Susie was very grateful. For both the belly-rub, and the repair work.
Jenny
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Hot dog
The air conditioning in my apartment has not been working. The cat didn't mind a bit, but Susie and I... let's just say there's nothing worse than living with a hot, sweaty, itchy Basset Hound in a hot apartment with no air conditioning.
This afternoon, the very nice maintenance man came to rub Susie's belly.
Oh. And fix the air conditioning.
Susie was very grateful. For both the belly-rub, and the repair work.
Jenny
Susie was very grateful. For both the belly-rub, and the repair work.
Jenny
More vacation pictures...
I thought it would take no time to throw up some pictures and a little narrative of our vacation, but how can you take practically the best week EVER, and put it into words? Even the pictures don't do it justice. Have you ever seen the commercials for California cheese? Yes. It's true. Even the cows are happy in California! (We drove by several... they did look rather pleased.)
OK... back to our vacation. I'm getting out of order with the wineries. Cakebread is a favorite of Bryan and his Mom. "Cakebread" is the last name of the founder, Jack. He was in Napa taking photographs for a book, and ended up buying a ranch and founding Cakebread Cellars. 
I didn't take many pictures there, but it was a beautiful winery. 
We ended up buying some of their Zinfandel, which is only available at the winery. I also picked up several recipe cards designed to pair with their particular wines.
Ehler's Estate was the only certified organic winery that we visited. It took them five years to achieve this coveted status. (Bryan says, "That means they use poop for fertilizer.") The tour was very interesting, and they pointed out that they plant certain "weeds" in strategic locations to attract insects that would otherwise feed on the grapevines.
Aside from being the only certified organic winery, Ehlers is also unique in that 100% of the profit from the sale of the wine goes to the Laducq Foundation. The Laducq Foundation is a not-for-profit group founded in 1996 by Jean Laducq, who also owned Ehlers. The Foundation funds international research for cardiovascular disease, which Laducq suffered from. He passed away in 2002, and left Ehlers in trust to the Foundation.
While we were waiting for our tour, we enjoyed the shady courtyard. The olive trees planted by Laducq were never pruned for producing olives, so they were HUGE. 
Ehlers was perhaps most memorable because of the delicious food pairings they served with their wine. We first tasted the wine alone, and then again with a carefully selected food pairing. It actually enhanced the taste of the wine dramatically!
This is Darioush.
From the outward appearance to the cocophany of music and bustling people inside, it was easy to see that Darioush came from influences other than that of the typical Napa Valley winery. The founder, Darioush Khaledi, was born and raised in Iran. His father produced wine as a hobby. Darioush moved to Southern California in the 1970's. After collecting wine for many years, he embarked on a search for the perfect estate vineyard in the 1990's. In 2004, Darioush began welcoming guests to it's visitor center and winery. It is rich with Persian influence, and the architecture is magnificent. In fact, one of the employees remarked, "The magntitude of the building is disproportionate to the amount of wine that is produced." (Limited production is a good thing, ensuring that the only the best fruit goes into the wine.)
The picture below is looking up at the pillars in front of the visitor's center.
I am ordinarily not inclined to buy a t-shirt as a souvenir, but after driving to Pride Mountain, I owed it to my body as a merit badge of sorts. The t-shirt reads, "I survived the drive to Pride!" The winery is near the top of Spring Mountain, which calls for a drive up the winding-est road I've personally ever been on! Bryan thoroughly enjoyed the drive, while I, on the other hand, longed for the long, straight roads of Indiana. 
The property was just beautiful. The tour guide, Jason, was very personable and informative. He also happens to be a trained Chef. Here he is "stealing" wine from a barrel for us to sample. The glass do-dad he is using with his right hand to siphon is called a "wine thief." 
You might have noticed that he is in a cave. Pride Mountain stores their wines in a cave, which provides the ideal temperature and humidity for aging. 
We learned about Pride Mountain about a year ago. I had planned to make dinner for Bryan (I can't remember the occasion), and wanted to buy a special bottle of wine. It's not always easy to find a great wine to drink the very night you buy it, but the wine store recommended a bottle of Pride Mountain Merlot. We loved it!
