Juice of the vine

A quick start today, heading North on Highway 101 to Healdsburg or 'Wine Central'! Healdsburg has a quaint old-town feel with its town square park area surrounded by wine tasting establishments and boutique shops.

We sampled the coffee at the Flying Goat and then engaged in conversation with a local dog walker before calling-in the Visitor Information Centre, where the advisoer was more interested in the Royal Family than our day out! Anyway, he supplied maps and kindly highlighted two places that we had already pencilled-in, to visit. Back onto the 101, we drove a few miles North before exiting for the Francis Ford Coppola Winery. Having visited it previously we knew what to expect. Its a vast vineyard on which stands a sizable chateau, complete with swimming pool and restaurants.

The weather was perfect and after admiring Francis' collection of film memorabilia, (including the desk from The Godfather) we sat by the pool and enjoyed some of Francis's Zinfandel!

Oddly, we bumped into a nice couple (Frank and Vicky) from Vancouver, who had emigrated from Manchester! Frank had even attended my old school! After swapping stories, we set off for Ferrari Carron, another beautiful Vineyard with a fabulous chateau and gardens. (No wine tasting for us though!).

By mid-afternoon we were ready to head South, to our Santa Rosa base and another opportunity to contact Sirius XM. Following a complex operation which required Pat to maintain telephone contact with Anna (Sirius XM support contact, who loves UK TV!) as I operated the car radio (two floors below!), we finally gained access to the full range of Sirius channels! Result!! To end the day we took a hike down to Downtown Santa Rosa, to see the Mall and then have dinner at Third Street Ale House (Chili and Caesar Salad ..... yum!). Of course, Frank and Vicky called in and we shared a drink, to round off a day of remarkable coincidences. Spooky!! And finally, the Rolling Stones 'Nineteenth Nervous Breakdown' to play us out: