Off and running

April 25, 2010
Buellton, CA

We hit the road as planned last Thursday afternoon, heading west for California. After a quick overnight at the Morongo Casino just west of Palm Springs (almost froze our tushies off Thursday night!), we pulled into our destination at Flying Flags RV "Resort" in Buellton, in the heart of Santa Ynez Valley wine country. Geri's nephew, Rick, was waiting for us, having driven over from his home in California City. Yes, this trip is about family business, not "vacation".

We quickly set up and headed for Lompoc, about 16 miles west. We stopped at the local bank, where I completed the paperwork needed to get Rick added to Geri's sister's (Rick's mother's) banking relationship, so he can help manage some of her finances. We then took Kathy to visit a local Assisted Living facility (yes, it's time for her to get more assistance than she can get at home), and we picked out her room. Rick will get her moved in at the end of the month. We then headed for a local restaurant for a nice dinner.

Saturday was all about wine for us. We "belong" to four different "wine clubs" in the area, and have the periodic "shipments" held for us, since we're not in AZ all year and the summer heat will kill wines. We prefer to pick them up, and we hit three of the four (Fiddlehead, D'Alfonso-Curran, and Lincourt) on Saturday, along with a stop at Foley, one of Geri's favorites. One of the nice things about being "members" is that tastings are complimentary, so we had quite a good time. We had paninis at Chef's Touch in Solvang, right next door to D'Alfonso-Curran, and enjoyed those as well.

Today, we took Kathy for lunch and a ride in the country, heading to the fourth of the wineries, Tres Hermanas, which is quite a way out on the Foxen Canyon Wine Trail. On the way back, we stopped at the coach and picked up the dogs, who spent the rest of the ride hanging out with Kathy in the back seat. She really enjoyed that!

Tonight, we went to dinner at the Hitching Post right near us in Buellton, which was good but not great (Geri's filet looked and tasted more like top sirloin, the local chanterelles were on the tough side, and the whole meal was too salty - my, we're picky!) but convenient and has a good selection of well-priced local wines.

Overall, it was a good visit, albeit a bit stressful. Tomorrow, the adventure continues - but more on that later...