Jason taught us some of the methods Pride Mountain uses for growing grapes on the mountain. I can't recall them specifically, but I do recall him mentioning that the viognier grape is quite finicky, and "if you look at it the wrong way, it just won't produce grapes that year." Here it is below. 
We got to sample some of the viognier juice (not wine) mixed with Brandy. It tasted like thin honey. It was delicious.
I took the picture above to show the "grafting" of one type of grape onto an existing vine. The middle part that looks like a post is one type of vine, and the two side extensions are another type that was grafted on. 
How the vines are allowed to grow and kept under control is referred to as "trellising." In this picture, the vine grows off to one side, and has "horns" that grow off of the main vine. During the tour, Jason mentioned that there are a specific number of shoots that they allow to grow off of each horn, to focus the vine's nutrients into the grapes. Too many shoots/grapes, would spread the nutrients too thin, and not make quality grapes.
We also got to meet Corky and Rocky, the two Clydesdale horses that work at Pride Mountain. Actually, there's a third, Surf, whom we didn't meet. He's much younger than Corky and Rocky, who are around 29 years old. (I just read that Clydesdales typically live into their teens or early 20s.) The trio are cared for by a fellow named Mario. His only job is to maintain the three, and everyday takes Corky and Rocky out for exercise with their wagon. In their youth, they used to take winery visitors on the tour. Mario stopped for us to pet them, but I didn't get my camera out in time to take a picture of their faces. This will have to do:
And if you look very closely at the picture below, you will see them coming up the gravel road.
That's all for now, but before I go, I just have to include one more happy cow picture...
Jenny
OK... back to our vacation. I'm getting out of order with the wineries. Cakebread is a favorite of Bryan and his Mom. "Cakebread" is the last name of the founder, Jack. He was in Napa taking photographs for a book, and ended up buying a ranch and founding Cakebread Cellars. 
I didn't take many pictures there, but it was a beautiful winery. 
We ended up buying some of their Zinfandel, which is only available at the winery. I also picked up several recipe cards designed to pair with their particular wines.
Ehler's Estate was the only certified organic winery that we visited. It took them five years to achieve this coveted status. (Bryan says, "That means they use poop for fertilizer.") The tour was very interesting, and they pointed out that they plant certain "weeds" in strategic locations to attract insects that would otherwise feed on the grapevines.
Aside from being the only certified organic winery, Ehlers is also unique in that 100% of the profit from the sale of the wine goes to the Laducq Foundation. The Laducq Foundation is a not-for-profit group founded in 1996 by Jean Laducq, who also owned Ehlers. The Foundation funds international research for cardiovascular disease, which Laducq suffered from. He passed away in 2002, and left Ehlers in trust to the Foundation.
While we were waiting for our tour, we enjoyed the shady courtyard. The olive trees planted by Laducq were never pruned for producing olives, so they were HUGE. 
Ehlers was perhaps most memorable because of the delicious food pairings they served with their wine. We first tasted the wine alone, and then again with a carefully selected food pairing. It actually enhanced the taste of the wine dramatically!
This is Darioush.
From the outward appearance to the cocophany of music and bustling people inside, it was easy to see that Darioush came from influences other than that of the typical Napa Valley winery. The founder, Darioush Khaledi, was born and raised in Iran. His father produced wine as a hobby. Darioush moved to Southern California in the 1970's. After collecting wine for many years, he embarked on a search for the perfect estate vineyard in the 1990's. In 2004, Darioush began welcoming guests to it's visitor center and winery. It is rich with Persian influence, and the architecture is magnificent. In fact, one of the employees remarked, "The magntitude of the building is disproportionate to the amount of wine that is produced." (Limited production is a good thing, ensuring that the only the best fruit goes into the wine.)
The picture below is looking up at the pillars in front of the visitor's center.
