Exploring is what this lifestyle is all about and Calistoga has some great back roads. We took a drive up the Howell Mountain Range working our way to Middletown and then down to Lake Berryessa. Another trip on a less than average road when I exclaimed to Paul that we need a 4-wheel drive Jeep for the roads he finds! We didn’t meet anyone along the way and it was a good thing cause this was not even a 1 lane road! In fact we wanted to find a nice place to picnic and I pointed out that we could just stop in the road because even if someone were coming along they couldn’t pass! That is exactly what we did, found a sunny spot in the road where we could see some of the valley, popped the trunk and had our lunch!
We did make it to Middletown where Paul found the Calpine Geysers Visitors Center and of course we had to stop! It is not a very big place but they had lots of displays and the lady at the desk was a wealth of information and was able to answer all of Paul’s questions! We did find out that during most of the year they offer tours of the actual area where they operate the Geysers and Paul has it on his calendar for our next visit to Northern California.
From Middletown we headed east again into the foothills and came across a really nice winery Langtry Estate Winery, where we had to stop in and see what they have. This is a really large property and they grow all the grapes for their wines on the property but only sell to wine club and in the tasting room. We tried several good ones but they are a bit on the pricey side, $40 for Cab! No worries, I did buy a bottle of Port. It was outstanding. I am running out of room for all the wine I am buying, guess we better drink up!!!!
Now, on to Lake Berryessa which was our destination when we left today! Driving along the countryside we happened across an unique fence and I asked Paul to stop for a picture. It turns out it is the Litto’s Hubcap Ranch, a California Landmark!
We looked for an entrance and only found the monument. Darn, we were hoping for a tour! Anyway, on to Lake Berryessa.
We are driving and I am not really paying attention since Paul researched the road online and put the information into the gps. I am thinking we didn’t head far enough east but what do I know and who cares, we are seeing interesting stuff and it is a beautiful day. Suddenly we come upon a stoplight! There are not suppose to be stoplights out in the country and we should be getting close to the lake! Nope, Paul wasn’t paying attention to his little machine either and we end up coming back into town near Silverado Trail and the lake is behind us! We decide that we don’t want to go back since it is getting late and seeing the lake in the dark won’t be much fun so we will have to try again to get out and see the lake!!!