San Luis Obispo

I made my way to San Luis Obispo yesterday and am staying with the Johnston twins (Daughters of the of family that I rented a house from). They showed me a wonderful time and we partied like only college kids can...beer pong! Today I stuck out on my bike to explore the area and see if I would like to live here for a few years or so. To start, I really liked the drive into the area. 101 curved through the mountains and then dropped down to the valley or whatever this flattish bit is. The town is tiny but seems to have heaps of shops and stuff happening. It was really easy to get all over by bike. The surrounding view is of big mountains and big sky. From talking to people, there are tons of bike trails, hiking trails, rock climbing, and the beach is only 10 minuets away with lots of surfing. So far so good. The campus (albeit empty) looked brand new. Tomorrow ill go visit the admissions office and talk to them about getting in and hopefully visit their wine and viticulture department. Ill also check out the climbing gym since climbers (there is a not-for-profit gym in town) tend to think along my wavelength and see what they think of the area. Tuesday Ill make my way to the coast and take 1 back north to SanFran and stay there for a day with a friend.

Change of Plans

As of this Sunday, I have officially finished my second harvest. This week I worked primarily on finishing and bottling my wine. In the end I have about 5 cases total: 3 gallons skin fermented chardonnay, 4 gallons regular chardonnay, 4 gallons petite syrah rose, and 3 gallons of zinfandel port. Both the chardonnays are fabulous and drastically different from each other (even though they are from the same grapes). The rose is good, but a bit weighty. The port is...well it tastes like the inside of a barrel. I put waaay too much oak into the carboy and left it for waaay too long. But it is still delicious, extreme vanilla-cream with a very long soft, rich finish. It will be fun to see how they change in bottle. None were filtered but all were sulphured since the malo-ferment was either stopped early (in the case of the chards) or inhibited all together (in the case of the rose).

As for where ill be off to now...
I have talked to Jonathan in Sarasota and we have both decided that it would be in each of our best interests that I not head back to the store for the holidays. For me, I am looking forward to moving out to SLC and to spending the holidays with the family. For Jonathan, he has a good crew at the moment and needless to say the sales for this season are probably not going to break any records. So on that note, I will not be returning to Florida immediately. I will spend a week or so traveling around cali visiting schools and then head to SLC. I have decided that I like making wine a lot and that I might as well turn my dream of being a cellar rat into a carrier. Ill pursue several of the schools out here that offer degrees in oenology such as Cal Poly, Napa CC, and UC Davis. I will not be starting immediately though, probably not for a year or so. For this next half year I will either attempt to work in a brewery in SLC and see how that side of the alcohol industry treats me or I will head to South America and work a harvest there. I may even be able to do both since the harvest would only be from Feb-April and then work the summer in a brewery. Then next fall I am hoping to go to Europe for crush there. I would then try for school starting Spring of 2010.

As for Florida, ill most likely be back for a few weeks the end of December/beginning of January. Then I will clean out my stuff, put the house on the market, and say my goodbyes.

and that is where it stands at the moment.

As the world turns

Across America people have spoken out in a firm, loud, and clear voice. We were in the darkest of times and yet there is light on the horizon. From Florida to California in a little bar in Calistoga, I felt the hushed silence as the candidates spoke and the cheers as the first finished to the roars of ecstasy after the victor spoke. Now go hide your guns and spend all your money, tomorrow brings a bright new day when you will no longer need them.

