The drive to Napa, CA (population 77,492), traversed the fertile Sacramento Valley. The flat farmland and grass-covered rolling hills couldn’t compete with the majestic scenery we’d seen all summer; however, it did have a certain attraction and clearly made a significant contribution to our country’s food production.
Our campground was east of downtown among the vineyards. The views were really easy on the eyes. We were assigned a very decent full-service site at a competitive price given the oftern-crowded popularity of wine country. Arriving late in the season surely helped.
At some point after leaving the Dempster Highway, MFI had tried using the oven and discovered it would not stay lit. The three stove-top burners worked fine, so we knew it was getting enough propane. She posited the thermal couple had failed due to excess vibration while on the Dempster, and we were unable to replace it while travelling. Since we were camped at the Skyline Wilderness Park in Napa, she contacted Bay Area Airstream Adventures in nearby Fairfield, CA and made an appointment for oven repairs.
We dropped Arthur off when Airstream Adventures first opened their gate that first morning. We felt as if he was in excellent hands and found a local restaurant for breakfast and coffee before returning to pick him up. The young couple operating the restaurant prepared a tasty avacado toast, made a perfect americano, and provided cordial attentive service. We’d luckily discovered another gem.
Arthur wasn’t ready when we returned to the shop, but they had a story for us. Before pulling the oven/stove, they performed a propane pressure check at the appliance and found it far below normal. In fact, the technician said he’d never in all his years seen a reading this low. Not wanting to pull the stove unnecessarily, they first replaced the regulator for our propane tanks hoping this would solve the problem and save us a lot of money. Nope! The tech was still getting the never-seen-before reading. They then pulled the unit, and this video shows what they found. Again, or should I say “still,” we cursed the Dempster Highway.
We stayed in the shop until the repairs were done. It took a total of 6 hours, but the outcome was worth the wait. This was our second experience with the Airstream Adventures company, and again, we found the people and service to be top-notch. We couldn’t continue doing what we’re doing without these road heroes. So grateful!
The second reason we chose to stop in Napa was its proximity toPetaluma, where our friends the Sikes lived. Spike Sikes was a musician who we met through son Jon years ago, and we’ve been friends with he and Catherine, long before they added sons Sheppard and Fisher. The night before we left Napa, we met the family at Gott’s Roadside restaurant, one of many retailers that comprised the Oxbow Public Market in downtown Napa. While Gott’s looked like just another burger joint, we enjoyed their modern approach to making California-inspired meals from locally sourced ingredients,… oh, and they served wine or beer. We had last seen Spike and Catherine years ago for dinner at Scoma’s, a classic seafood restaurant on San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf. It was so wonderful seeing them again, and made all the more special by meeting their sons Sheppard and Fisher. I sat across from the boys and had great conversations. Both were impressively intelligent. In brief, Sheppard was quite reserved and pensive, but when he spoke, his comments were right on point. Fisher was energetic and talkative, and had this been a party, he would have been the life of it. When I hugged Catherine for our goodbyes, I whispered how great their boys were. Our only regret was getting but one picture. Apologies to Fisher!
Our propensity and reputation for enjoying wine had clearly preceded us. The Sikes presented us with a bottle of red wine for an undeserved but highly appreciated gift. Spike and Sheppard were big racing fans, and they followed the career of driver turned vintner Kevin Buckler. We gratefully accepted and subsequently enjoyed B uckler’s bottle of REDLINE. Thanks for such a thoughtful gift.
We continued south through the San Joaquin Valley intending to drive directly to SLO (San Luis Obispo, population 47,063). The initial stretch was a mixed bag of scenery.
Somewhere early along the way, MFI stated she really wanted to stop in Salinas and visit a John Steinbeck museum. Why not. We’re retired and can go or not go anywhere we want. It was a slight diversion but another enjoyable experience. Steinbeck of course was a famous Nobel Prize-winning American author. Most folks our age have read his Pulitzer Prize-winning The Grapes of Wrath, which was widely considered his masterpiece and represented his literary exploration of fate and social injustice in the central and coastal California communities. The Center did an excellent job of chronicling his life and captured the complexities of his personality. We couldn’t get out of there before purchasing two volumes, which included 7 of his 33 books. We strongly recommend you visit.
From Salinas, we passed through the Salinas Valley headed to SLO. Saw more food-producing farmland, one incredibly strange UFO-looking cloud, and the famous thick coastal fog that seasonally creeps ashore. We stayed two nights at the Camp San Luis Obispo RV Park located on this tiny CA Army National Guard training facility just west of SLO. The campground only had 15 sites but was absolutely fine for our primary purpose, which was to take a tour of Hearst Castle in nearby Simeon, CA.
We bought our tour tickets online and went to the Castle the next morning. We ate breakfast in Simeon, then drove through the coastal clouds to the Castle entrance gate and Visitor Center. The Center housed the ticket office; a coffee shop; a museum covering the myriad of wall, floor, and ceiling finishes inside the Castle; and a dining area. From the rear of the Center, we got our initial view of the Castle on a hill high above us. While we were still two miles away from the Castle, the Center provided a genuine taste of what this property had to offer visitors.
Our tour was docent-guided and lasted over two hours. We saw so much and took so many pictures; I wrote a separate blog dedicated solely to Randolph Hearst, his architect Julia Morgan, and our incredible walk through the Castle, so please check that out for all the details.
The last thing we did before leaving Simeon was to drive 7 miles north of the Castle entrance to the Piedras Blancas Rookery. This rookery had the world’s easiest accessible platform for viewing elephant seals, and it was free to the public. We couldn’t pass up that opportunity. The exploitation of elephant seals and other marine mammals hunted for their oil-rich blubber dated back to 1700. Hunting industries flourished from this oil, until these mammals were nearly extinct by 1900. In fact, the northern elephant seal was believed to be extinct by 1920. But once they were given government protection status, and supported by restoration programs, populations slowly recovered in California.
We had packed a lot of sightseeing into one day, but the greater Los Angeles Basin was calling. Before leaving SLO city limits on the second morning, we had our morning fix at Starbucks.
