Charlie and I are not wine aficionados, yet we come back to Napa year after year. What’s up with that?
Well, it’s beautiful here, and the weather is always nice: warm and sunny in the daytime, and cool in the evening. It is also “on the way” as we work our way from north to south, heading toward Marin, Monterey, Carmel and points south. In addition, we have some friends (the Bravo’s) who live nearby, so we have a chance each year to break bread and catch up on things.
We like to stay at the Napa Expo fairgrounds RV park. It’s about $60 per night, which is very reasonable considering it is : (a) summertime; and, (b) in big-time tourist country. The fairgrounds are quite extensive, and the mature trees (including many redwoods) are 70 to 100 feet tall. Plus, there’s lots of grass and wide avenues to walk within the walled-in fairgrounds.
And, did I mention, there are lots of restaurants, shops, and WINERIES in the area.
We’ve met some nice people here, and we still have four days to go.
Last week, we met Texans Herb and Tanya Bates. Herb has been involved in U.S. Naval aerospace work for decades, first as an enlisted guy, and now as a civilian employee. He’s a “techie”, and uses a lot of cool gadgets in the RV and at his home. The Bates have a very beautiful Country Coach Class A which Herb keeps in factory-new condition. The four of us spent a whole afternoon trading war stories, and then we topped it off by going to an upscale burger joint in Napa (Gott’s Roadside Diner).
Yesterday, Charlie and I spent the entire afternoon drinking and shooting the bull with another neighbor, a guy named Ron Tremblay. He’s traveling north (to Canada) from his home near Cabo San Lucas (in Baja California, Mexico). From what I can gather, Ron is a venture capitalist who is involved in some major projects in Mexico, one of which is a massive rare metal mining operation currently capitalized at $400 million. He’s the head honcho of that project.
Simultaneously, he is building a residential compound on a seashore acre of property that he owns near Los Cabos, Mexico. He invited us to visit in our RV; we may take him up on that! I’ve always wanted to “do the Baja” in our RV.
Ron says it’s about 900 miles and quite the adventure.
Ron and I spent quite a bit of blabbing after Charlie went inside to take a nap. He and I share a common opinion: that Donald Trump is a douchebag, at best.
While we were yakking for three hours, Ron’s dog, a 1 yr-old French Bulldog named “Samson” played grab-ass with Baby, our 1-1/2 yr-old Boston Terrier. They had a ball, chasing each other, wrestling, and fake fighting. Did I mention ball? Samson still has his (two), and he must have thought he’d met Delilah, because he attempted to nail Baby (who is spayed!) every time her back was turned. The two were so cute together, running around to exhaustion, and then plopping in the wading pool. I forgot to take a photo of Samson, Baby’s first boyfriend, but he looked something like this:
It was a hell of a first date: they could have made some cute babies together…only if. Their offspring could be “Frostons”…?
The huge Circo Hermanos Caballero entertainment extravaganza is setting up on a ten-acre parcel within the fairgrounds. It was here last year when we visited. It’s quite an operation, including a fleet of at least a dozen semi tractor trailer rigs, another dozen large RVs for the performers, and lots of smaller rigs for the roustabouts, etc.
The circus has no animals; instead, it features a family of acrobats and thrill takers, plus a flashy clown or two. Tickets for the performances are steep: $40 for adults, $20 for children. Last year, we saw people lined-up for blocks to get in, all of them Spanish-speaking, working class folks and their ninos. Judging by the enormity of the set-up, the Cabellero production must bring in many hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Their first performance in the evening after we leave town.
Yesterday, we headed east to Roseville for the day to attend a small barbeque at our friends’ (Ralph and Paula Bravo) home. The dogs played in the yard, swam in their wading pool, and tried to keep out of the heat.
It was a very nice day, weather-wise, and the Bravos treated us to some gourmet home cooked specialty appetizers and a nice barbequed ribeye dinner. We sat in their backyard after dinner for hours, enjoying the great view and their fire pit. When it got late, we decided to stay the night and drive back in the morning. Big mistake: small room, little bed, two humans and three dogs, and a steamy night. I don’t think I got 1 hour of sleep. But, everything considered, we had a great time at the Bravos house.
BTW, Ralph Bravo is another one of those nice immigrant stories. He was actually born in Cuba, is now a citizen, and runs a small independent insurance firm. His wife is an executive with a Sacramento bank where she specializes in commercial and small business loans. Their sons are college-educated; the one we met yesterday will be heading off to dental school next year.
Charlie and I have tentatively scheduled a return to the Napa Expo RV Park next year. However, we may not be welcome, as we have consistently violated the park policy re: “Dogs must be on leash at all times!”
It’s not that our dogs are roaming all over the fairgrounds; actually, they stick right next to our rig, on the grass, adjacent to our beach chairs and their wading pool. But, we’ve been visited a few times by the Camp Host, who has reminded us of the rule. We’re expecting a note on the door of our rig some morning telling us to “skeedaddle”. Or, an email from the fairgrounds management un-inviting us next year.
If it happens, so be it. Our dogs aren’t a problem to nobody.