Chard remains and wines

So last week I got to experience my very first California wild fire! I had seen a bunch of fire trucks around town and it seemed like something was up but there was nothing extremely alarming, that was until we were driving from St. Helena to Calistoga. There was a vintage party at the Co-Op warehouse where Neyers stores all their bottled wine where Marie and I dined on grilled chicken and various $50+ wines donated by the wineries that use the warehouse. On the way to Calisotga we looked up at the side of the mountain and saw a huge red glow and could even see the flames jumping up off the tree tops. It was amazing, and terrifying. Being night and not really knowing the geography all that well it look almost like the fire was right on top of the winery, or at the Neyers ranch! Rather than racing up the hill with shovels and hoses, we decided that the fire fighters would probably turn us back anyway and so headed to a bar to toast the 'toasted' remains of the winery. In the morning, as luck had it, the fire turned out to be several valleys over from where we worked, just downhill from Angwin in fact. There was quite a bit of burnage but from what I have heard, not much in the way of property dammage. There were a few wineries that couldnt do their pump-overs or punch-downs for a few days but they can just market thoes wines as "minimally processed". My next fear was that my trails had been burnt. I have been going to Los Pasados State Park quite a bit and riding my bike and that is right in Angwin, but luckley that was spared as well. I did snap this shot on my way up to the trails:


Today I worked on all my wines. Both the Chardonnays are done fermenting and are ready for malolactic fermentation. They were starting to pickup quite a bit of color (brown) from the oak chips though they really don't smell and taste all that oaky...but I racked them off anyway. When racking I did stir everything up and keep the lees as it will provide valuable nutrients to both the yeast and malolactic bacteria. The Rose is dry and has started malo which is something that I don't really want, it needs to be as crisp as possible so I have racked it off the sediment and added a bit of sulphur to stop malo, it should be ready to bottle in about a week. The little bit of malo might not be all that bad in the end, it will be quite a heavy rose and so a bit of softness will probably complement it, but no more than it has already done. Did I mention that I was making a port? Anyway, we pressed one of our Zins a while back that was not quite completely dry and I saved about 4 gallons that was left at the end of the press and in the hoses. To this I added 1.2 litres of brandy and about 12 toasted oak bungs. That might have been a bit too much oak....I tasted it yesterday and it is good, but it smelled and tasted like the inside of a barrel. It does have a very nice and creamy long finish though. It was interesting none the less and I will still bottle it. I racked it off the oak and sediment today as well.

We harvested the last of Cabernet and Merlot from the Neyers Ranch this weekend and will get the very last grapes of the 2008 vintage this Tuesday. Everything is sadly wrapping to a close but as I look back I realize how much I have learned and experienced in a little over two months.

Overall, from what I can tell, it has looked like quite a good vintage. There was a heat spike in late August and then it cooled quite down quite a bit. That coupled with lower than normal yields (looks like about 30% down, across the valley) has allowed everything to be harvested at leisure. There were no rushed pickings, no scrambling at the end, only picking when ready. Everything is ripe, ready, and sweet. So all in all, I give 2008 a thumbs up.

Here are some pictures of the Point Reyes National Seashore where I went last weekend for a bike ride:

10.8.08 Napa and around

So a lot has happened since my last post, been keeping quite busy. No time to write it all down so here are some pictures and recaps. In order:
My Chardonnays are coming along nicely, they are nearing dryness and are smelling great. The colors seem a bit darker in the pictures but never fear the one on the right (sans skins) is coming out quite clean. I drained the chard on the left off its skins last week and pressed the juice out with a colander so that it can finish up with no hidden sugars in the skins. It is amazing the difference between the two, the chardonnay fermented on skins has a bit of and earthy or gritty note and a bit of tannin and seems a bit appley while the other is very crisp, clean, and bright. The rose is just about dry as well. It has lot quite a bit of its flowery nose and is more fruit, which is a shame. It also has a bit of tannin to it and seems to be getting denser. In the end, it may turn out to be a flop but it was still fun to play with.

We harvested the Old Lakeville Syrah a while back and it is almost done fermenting.

Last tuesday our whole crew went to visit Quintessa. Amazing winery, they certainly spared no expense. They have one of the biggest plots of land on the valley floor. They also farm completely biodiamically a lot of which I like but a bit of it seem...gimmicky. It is agriculture so I think that working around the phases of the moon has a lot of validity but fermenting thistle in cow horns? Sounds like witchcraft. They did have new cement egg fermenters though, which have resonate somehow with me, I like how they feel, I like the idea of them, but not sure why.

