Healdsburg

1933 Jameson
Originally uploaded by EricDrew.

We didn't take our camera but this is similar to the view we had of the vineyards in Dry Creek Valley, Healdsburg. The colours were much richer in person though.

Blogging in the dark

I figured that blogger would still let me post to my blog since it uses FTP. So here I am writing this when I know no one can read, so that you'll have fodder when Jillako.com is back in time for my birthday!! Sorry Sudhish, can't host your audio file for the obvious reason!

We had a really lazy Thanksgiving weekend, we didn't get out of bed till mid-morning for anything. Not for $100 5 Mega pixel cameras, not for $4 DVDs, not for beautiful winter sunrises, not for more oh-so-zinful wine! ;) You can say we are well rested!

What we did do was play Monopoly (the same as the game 'Trade' in India), Lord Of The Rings shtyle with Ranjit and Archana. It was fun even though I didn't win. Ranjit rode his newbie luck all the way.

On Saturday we made the long trip to Healdsburg, 2 hours north of where we are. It is in Sonoma County and a hotspot for Zinfandel growers. We took neighbour Darrell along for the ride, he is also a Zin lover. We only got to visit 3 wineries in famed Dry Creek Valley but it was absolutely worth it. The place was beautiful with the vineyards showing off fantastic fall colours. There were grapes planted everywhere you turned, just beautiful. We visited Yoakim Bridge, Bella and Preston.

All the wineries we visited were small, had a handful of wines that were almost exclusively red, dominated by Zinfandel and Syrah. We liked Bella the best because of the wonderful location, tasting in a cave, and wonderful wines. Another bonus, tasting was free. The other 2 charged. Preston had a great location too, with nice grounds that had picnic tables, a little organic garden and fresh baked bread made right there (sold out by the time we got there though). However the wine we felt was mediocre, especially compared to the others' stellar ones.

It was a busy day for the wineries and we felt it would be better to visit at a quieter time and we plan to do so, the single road that we traversed had 30+ wineries so there is plenty to check out. We forgot to take our camera along so I will try to find some on flickr.

Sure, you've read about pirates robbing ships...

but have you heard of it happen this recently? I find that pretty scary!

Update: There's more!

Nothing much to add by way of updates, I'm having a quiet weekend. Setting a few things right about the house, been wanting to do it and finally got enough energy to. I'm tired out now though.

Maybe I'll ride my new bike tomorrow. Oh yeah, didn't let y'all know about that - I got a new Trek 7200, a basic bike to commute to work. It's my birthday present (about 20 days early) from App. :)

Got rid of another mouse last night, they keep coming from somewhere. The count is up to 7 now, if I remember right!

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My current wine is a bottle of Abrazo Del Toro 2004 Garnacha-Tempranillo from Spain, cheap at $3.99 but so bad that I wouldn't buy it at half that price. The previous wine (App was around for this) was Rosenblum's Jingalu Shiraz, an unusual and awesome wine. Rosenblum is based in Alameda (about 30 mins from here) but the Shiraz was made in South Australia. It has a good looking label with an Australian painting and good structure and flavour, worth buying again!

The cheap Blockbuster card saves the day.

So I got us locked out of the home this morning while trying to drop App at the airport. I was at the car with the luggage before I realized I had no car key on me. Waitaminit, that means no house key also!! "App, DON'T CLOSE THE DOOR!", I ran back yelling. Too late, the door was closed and there stood App, confused. Obviously, she didn't have her key on her. This is normal, so I am not surprised.

We're still in our wi-fi range so she logs on to the net, finds a locksmith, makes an emergency call. It will be 20-45 minutes, they say. She gives up hope on making her flight, logs on to Southwest and changes her booking to the next flight (Btw, I think this ability is awesome; It's why SouthWest keeps its passengers). In the meanwhile I try to find a way into the house. I go around the back, climb on our neighbour's wall, try to jump onto our patio. However, I give up halfway, not wanting to add additional medical expenses to the already expected locksmith expenses.

App mentions the hairpin method; I tell her that it only works on bathroom type locks. I try to slide a business card to locate where the lock meets the door and find the spot. The paper card is not strong enough for the lock to give but an old credit card might help. I start rifling though App's purse, to find a small carload of plastic cards. I zeroed in on the Blockbuster membership card I didn't even know that we had. It was laminated, strong yet flexible. Perfect for my needs. I slide it in deftly and in 5 seconds, the door is open! Appa! What a relief.

Thanks to Blockbuster and thanks to the Hardy Boys (remember them?) for showing it can be done. :)

We called and canceled the locksmith.

Bye Bye 2001 Honda Civic EX 4 Door Automatic, Silver Color Sedan

Thanks for (nearly) 5 wonderful years, you were the best! We hope you had fun too, best of luck on the road ahead.
We love you, thanks for the memories!