre of vines can yield 2000 bottles of wine per year (although the high-end vineyards typically produce far less in order to produce more concentrated, complex flavors). As you drive among the vineyards, you see clear differences in the shape and size of the vines, and many times there are labels at the end of the row showing what varieties of grape are growing.

Of course all those winemakers need more than grapes to live on. Healdsburg and Sonoma sit at either end of the Sonoma Valley, and each is a foodie paradise. We started at the northern end in Healdsburg which we used as a base for exploring. The Healdsburg farmers market, shown here, is widely known, but even the supermarkets are full of fabulous local produce and artisanal fare.

That's good because the restaurants are pricey. This is no place to be thrifty. We ate light in town and then brought back some provender to the motel for later supplementation.

We did all right... Shown here is the legendary Pliny the Elder Imperial IPA from Russian River Brewing in Santa Rosa.  Very little of this ever makes it to the East Coast. I had multiple requests to bring some back on the train!

Along with that wonderful ale are two local cheeses (a tomme and a blue), a peach and an apricot, and a fine wine-cured dry salami - on a paper plate. Really I think it was as good as any $40 dinner in town! The next time we go I will plan to plunder the local markets first and then see if there's any need to visit the restaurants.

Healdsburg has plenty of fruits, vegetables, and grains, some of which are available in distilled form... I continued my GinQuest, hopelessly behind schedule and expecting little opportunity in Los Angeles to make progress. I got a hot tip about the SpoonBar on the southern end of the main drag. It's a good thing that Healdsburg has plentiful shopping to keep Lorna and Melissa busy!

The skillful and accommodating bartenders at that worthy establishment had four different California gins that I had not yet tried, including three that I had never encountered in my researches. They understood my quest immediately and were kind enough to make up their Martinis in half-sizes so as not to irreparably impair your humble researcher. This was in the evening.

In the morning, we had to make tracks toward Sonoma and beyond to LA and home.  

I wanted to stop in for a moment at the "Beauty Ranch" of author Jack London, on our way in Glen Ellen, now a state historical site. We were glad we did! What an interesting, beautiful, and haunted place! Jack London was a fascinating character, coming from abject poverty to significant wealth in a short, turbulent life. When he had amassed enough money, he left San Francisco and the sea-life behind and bought a ranch. There he built his dream house, a perfect house for a writer. And days before moving in it burnt to the ground! Those are the ruins in the photo.

We had a good lunch in Sonoma and regretted not having more time to explore it. We bolted out of the Wine Country to Sacramento and then south for the long, long drive to Los Angeles.

I-5 through the Central Valley is not exciting, but it exerts a weird fascination as you drive past countless acres of every sort of produce: nut trees, leafy greens, vineyards of grapes destined for supermarket wine or even grape jelly, orchards of apricots and peaches, broccoli, and things none of us could identify. The fields go on forever, hour after hour at high speed.

We finally poked through the mountains late at night and arrived in LA in time to head out for our next excellent adventure - stay tuned!