Giant Redwoods

Over the three day weekend I went to Armstrong Woods State Park near Gurneville. ded. The park has miles of trails, picnic areas and is never crowded. Some of the Giant Redwoods are over 1400 years old.

Giant Redwoods
Originally uploaded by ktinsd

Domaine Carneros

It was a beautiful three day weekend and I had a visitor from San Diego come up for the weekend so I played tour guide. This is the view of Domaine Carneros where they make Taittinger Champagne a favorite of mine. This was taken from the back balcony of Artesa Vineyards which is about 4 miles west of my house. On the horizon is a glimpse of San Francisco Bay. Click on the photo to see larger view

MUSTARD TIME !

Today was the perfect day... to do anything outside. It was about 70 degrees and beautiful in the Valley. OK, so I know I get carried away with pictures of mustard, but it is the most beautiful time of year and it doesn't last long enough. So I drove up to Yountville and took these photos just off of Hwy 29.
My favorite road near Napa is Yount Mill Road shown in these photos. It is a country road very close to Napa that has very little vehicle traffic and is frequented by joggers and bicyclists.

Visit to Grist Bale Mill

Today was the most beautiful day in Napa this year. The rain is gone for at least a week and it was sunny and warm. I went for a nice drive up Valley (that is a term the locals use) and stopped by the Grist Bale Mill just North of St. Helena. It is a California State Park and the site of a water powered mill built in 1846. The giant waterwheel is 36 ft high and powered my water from Mill Creek. It is a nice wooded park just west of Hwy 29 and a great place for a picnic of a local bottle of wine and goodies from Dean and Deluca which is right down the street. The park is also the site of the first church in the Napa Valley and the Pioneer Cemetery and has hiking trails.