Came home one night and Tom was skinning a deer he had just shot, hopefully they'll share!

Last weekend I headed to "The City" or San Francisco. There was a concert at the Golden Gate Park that lasted all Saturday and Sunday, the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival. Lots of good bands, the most notable of which was Gogol Bordello! This is the bike parking. Thank god I brought my bike into the city, I can only imagine what driving there would be like. If I ever lived there, I would go completely car-less.

More wines and an oyster adventure

Today we harvested the Thieriot vineyard for their chardonnay. This is the one chard that Neyers does with skin contact and almost without exposure to oxygen. We iced everything (Dry ice/co2): the bins, the juice tray, the tank, the barrels, even gassed the line. And we did skin contact for about 2 hours. Tadeo had told me earlier in the day about the first time that he tried skin contact with the chard, back in '06. In that year, there was a bit of Botrytis in the vineyard but he went ahead and let 'em soak for a bit. He only did 1/3 with skin, the rest were normal-strait to the press. At bottling, all were blended except for a bit of the skin contact that he kept for himself...and it turned out fantastic. The skins give off a bit of tannin and that year there was also a bit of Bot that gave off a bit of a honey, candy smell that you wouldn't know was Bot if you weren't looking for it. Any way, after de-stemming the '08 Thieriot, I gathered up all the discarded grapes and the run off juice from the sorting table/de-stemmer in to a bucket. The grapes consisted of bunches of beautiful/healthy grapes with splotches of raisins, some Bot, some sunburning. All in all, about 2 gallons worth. I then topped it up to 4.5 gallons with the last bit of juice from the press. Ill fermnet all this ON THE SKINS. Something very unusual and different, just to see how itll turn out. I have also been collecting the wooden bungs (stoppers) from the new barrels which are made of the same oak the barrels are, just not toasted. I chipped them up so that they would fit into a carboy and tossed them into the toasted. No, not some fancy gizmo we have at the winery, a regular bread toaster. 5 in all, about 5.44 ounces of oak-toss them all into the carboy so the wine will ferment on them. I also gathered up 5 more gallons of just the strait juice from the end of the press. Sure it is the hard press stuff that looks kinda like apple juice but it is from a fantastic vineyard and I want to see what it tastes like next to the stuff fermented on skin. This juice did get the 2hr skin contact though. Also the press only got up to 1.7 bar so not really all that hard anyway. I also tossed in the same amount of oak bungs, medium+ toast. All were inoculated immediately, no natural ferment for me, I need these babies to be dry in time to bottle and taste before I head out of here. So now I have the Neyers Underground 2008 Thieriot Chardonnay Skin and Sans-Skin batches bubbling away. We should get the lab report tomorrow so ill know if any adjusting needs to happen with the sugars/acids or if the yeast will need any food.

Last weekend Marie, her roommate Elizabeth, and I all headed to the Hog Island Oyster Company in Marshall, CA. The drive was amazing along 1 and the country side also. This place was a oyster farm that had a picnic area out back where everything was BYO (except the oysters, you bought them there). When we called they had said that they were booked through November! So we planned on just buying some oysters and headed to another beach/park area to eat them. Luckily when we got there they said that since there were only 3 of us, just grab a table and if someone who reserved one shows up then we'll have to leave. We had only brought some wine, lemons, and crackers. Oh-how could have done it up. The groups around us brought cases of beer, bottles of wine, cheese platters, charcoal for the oysters, steaks, sausages, etc. And the scenery was beautiful across the bay. With our simple fare we had a blast and stayed for 2 hours. Next time we'll gather a whole group and really do it right. It was the first time I had had raw oysters (or even oysters period). They were OK, kinda salty and the texture was a bit like snot, but it was still fun all the same and I would really like to try them grilled....mmmmm. After 'lunch' we continued south and stopped by a park and who pulls up next to us, but Amigo Bob. I had never met Amigo before but Marie had. He is the organic farming consultant for the Neyers ranch and also advises a bunch of other vineyards. Interesting guy and a bit of a juxtaposition. He looks like a complete hippy flake now ranting about organics but in reality he was very down to earth and was a wealth of knowledge about agriculture and such. We had the blessing to see him again, this time at the Neyers Ranch. They had called him in to check out some vines that weren't doing that well so Marie and I tagged along. The main problem with farming here is water, there just isn't enough of it at the right times. We talked a lot about cover crops, mulching, every-other-row tilling. Also, apparently you can use whey as a fungicide, who knew? They are also having a turkey problem on the Ranch-they are eating the fruit. And the organic solution? Shoot them, they're are a pest in the area anyway. I offered my services to Barbara Neyers. Maybe we can have turkey for lunch one day, or even save some for Thxgiving.

Welch's vs. Pato

All the reds so far (Zinfandel and Petite Syrah) have come in at a bit higher sugar level, or brix, than Tadeo would like. If the Brix is too high then you end up with a very alcoholic wine and it is questionable if the yeast will be able to ferment everything completely and in time. So to correct this we have drained a bit of juice from each. This will lower the total brix but increase the concentration of juice to skins so that no flavor or color is lost. We all talked about what do to with it, Roberto saying freeze it and make grape-pops and Bernardo saying mix it with tequila for a tasty beverage. In the end I kept a gallon of it in the fridge to drink, and damn is it better than Welch's grape juice. Rich, sweet, slightly creamy, and tart it is delicious. I also kept a 5 gallon batch to try my hand at rose!

So what about Rose? I had talked to Tadeo about my beer making ventures and he told me that I could use anything here to do with as I liked. He has tried to make Zinfandel rose but says that it just doesn't come out right, that the good stuff comes from Merlot and Grenache. So I passed on the Zin, but the Petite Syrah was tempting. I siphoned off 5 gallons and started my the Neyers-Underground 2008 Pato Ranch Petite Syrah Rose. Because the brix was high and Rose is supposed to be light and refreshing, I diluted the juice to about 25 brix from 26.8. In doing so, I also diluted the Ph. This is not desired, Rose being light and crisp needs a quite low Ph through fermentation and I had diluted it from 3.8 to 4.7. So I added tartaric acid in the order of 1g/litre to bring it back down to about 3.7. Ideally the Brix would be more like 23-24 and the Ph more like 3.3-3.4 but since I am only working with 4 gallons, it would be too much playing around to end up with a reasonable wine. We also have a bunch of barrel plugs that come in new barrels and are made from the same wood. I thought about tossing some of these in as 'chips' but decided against it. For this batch, ill just stick with it as is. There will be several to come as the Merlot, Cabernet, Syrah, and Grenache all come in. I plan on playing with each as a rose. Actually making the calls on this wine and doing the testing is already teaching me a ton about wine making.

On fermentation, Neyers allows all their wines to start ferment naturally with native yeast and then inoculate. This way allows the native yeast to get a foot hold and begin fermentation when the juice is ready and create the individual flavors that each yeast makes and then the ferment is finished by the cultured yeast which can handle the higher alcohol and finish in time for bottling.

Last weekend Marie and I went to Mendocino and toured around. Amazing little place but very small. Both the coast and Red Woods were breathtaking.

First Grapes

We got the first grapes of the year in today! 5 tons of Zinfandel. Marie, Roberto, and I started at 7 am this morning by preparing the sorting belt, destemmer, must pump (auger), hoses, and tank. Tadeo, Bernardo and his brother Sergio started at 4:30 am in the field to supervise the picking and then truck the grapes back to the winery. All Neyers grapes are sourced from vineyards in the area, so there are no actual vines on the Neyers Winery property-everything is trucked in. By picking early they are able to get the truck loaded and to the winery before it gets too hot in the day (as long as the vineyard is close enough). They are also able to preserve the natural acidity, which is highest during the cool hours of the night. When sorting we looked mainly for rot and there was very little of it. Rot is a problem with zinfandel grapes because the bunches are so tight, air cannot circulate and moisture encourages growth of nasty things. Cabernet Sauvignon, conversely, has a very loose bunch and so can tolerate much higher humidity and rain with out rotting. But luckily is has not rained for a bit, at least since I have gotten here and it has been quite hot, breaching 100 F during the day. So the grapes that came in were quite ripe and some of the bunches had completely rasinated. In tasting, they were delicious very sweet and chewy but the raisins are not so good for the wine. They can add intense flavor but can also unbalance a wine with too much sugar/ripeness.