I am ordinarily not inclined to buy a t-shirt as a souvenir, but after driving to Pride Mountain, I owed it to my body as a merit badge of sorts. The t-shirt reads, "I survived the drive to Pride!" The winery is near the top of Spring Mountain, which calls for a drive up the winding-est road I've personally ever been on! Bryan thoroughly enjoyed the drive, while I, on the other hand, longed for the long, straight roads of Indiana. 
The property was just beautiful. The tour guide, Jason, was very personable and informative. He also happens to be a trained Chef. Here he is "stealing" wine from a barrel for us to sample. The glass do-dad he is using with his right hand to siphon is called a "wine thief." 
You might have noticed that he is in a cave. Pride Mountain stores their wines in a cave, which provides the ideal temperature and humidity for aging. 
We learned about Pride Mountain about a year ago. I had planned to make dinner for Bryan (I can't remember the occasion), and wanted to buy a special bottle of wine. It's not always easy to find a great wine to drink the very night you buy it, but the wine store recommended a bottle of Pride Mountain Merlot. We loved it!
Jason taught us some of the methods Pride Mountain uses for growing grapes on the mountain. I can't recall them specifically, but I do recall him mentioning that the viognier grape is quite finicky, and "if you look at it the wrong way, it just won't produce grapes that year." Here it is below. 
We got to sample some of the viognier juice (not wine) mixed with Brandy. It tasted like thin honey. It was delicious.
I took the picture above to show the "grafting" of one type of grape onto an existing vine. The middle part that looks like a post is one type of vine, and the two side extensions are another type that was grafted on. 
How the vines are allowed to grow and kept under control is referred to as "trellising." In this picture, the vine grows off to one side, and has "horns" that grow off of the main vine. During the tour, Jason mentioned that there are a specific number of shoots that they allow to grow off of each horn, to focus the vine's nutrients into the grapes. Too many shoots/grapes, would spread the nutrients too thin, and not make quality grapes.
We also got to meet Corky and Rocky, the two Clydesdale horses that work at Pride Mountain. Actually, there's a third, Surf, whom we didn't meet. He's much younger than Corky and Rocky, who are around 29 years old. (I just read that Clydesdales typically live into their teens or early 20s.) The trio are cared for by a fellow named Mario. His only job is to maintain the three, and everyday takes Corky and Rocky out for exercise with their wagon. In their youth, they used to take winery visitors on the tour. Mario stopped for us to pet them, but I didn't get my camera out in time to take a picture of their faces. This will have to do:
And if you look very closely at the picture below, you will see them coming up the gravel road.
That's all for now, but before I go, I just have to include one more happy cow picture...Jenny
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Updates and more vacation pictures!
First, I should apologize for the lengthy delay in posting. I had "part 1" of my rhizotomy on Thursday. Part 2 will follow on June 5. They did the left side of vertebrae T5,6,7, and 8. This procedure disrupts the nerves ability to transmit pain signals to the brain. While I have been in an unbelievable amount of pain since the procedure (the burning of the nerves also burns healthy tissue and muscle, thus causing pain and inflammation), I am so hopeful and excited to have less pain on a daily basis.
Without further delay, I'd love to share more pictures from our vacation. The first winery we visited was Artesa, which also happened to be the location of Bryan's marriage proposal.
Artesa is built into the side of a mountain/hill, and is reminiscent of Mayan architecture. It has been said that you can occasionally see Mountain lions on the surrounding hills and mountains. We, fortunately, did not.
The grounds of the winery are breathtaking. There are several fountains and numerous scultpures. We even saw a huge lizard in the parking lot. Sadly, he had fallen victim to a motor vehicle and appeared to have a head injury. I used appropriate discretion and chose not to photograph him, though his immense size was definitely memorable.
After visiting Artesa, we had a short drive to Robert Mondavi Winery. Bryan chose this winery for our visit with their incredible guided tour in mind. Mondavi was raised by poor Italian immigrants, but his entrepreneurial spirit and work ethic drove him to the heights of success in the wine-making business. He founded the first winery in Napa Valley following the prohibition. Many credit him with making Napa Valley wine famous and a fierce rival to the world-famous French wine-makers. 
