Author: Mrs A
Location: Napa Valley, California
Friday: We wound our way out of Yosemite National Park and headed north to Napa Valley. We stopped at a little health food grocery and diner for brunch on our way through Merced, before winding our way across flat plains and back up into the rolling hills of Napa.
Our next port of call was the Oxbow Markets in Downtown Napa, an indoor marketplace selling quality foodstuffs, including spices, cheeses, oysters, olive oil, fresh bread and vegetables amongst others. It was all premium produce (and a premium price of course), but we couldn’t resist sourcing some goodies to take to our friends’ house.
We spent an afternoon catching up with Susan, becoming acquainted with one of their cats, Olly and checking out their hummingbirds on their patio.
Joe soon arrived home from work, and we caught up over some delicious drops of wine from Quintessa, the winery Joe works at. At about $150 a bottle, this was out of our budget, but very tasty.
Dinner was a California speciality, a tri-tipped steak, seared in a pan then baked in the oven. It was spectacular, served with potatoes, fresh salad and tomatoes and basil from their garden. The cheeky neighbourhood cat, Diego, joined in hoping to steal some snacks.
Saturday: It was somewhat of a slow start to the day for some of us, and we all felt for Joe who had to head off early to the winery to help host their big members’ lunch. Mark, Susan and I decided brunch was in order, so Susan drove us to the picturesque village of Yountville.
Yountville has characteristics more akin to a French village in burgundy, with stone buildings, tree lined streets and market gardens growing produce to cook in nearby restaurants.
We followed a sculpture trail through the settlement, and were interested to see the thoughtful description of the first non-natives to settle in the area (in Australia, we far too often see the European settlers described as the ‘early’ settlers, ignoring the 60,000 years of habitation by Aboriginal populations!).
Mark chose the special once we had reached our lunch location, despite not really understanding what he was ordering. When asking about ‘Masa Harina’ we were told ‘it’s a bit like grits’ – which made absolutely no sense at all. Mr A says it was like a savoury tapioca. He gave it five stars!
Susan then took us to Trefethen Vineyards to show us the incredible feat of engineering there. During the 2014 earthquake, the supporting beams for the wine cellar and tasting room had cracked, leaving it leaning and about to collapse. The building is now supported by a huge steel frame.
Napa is on the cusp of harvest time here, and the vines are positively creaking under the weight of grapes.
It seems crazy to be in Napa and not going wine tasting, but someone (Mr A) needed an afternoon nap, so we returned home for just that. I chilled out in the garden with one of Susan and Joe’s cats, Olly, watching out for local birdlife.
Joe soon returned from work, and we all got ready for a night out. 
Walking through Napa town, you could have been mistaken for thinking we were somewhere in northern Italy, with the sun setting over the hills and the gondola paddling up the Napa River. It has a lovely feel, with nice boutiques and a buzzing atmosphere.
Somehow we again managed to avoid wine! First calling in to a little brewery for some local drops, and then to the most delicious Mexican restaurant, where we stuck to the Margaritas all night!
But we don’t mind one bit – this visit has all been about visiting Susan and Joe, and the great company and laughter we enjoyed with them has all been worth it. This is one area we’d be keen to come back to again.
But that’s not the only thing that left us breathless. Plenty of “wow” noises later we took a little walk along the cliff top and immediately noticed the effect of the thinner air – we were at 7,200 feet (3,200 metres). Catherine has enough trouble at sea level with her dinky constricted airway, so at this altitude noticed the difference. My nose started bleeding, something I always seem to experience at higher altitude, and with a nose my size its quite something!
She gave us some great tips for how to spend our day, and after a chat with her we sped off up into the high country of the Sierra Nevada. What a drive it was…again. Check out these views along the way.
We managed to puff and wheeze our way on a short 7km (4.5 mile) walk. We are now at over 8,600 feet (2,620 metres) but motivated by these incredible views to keep going – I had little excuse other than my cold and lack of strenuous exercise recently.
Catherine here is sampling some naturally carbonated spring water, fresh out of the mountainside – delicious too…!