So all that was Tuesday. Wednesday Marie and I did the early shift and followed Tadeo to the vineyard at 5 am. An early start, but nothing that doughnuts and coffee cant cure. We were harvesting mostly Zinfandel and a bit of Petite Syrah from the Pato vineyards way down in Oakley. Everything was harvested by Mexicans and then loaded into bins pulled behind the tractor. Marie and I would ride with the bins and do field sorting, pulling out leaves and rotten or other unacceptable bunches. The Zinfandel vines were amazing. They were all bush trained vines meaning they had been pruned to form a bush, no trellising, just big stumps with tendrils growing off the top. Many were over 100 years old, the average probably being around 60 years. All were also planed on their original root stock meaning that they could potentially be attacked by phylloxera (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phylloxera). These vines, though, grow in such sandy/loose soil that it is very difficult for the pest to live and so unlikely that these vineyards will have any trouble. The Zin that cam in was plagued by the odd patch of rot and quite uneven ripening. Some parts of the bunch would be plump and juicy while others were dry and raisiney. This is apparently the difficulty of growing zin, it is very a very ornery plant. This is also a symptom of growing old vines, you have mass variation in yield, health of the vines, and quality. The Petite Syrah on the other hand was fabulous. From much younger vines and trellised, the bunches were evenly ripe and had no signs of rot.

About the harvesters, I really felt for them. They were paid by the number of bins that they harvested so all were running and harvesting as fast as possible. It was incredibly backbreaking work done by the spectrum of young/old male/female workers. It was relatively cool in the morning but by the time the sun came up, it was scorching hot and dusty dry. Very brutal work. People bitch about food prices now, imagine if we actually paid these people a wage relative to the work they do. It struck me as out-sourced slavery.

Snooping around Napa

View Larger Map
So this was my route out here when all said and done. Out of curiosity of my MPG and in case anyone was planning a similar trip in a '03 Ford Ranger 2.3L 4 Cylinder 2WD truck; here are my totals for gas and such:

Average Price: 3.807375
Total Quantity: 150.033
Total Cost: 565.71
Total Miles: 3714
MPG: 24.7545539981204

Here are some pictures from water skiing, we went out again on Wednesday afternoon. This time I felt much better on my legs. Once I got the feel for it, it was a lot like snow skiing and I was able to cut back and forth across the wake and even get a lil air! Near the end of the day I started trying to slalom but was not quite able to get up, but it was close.



Wednesday morning Marie and I headed out to Calistoga to visit some wineries and check out the scene. Many were close to her house so we packed a couple of bottles of Neyers Merlot to tip especially cool people and took off on bikes. The first, and by far the best that we visited, was Envy Estate. Their only white was a Sauvignon Blanc done the in the fume style (a little bit of oak) and were nice. Their reds, thought, were great. Petite Syrah, Cab, and a Bordeaux Blend. The guy who showed us around just walked in from the cellar with dirty hands and all, I love it. We gave him a bottle.

The second was Vincent Arroyo, tiny little place who only sells from their cellar-no distribution. Nice atmosphere and the wines were very nice.

The third was August Briggs. First a note about tasting rooms: some are just open hours and anyone can show up, the rest are by appointment only. The first two and the last (Storybook) were by appointment while August Briggs was open. To get a more personal experience, I highly recommend the appointment wineries.