The famous arch beckons visitors to enjoy the lush grounds and beautiful vines. This structure is also featured on the label of Mondavi wines.
I was so excited to see the grape vines up close. The viticultural science of growing grapes is complex and delicate. Some of the wineries we visited had a staff of vine workers who were employed on a year-round basis. Others had seasonal employees I like to refer to as "migrant guest workers." The month of May is a busy one in the fields. The workers were "suckering' the vines. They go through the vines and pull a number of leaves and shoots from each one, to ensure that the energy and sugar the plant produces will go into making quality grapes, not excess leaves and shoots.
In the picture above, if you look close in the center of the leaf cluster, you can see a cluster of tiny grapes developing.
The tour at Mondavi was terrific. The guide was a knowledgable fellow with an engaging personality. He was very warm, and indulged we participants by offering to take pictures. Here is one of Bryan and I.
This was taken in their cellar, where the wine will age for a number of months, to years, in the oak barrels. Robert Mondavi appreciated asthetics in wine making, and as the French winemakers would do, he stained the middle portion of the barrels with the wine to make the barrels look more uniform. You see, the oak barrels "drink in" the wine and some evaporates, necessitating that the barrels be topped off regularly. If the middle portion of the barrel was plain and unstained, the topping off of the barrel would undoubtedly leave streaks and splashes of red wine. Staining the barrels beforehand lends to a very organized and beautiful cellar. 
The cellars are kept at a cool 55-56 degrees with carefully monitored humidity. It was always a welcome treat to visit the cellars after being out in the 80 degree weather. I am not complaining, mind you, after the Spring Indiana has experienced, the weather was a delight!
One thing I noticed in Napa Valley was how well roses seem to grow. The wineries will often plant rosebushes at the end of the rows of grapes. There are various legendary reasons for this, but the guide said it was just to make sure that the lawn mowers didn't accidently run over the grape vines. Whatever the reason, they were gorgeous, and I couldn't help taking pictures of them.
One of the wineries we were most looking forward to visiting, especially Bryan, was Opus One. The history of Opus One dates back to the '70s, when Robert Mondavi and Baron Phillipe de Rothschild meet and Baron proposes a joint venture for the two. It was not until 1979 and 1980 that the first vintages were released, and immediately, Opus One was reknowned as an ultra-premium wine. There is only one release per year, and the composition can vary immensely. All of the work throughout the year is poured into one masterpiece bottle of wine, hence the name "Opus One." 
We were also treated to a guided tour at Opus One. The building was magnificent, and you can see the in view from the front that the entrance is flanked by Olive trees. The Valley is home to TONS of Olive trees, which are also especially well suited to the climate. Here you can see tiny clusters of olives.
The cellar at Opus One is similar in appearance to the Mondavi cellar, as Mondavi was highly influenced by the French and their asthetic approach to wine making. You can see that the barrels are stained in a similar fashion.
Opus One was in the process of replanting some vines. The typical age for replanting vines is 25-30 years, but some wineries we visited kept their vines for much longer. Here are some of the "baby" vines at Opus One.
They were in the process of painting the pergola during our visit, but we were able to climb to the terrace, which offered a beautiful view of the grounds. 
A funny little side note about the day we visited Opus One... It started out as "one of those days." I forgot to put on deodorant, Bryan forgot his camera, and there was no time for breakfast. As it turned out, we had a fantastic day, and my lack of deodorant was ample fodder to supply Bryan with a week's worth of teasing!
I hope you enjoyed this installment of our vacation. There's more to come.
Jenny
Artesa is built into the side of a mountain/hill, and is reminiscent of Mayan architecture. It has been said that you can occasionally see Mountain lions on the surrounding hills and mountains. We, fortunately, did not.
The grounds of the winery are breathtaking. There are several fountains and numerous scultpures. We even saw a huge lizard in the parking lot. Sadly, he had fallen victim to a motor vehicle and appeared to have a head injury. I used appropriate discretion and chose not to photograph him, though his immense size was definitely memorable.