We could spend weeks just exploring this one area – months more likely. The walking possibilities seem endless. It’s certainly putting the US on our radar for a longer trip.
I breathed a sigh of relief (and I’m sure Catherine did!) when we reached the valley floor without incident, and then she captured these shots as the sun was dipping.
We will leave with these photos to remind us of the beauty of this place – it’s busy, yes (although Kim tells us there are 25% less visitors post the bush fires here last July) – but a short walk from our car and we were pretty much on our own – there’s a lot of space to find some solitude away from the crowds that are hugging the valley floor.
Apparently temperatures have PLUMMETED to below 30 degrees centigrade and Princess Tassie is needing reinforced bedding…
Our first glimpses left us again spellbound, as we left behind the tall sequoia trees and climbed into mountainous country. Kings Canyon has been described as a ‘close competitor to Yosemite’ – and being our destination for the next couple of days, we are almost beside ourselves with anticipation of what might be ahead!
We followed the Kings River for a couple of kilometres before we were stopped by a couple of National Parks officials about to detonate some fallen rocks. In interest of our health and making it safely beyond today, we retraced our steps to the car and drove on.
Not much further along the road was Grizzly Falls, plunging deep down into the valley.
Despite the name, there are no Grizzly bears in these parts, only black bears. We have seen many warning signs about them but they are one furry critter we are yet to spot. Our eyes are regularly peeled and camera at the ready.
Back in Sequoia National Park, it was hard to miss out yet more giant trees, helping us feel miniature in their presence.
It is so hard to capture just how huge these trees are and the feeling you get walking here…you’ll just have to come and see for yourself!
Then we walked down into a grove of sequoia trees. I caught myself holding my breath. The aura and precense these giant trees have is palpable. To see them soaring up to 80 metres above our heads, and to think some of them are over 3,000 years old and still growing, I think they are a reminder from Mother Nature of our place in the world.
I drove us on up into the heart of the park, to the area the famous US naturalist John Muir named when he first came across it in 1875 the “Giant Forest”. Not one to joke around, he had it spot on, as this area has the largest collection of the massive trees in the whole park, including the tree that is the single largest living entity on this earth, the General Sherman tree.
We were just mesmerised. Every time I looked down at my feet then looked up again my eyes took a moment to adjust to the perspective, with stands of these incredible trees just dominating everything. Look at this photo for instance – “Honey I shrunk Mr A”!
We then spotted a creature that looked like a rather portly marmot. Much larger than the ones we saw in France. Clearly he had been on the all you can eat High Sierra buffet!
It was all too quickly time to head off to our lodging for the night, the Montecito Sequoia Lodge, high up in the park at 2,286 metres (7,500 feet). It described itself as “rustic” – and it is – delightfully so.
Americans do this type of expereince really, really well. I vote we send a plane load of Aussie outback operators over here for some valuable learnings.
Set in beautifully landscaped grounds and housed in a modern stone building, lunch was served outside on a courtyard. The estate grows much of its own produce as well as all the wine served, with a philosophy of sourcing local and in season produce.
Lunch was delicious – every ingredient carefully chosen and perfectly prepared. Incredible wine also accompanied our food…the perfect ingredients for a long lazy afternoon.
However, Mr A and I were heading off, aiming for our next destination inland. Dave, SJ, Tim and Moki accompanied us into Paso Robles to the supermarket, where we farewelled our friends and headed off.
We drove through ever changing scenery to Three Rivers, a little settlement in the foothills of Sequoia National Park.
Back at the house, SJ had put some food out for the birds, and feathered friends flocked to their feast. The house is surrounded by nectar producing flowers, many we recognise from Australia, such as the kangaroo paw. This was a real favourite of the tiny sapphire green birds.
Before long, Tim and Dave had returned from their 80km cycle (!) and were feeling ravenous for lunch, so we piled into a couple of cars and headed 30 minutes towards the coast to the fishing town of Morro Bay.
Morro Bay is known for the huge volcanic rock which sits at the entrance of the bay, and the very active sea otter population, attracted to the fish in the bay as well as the discarded scraps.