Last was Storybook. The story behind this winery is that it was originally built way back in the day by two brothers named Grimm. Yep, the same Brothers Grimm. Anyway, it burnt down and then was re bought by some other guy who liked the history and so he incorporated it into the name and label of the winery. The engraved barrel below is also the logo/label for the wines. The vineyards are also from here, amazing views of the hills and mountains from this winery. One interesting thing is that they coated all their barrels with a "Non-toxic, breathable anti-fungal coating" because "if you are going to spend $1300/barrel, they might as well look good". To me it looked like a lacquer or wax coating. I am curious as to how this affects the wine, sure it is "breathable" but I doubt as breathable as bare wood. And whats wrong with the classic mouldy cellar? Some places are just meant to be messy.

Final Leg

I made it to California on the 23rd. After a nice couple of days in SLC, I headed out and did about half the drive one day stopping in Winnemucca, NV and then finishing the trek on Saturday. And thank god I did. If I had to find this place in the dark, I would have been sleeping on the side of the road. The place I am staying is amazing. The Johnstons own a little cottage next to their house that consists of a single bedroom, living room, and kitchen. It is perfect for me. Even better is that they live on the same drive off the main road as Neyers Estate meaning that my commute to work every day will be a 1.5-2 min walk, maximum. After that I found out that they have a ski boat and love to take it out. I think I may be in paradise. No phone service and no Internet at the house but I can use the winery's computer whenever.

The night I arrived, after settling in, I headed over to the house for dinner with Cindy, Tom, and their daughter Chelsey. We had a great, simple meal of home grown lamb and salad (did I mention that they raised sheep?). They broke out a bunch of wine that Cindy makes from grapes grown on her mothers property that was amazing. Their friend David Arthur, who is a vintner here in Napa, stopped by with his daughter and her fiance. What a better intro to the area. Well, it gets better. Sunday we all went out to the lake and spent all day water skiing and tubing around and had Elk sandwiches for lunch. I was able, for the first time, to get up on the skis and was just getting to the point where I could get outside the break by the end of the day. Today my back and legs are killing me but it is such a good pain.

Today was my first at the winery. I finally got to meet the winemaker, Tadeo, face to face after months of talking to him on the phone. It was an easy day and it looks like grapes won't be coming in for at least another week or so but it is nice to be able to ease into the swing of things and learn how they do things here. Our crew will consist of Me, Tadeo, Marie (another intern, from Texas), Roberto, and Bernard. Both Carlos and Bernard speak little to no English so I got to dust off the cobwebs from that part of my brain which, felt quite nice. A very small operation, Tadeo is expecting about 22o tons this year. In comparison at Villa Maria we processed a total of 11,500 tons and some nights I would work through 300-400 tons in 12 hours. This week will be a bit slow so I plan on touring around the area and hopefully finding some trails to bike. Apparently, if you are in the business, the other wineries will wave their tasting fees....

SLC

Drove into Salt Lake City on the 19th and dropped some stuff at Carl and Elisa's storage to lighten my load. The cottage that I am staying at in Cali was originally going to be completely unfurnished so I was packing folding chairs, cook ware, sheets, etc. Last week, though, I got a call from the owner and it turns out that it will instead be completely furnished! So I am able to leave all that stuff behind for when I eventually move out here permanently. That night I set out with Keith and BE to go see Garrison Keillor on the Rhubarb tour at an outdoor amphitheater, which was hilarious. Yesterday I spent the day stocking up on various supplies I needed and then hiked around in the afternoon. Words and pictures are pitifully inadequate at expressing the true beauty of these mountains so I will not even try (and I forgot to bring my camera). Just know that every section of every path is as breathtaking as any inspirational calendar and with infinite variability. Today more hiking is on the agenda with the cousins and then Sam's 3 year B-day bowling party tonight. Happy birthday Sam!

