We headed out of Missoula and took a side trip to the town of Arlee to get some wholesale fireworks, making the boys very happy. Stay tuned for a big 4th of July! We then headed south through Idaho and spent the night in Pocatello. We planned on a long drive the next day to get us close to Reno, where we planned to stay Thursday night and visit the Green's. But, we ended up with an even bigger drive and went all the way to Reno as there was really no place to stay in this really boring desert area of Nevada. We got in late and spent the night at the Grand Sierra Casino, where we have stayed before during the Air Races. This gave us the next morning to swim in the pool and run some errands before we headed to the Green's that afternoon. It was great to see them and their three kids! The kids played in the yard and then we went to the local casino/restaurant for a fun dinner....kids eat free! The kids (all 6 of them, the big boys acting like kids) had fun in the arcade afterwards. It was great to catch up with Ken and Patty!
We left early on Friday morning in order to get to Mammoth for an appointment with the owner of the Side Door Cafe and Wine Bar before the Wine Walk tasting that evening. Back at Venteux, Shelly had set all this up for us and we were warmly greeted by Brooke, Shields, Lauren and those in charge of the event. The meeting with Shields went well and we are excited to have Venteux wines now represented there! It will also be nice to have a great excuse to visit Mammoth occasionally. Jake took it upon himself to be our marketer during Friday night's event by giving our brochure to guests and telling them to visit our booth. He won over many guests and even got his photo taken for the local newspaper. Having lived in Mammoth in 1978-1980 (major earthquakes!!), it was really fun to see all the changes. It is a beautiful area. Saturday was the big event with the Wine and Music Festival, held at the Woods site. It was sold out with 3,500 tickets. We did not stop pouring the entire event and we loved the great feedback we got about the wines. Our last night of this grand road trip was spent at a non-road food restaurant, Petra's Bistro and Wine Bar. It was fantastic! Yes, we like Mammoth!
We had one last scenic drive on our way home on Sunday through Yosemite National Park. It was a beautiful cool morning and the drive over Tioga Pass was gorgeous. We certainly live in a beautiful state! Now, we are heading across the Hwy 46, back in familiar territory, almost home. Our trip has certainly been a trip of a lifetime for us and a great learning experience for Jake. We have seen many new things, revisited important places from our pasts, and visited many friends and family. We have been through 19 states plus Canada and have put nearly 8,000 miles on the odometer. The "Cabin Quest" turned out to be fantastic. We accomplished all we planned and then some. Our lives are enriched with many new experiences and stories. And we're thankful we were in the truck, instead of the van! Not sure if we would have survived in the van, no matter how cool we would have looked. The Shasta has been great...only a few little road dings and one broken window, not bad for all the miles. Now it's time to get home, get Jake to school, open up the B&B, get wine bottled, gear up for harvest, lose many pounds, and basically get back to our great life in Templeton!!
We were treated royally by many friends and family! We want to thank everybody who made our trip so special! The B'Nalley's (for house sitting and spoiling the animals!) Kristi, Kevin & Nick, Joan, Sherman and the guys from the Estrella Warbirds Museum, Paige, Len, Aunt Kendall, Gwynne, Russ, Tyler, Miranda, Casey, Uncle Ron, Aunt Jeanne, Brett & Jennifer Summer, Sharon, Alan, Andrew, Ryan & Brandon, Andre, Sue, Les & Mark, Joe, Carmen & Joey Wolochuck, The folks at Aperitif Restaurant, Don and Mimi Eastep, of course Logan!, Ken & Patty and the folks from the Mammoth Wine Festival. Also thanks to Shelly for keeping things running smoothly at Venteux and Mom and Dad for taking care of Vinnie post B'Nallyes! We are pulling in the drive way.....end of Post! Home at last!! We are headed to Mom and Dad's house for dinner!! We are so excited to see them and Vinnie, our kitty!
Longtime friends, Ken & Patty Green, are now residents of Reno, NV.
The Green's have a fun backyard for the kids to play!
Ken and Scott took the kids to the arcade...
but think they spent most of the quarters on themselves!
The Green Family: Patty, Ken, Lauren (5), Lana (7) and Landon (5)
19 States and and 1 Canadian Provence later, back in California!
Scott with Shields Richardson, owner of the Side Door Cafe & Wine Bar in Mammoth Lakes.
Ready for tasters!
Brooke Baumann (daughter of Sheilds Richardson) with Jake before the Friday Night Wine Walk.
Jake was a great helper during the events!
The band Train was the headliner at the festival on Saturday.
Scott's arm was soar after we poured through 3 cases to eager tasters. That's about 1000 tastings.
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Jay & Linda Adams: Some of our favorite Venteux Club Members came to the festival!
Watch out Clover! We stayed at Juniper Springs Lodge in Mammoth Lakes.
Heading over Tioga Pass into Yosemite National Park.
A beautiful drive through Yosemite was the grand finale of our road trip.
Our "Mourvedre on the move" bottle now has 7,830 miles on it
Mom and Dad made us an incredible "welcome home" dinner!!!!
These photos aren't loading right...but you get the idea! YUM!
How nice to come home to family and a lovely dinner!
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