Tuesday, 11 September

Somehow we have gotten into the habit of pushing the checkout time on the campground. Yesterday we didn't have to leave until 12:00, so we did our laundry and other tasks and left at 11:58. Today we didn't have to leave until 1:00. So Gene trimmed his beard, Jean trimmed his neck, we took showers, Jean washed her hair, and we found other chores to do around the motorhome until 12:30.

When we finally got under way, we headed for Napa. We promptly found a slight discrepancy with the map that had us going back and forth until we found the right road. We stopped in Sonoma for some lunch and when we finally got to Napa we spotted a sign "Information Center Next Right" so we took it. More signs led us on a merry chase right through downtown Napa where we only spotted the said information center by accident.

As it turned out, they gave us some good information and showed us the scenic route through the valley to Calistoga at the north end. It was an interesting drive through miles of vineyards. Some scenes reminded Jean of parts of France, some of Tuscany. The wineries were in a variety of architectural styles, all attractive. Very impressive.

In one field, there were three Washingtonian palm trees growing in the middle. I doubt you will see that in France.









Finally, we headed down to Vallejo to an RV park that Jean had called in the big directory. We got there after the office was closed but they had given us a choice of two slots. The first one was possible but difficult, we finally located the second which is much better. So this may be our base of operations for the next several days, we'll see.