After visiting Artesa, we had a short drive to Robert Mondavi Winery. Bryan chose this winery for our visit with their incredible guided tour in mind. Mondavi was raised by poor Italian immigrants, but his entrepreneurial spirit and work ethic drove him to the heights of success in the wine-making business. He founded the first winery in Napa Valley following the prohibition. Many credit him with making Napa Valley wine famous and a fierce rival to the world-famous French wine-makers. 
The famous arch beckons visitors to enjoy the lush grounds and beautiful vines. This structure is also featured on the label of Mondavi wines.
I was so excited to see the grape vines up close. The viticultural science of growing grapes is complex and delicate. Some of the wineries we visited had a staff of vine workers who were employed on a year-round basis. Others had seasonal employees I like to refer to as "migrant guest workers." The month of May is a busy one in the fields. The workers were "suckering' the vines. They go through the vines and pull a number of leaves and shoots from each one, to ensure that the energy and sugar the plant produces will go into making quality grapes, not excess leaves and shoots.
In the picture above, if you look close in the center of the leaf cluster, you can see a cluster of tiny grapes developing.
The tour at Mondavi was terrific. The guide was a knowledgable fellow with an engaging personality. He was very warm, and indulged we participants by offering to take pictures. Here is one of Bryan and I.
This was taken in their cellar, where the wine will age for a number of months, to years, in the oak barrels. Robert Mondavi appreciated asthetics in wine making, and as the French winemakers would do, he stained the middle portion of the barrels with the wine to make the barrels look more uniform. You see, the oak barrels "drink in" the wine and some evaporates, necessitating that the barrels be topped off regularly. If the middle portion of the barrel was plain and unstained, the topping off of the barrel would undoubtedly leave streaks and splashes of red wine. Staining the barrels beforehand lends to a very organized and beautiful cellar. 
The cellars are kept at a cool 55-56 degrees with carefully monitored humidity. It was always a welcome treat to visit the cellars after being out in the 80 degree weather. I am not complaining, mind you, after the Spring Indiana has experienced, the weather was a delight!
One thing I noticed in Napa Valley was how well roses seem to grow. The wineries will often plant rosebushes at the end of the rows of grapes. There are various legendary reasons for this, but the guide said it was just to make sure that the lawn mowers didn't accidently run over the grape vines. Whatever the reason, they were gorgeous, and I couldn't help taking pictures of them.
One of the wineries we were most looking forward to visiting, especially Bryan, was Opus One. The history of Opus One dates back to the '70s, when Robert Mondavi and Baron Phillipe de Rothschild meet and Baron proposes a joint venture for the two. It was not until 1979 and 1980 that the first vintages were released, and immediately, Opus One was reknowned as an ultra-premium wine. There is only one release per year, and the composition can vary immensely. All of the work throughout the year is poured into one masterpiece bottle of wine, hence the name "Opus One." 
We were also treated to a guided tour at Opus One. The building was magnificent, and you can see the in view from the front that the entrance is flanked by Olive trees. The Valley is home to TONS of Olive trees, which are also especially well suited to the climate. Here you can see tiny clusters of olives.
The cellar at Opus One is similar in appearance to the Mondavi cellar, as Mondavi was highly influenced by the French and their asthetic approach to wine making. You can see that the barrels are stained in a similar fashion.
Opus One was in the process of replanting some vines. The typical age for replanting vines is 25-30 years, but some wineries we visited kept their vines for much longer. Here are some of the "baby" vines at Opus One.
They were in the process of painting the pergola during our visit, but we were able to climb to the terrace, which offered a beautiful view of the grounds. 
A funny little side note about the day we visited Opus One... It started out as "one of those days." I forgot to put on deodorant, Bryan forgot his camera, and there was no time for breakfast. As it turned out, we had a fantastic day, and my lack of deodorant was ample fodder to supply Bryan with a week's worth of teasing!
I hope you enjoyed this installment of our vacation. There's more to come.