After food we wandered along the waterfront looking for sea otters. They were not hard to spot, great little fishers, swimming on their backs to better eat their catch, often chased by herring gulls keen to steal an easy meal.
Wine tasting was next on the agenda, so we headed inland, stopping off at a couple of fabulous lookouts en route.
We drove to Opolo Wineries, where Moki was allowed to join us in the seating area while we tried some local tipples. Tim and I were the only ones keen for a taste, heading into the busy tasting room to try our drops.
We finished off our day with some take-out from a local restaurant in Atascadero and trying a local brew. Another fine day in California!
Deborah also took us to the best places to eat, with Japanese dining at lunch, a break for a local brew mid afternoon and American grill in the evening.
All were superb high quality food experiences with great service.
Now, apparently the grey porridge looking substance in the photo is….biscuits in gravy. Not something I’m going to add to my roast beef anytime soon!
When we stopped at a junction just outside Santa Barbara, we spotted this young guy with an interesting proposition.
A stop was called for in Santa Barbara, first job a quick wine stock up (we need to get used to the premium price of Californian wine compared to Australia), and then spotted a sign for “Cat Therapy”. We couldn’t resist of course. It was a business just about to open as a cat café, and the young ladies us allowed us in for a preview.
The idea is they take cats from rescue shelters in LA and use the café to showcase them to patrons as prospective adopters. Brilliant.
Ever the tour guide, we received a message from Deborah recommending we stop for a beer at the Cold Springs Tavern, an old staging post in the hills. We took the short diversion – very nice…loving the locally brewed beers and the very cute blue Californian Steller-Jays. 
The views from the road were superb as we climbed up to our friends’ place in Atascadero where we will spend the weekend.
Dave and SJ moved out of the hustle and bustle of San Francisco a year ago to this incredible spot way up on a ridge with 360 degree views towards either the ocean or the vineyards.
Our friends recently also moved to fur parent status. Check out this poser!
We’ve certainly had a fantastic start to our month in the USA – how can it get better than this?
Tea progressed into champagne, and the four of us then went out for a delicious local curry – Mark and Chris careful not to overdo the cheese and nibbles before we went!
Mark drove excellently despite the stressful conditions, and before long we were emptying the last of our freezer bits and pieces and heading to our friends’ apartment in Matraville, not far from Botany Bay for a delicious roast lamb dinner and a well deserved glass of red wine.
Monday and Tuesday were earmarked for the all essential medical check ups, with good news for Mr A’s eye pressures, less good news for my airway (but a new procedure to try in October), and some steroid injections into my foot to allow some comfortable hiking in the USA.
Mr A took the opportunity to catch up with a bunch of old work colleagues for lunch while I had a hair cut. Lovely.
We finished off our day joining Jenny and David for dinner at a local Italian restaurant. Fabulous food and company as always.
While we are away, Miss Tassie will be staying here at her luxury pad in Matraville for the next month. She’s settled in nicely, already solar mapping out the apartment. Apparently the new chairs on the balcony suit her, while she is also finding the colour scheme elsewhere works with her glossy blue coat. She’s in good hands here.
The sand was just so fine and white, almost felt like flour in your hand. We had a great lunch at a little surf cafe, and then settled in back at the Zone.
We had a brief whirlwind of time to transfer our cases and food back into the caravan, dig out the smart clothes and get changed, before the four of us drove into Brisbane for the evening.
After this, we parted ways, Phil and Libby ending up at a pub helping celebrate a nephew’s birthday, while Mr A and I joined three lovely ladies for dinner in a French restaurant beside the water.
We have probably driven past this area a dozen times without any awareness of what’s here, but it’s a lovely rural settlement sat on the banks of the Clarence River close to the estuary. There are over 100 islands in the wide river here, the nearest to us being Goodwood Island.
The sun was starting to set so we only went a couple of kilometres, crossing over the bridge to Goodwood Island and checking out the wet sugar cane fields before returning for the evening.
More rain and thunder entertained us, a novelty after the dry and drought of the inland areas. Sadly, it seems the rain is sticking to the coast, not helping out the farmers this time.