Jenny
Monday, May 18, 2009
San Francisco... (Vacation, part II)
If you want to get technical, I should have posted this entry first, since San Francisco was where we arrived and spent the first day. After we landed, we drove down to Fisherman's Wharf, home of Pier 39 and the famous sea lions. Click here for more information on Fisherman's Wharf and to read the story of the sea lions. Or, you can just enjoy the pictures of the malodorous beasts by scrolling down. (Yes, I said malodorous. Bryan thinks the smell was just from the bay, but I only noticed it near the sea lions...)
Most of the sea lions were pretty good sized ones, but there were one or two smaller fellows we noticed. They weren't as adept at hefting their bodies up on the piers as the older, larger ones. 
We enjoyed some fresh dungeoness crab while at the wharf, and some clam chowder. The sea lions dine on the herring found in the bay. There were hundreds of seagulls and pigeons who preferred to eat whatever the humans were eating.
I almost forgot... you can see Alcatraz from the pier. Far away it looks statuesque and somewhat beautiful. Up close, it's dilapidated and run down, and home to hundreds of black sea birds.
We walked up to Ghirardelli Square and watched them make the famous chocolate. We sampled a free square of milk chocolate with peanut butter filling (twice).
We also walked up to famous Lombard Street. There are seven curves to get to the bottom. The streets are incredibly steep in the city. The cars all have to park at either 90 degree angles to the side of the road, or with their tires turned into the curb.
The majority of the city is beautiful. You can tell the residents take a lot of pride in the appearance of the city. Here is some beautiful artwork on one of the buildings we walked by.
We saw a lemon tree in someone's front yard, too. We rode a cable car on our last day down to Union Square, and also rode by China Town. Bryan said that China Town is home to the largest Chinese population in the world outside of mainland China. I took a shot of the Golden Gate Bridge from the car window.
We drove up to the coast on Thursday. There was an incredible difference in temperature as we drove toward the coast. In less than a 20 minute drive, the temperature dropped 28 degrees!! There was also a dense, cool, fog. 
It was so cold and windy that we would jump out of the car at the lookouts, take a couple of pictures, and then run back to the car.
The flowers on the coast are very hardy and almost rubbery in texture. They are well suited to the constant wind!
The beach above is named "Arched Rock Beach." Can you tell why? There's an arched rock in the middle of the picture that water flows under.
That's all for this time. Next up... wineries!
Jenny
Most of the sea lions were pretty good sized ones, but there were one or two smaller fellows we noticed. They weren't as adept at hefting their bodies up on the piers as the older, larger ones. 
We enjoyed some fresh dungeoness crab while at the wharf, and some clam chowder. The sea lions dine on the herring found in the bay. There were hundreds of seagulls and pigeons who preferred to eat whatever the humans were eating.
I almost forgot... you can see Alcatraz from the pier. Far away it looks statuesque and somewhat beautiful. Up close, it's dilapidated and run down, and home to hundreds of black sea birds.
We walked up to Ghirardelli Square and watched them make the famous chocolate. We sampled a free square of milk chocolate with peanut butter filling (twice).
We also walked up to famous Lombard Street. There are seven curves to get to the bottom. The streets are incredibly steep in the city. The cars all have to park at either 90 degree angles to the side of the road, or with their tires turned into the curb.
The majority of the city is beautiful. You can tell the residents take a lot of pride in the appearance of the city. Here is some beautiful artwork on one of the buildings we walked by.
We saw a lemon tree in someone's front yard, too. We rode a cable car on our last day down to Union Square, and also rode by China Town. Bryan said that China Town is home to the largest Chinese population in the world outside of mainland China. I took a shot of the Golden Gate Bridge from the car window.
We drove up to the coast on Thursday. There was an incredible difference in temperature as we drove toward the coast. In less than a 20 minute drive, the temperature dropped 28 degrees!! There was also a dense, cool, fog. 
It was so cold and windy that we would jump out of the car at the lookouts, take a couple of pictures, and then run back to the car.
The flowers on the coast are very hardy and almost rubbery in texture. They are well suited to the constant wind!
The beach above is named "Arched Rock Beach." Can you tell why? There's an arched rock in the middle of the picture that water flows under.
That's all for this time. Next up... wineries!
Jenny
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