Wyoming

After Albuquerque I continued North-West and made my way to Moab. I had put enough miles on the truck so when I stopped for lunch in Gallup, NM I also had the oil changed. On the way to Moab I took a side route to Four Corners as I thought that it would be cool to stand in four states at one time, and it was a really pretty drive. But when I got there, they of course wanted to charge me $3 and had the 1/2 acre around the area fenced off so I said "screw this, its not worth $3 to straddle some imaginary lines"



In Moab I stayed at the coolest hostel yet: the Lazy Lizard Hostel. At only $9/night it was by far the best deal and had the best people. The local liqueur store also had a fantastic selection of wine. For a controlled state, who ever is stocking the stores is doing a great job and at great prices. I got a Castano Hecula and Burgans Albarino.

On to Wyoming. Off the exit for the ranch I passed dozens of brand new wind generators that I thought were looked great. The image the convey is something of hope, that there might be a bright future after all. I just fear that the more of these that we build, we will begin to slow the winds through those areas and through that cause climate change - the very thing that they are meant to avoid.



On the ranch I jumped immediately into the hay harvest with TJ, Allen, and Pam. Allen raked the cut hay while TJ baled, and I loaded the bales on the (slightly) modified school bus that Pam drove. We did this for two days and then I helped my brother Carl with re-roofing on of the houses. Today we took a break and wen to Sill's for breakfast and three of us ordered scones along with our meals. What we were expecting were the triangular, biscuit type scones...what came were more like elephant ears, great big round slabs of fried dough slathered in honey butter. This afternoon Carl, Allen, and I took the guns out to some BLM land to do some target shooting. Since I am not out here all that often, we pulled out some fun stuff. First were the 12 gauge shotguns and a skeet launcher. After that was target shooting with a 30-06, .22, .17, and a 30-30 (Remington, lever action - an awesome gun and one that I would love to get one day). A good day.

Homecoming

As soon as I passed into New Mexico and started weaving my way through deserts and mountains, I new I was home. This is the land that I love, something about the wide open skies, land, variation, it resonates with something inside of me.

After leaving San Antonio I made my way off the highway to have lunch at Mack and Ernie's in Tarpley, TX . This is the one and only food stop that I had seen on "Dives, Digs, and Diners" that was convenient enough for me to go to. Truly a shack on the side of the road consisting of all country fare made of burgers and chicken, I was starving and could not wait to dig in. Like most of my trip so far, I did very little planning ahead and so I neither called or checked the web before I drove 50 mi. slightly out of the way. It turns out that of all the weeks in the year, I chose the one that the crew takes off to go fishin. So needless to say, I did not get to try their fabulous fare. But all was not lost, in the same local the locals were have a craft fare (5-6 booths) and were serving pulled BBQ pork sandwiches that were quite tasty.

On driving through Texas on I10 after San Antonio: Much better highway and I passed a HUGE number of wind farms. Also dotting the landscape were a bunch of oil wells. It was kind of cool seeing old and new energy in contrast next to each other.

Once done with that detour, I continued west and again last minute decided that I was going to try and make Carlsbad Caverns and the bat flight by dusk. About 100 mi. from the turn off onto 285 from I10 I started calling the store in SRQ because I did not have Internet. They told me that sunset was at 19:45 in Carlsbad and so I had just enough time to make it (there was a lot of initial confusion because I was in the central time zone and the sunset was reported in mountain time, so it was either "youv got lots of time" or "haul ass, you might just make it"). In the end, after following some questionable signs and being certain that I was not only lost but also miles out of my way, I made it to the caverns about 20 min. before the bats flew. And it was worth it. According to the park ranger, there are about 1.3 million bats in the cave and they take about 2 hours to exit. The setting is that you are standing up on a hill and there is a large crack, almost canyon cutting into it. Digging horizontally into the floor of the crack is the cave. When the bats start to fly, you hear a mellow chattering (it reminded me of locusts) and then they swarm out in a spiral-kinda like a tornado. They shoot out and spin in a circle for a bit and then head off in a plume to the east, toward a river (Pecos river?) which is where the bugs are. I would have taken pictures but there were signs saying that I was not allowed and the place was swarming with cops carrying high caliber sidearms to make sure that I followed the rules. Very glad that I made it. On a side note, the family that I was standing next to was from Austin, TX and they said that they have a bridge over a river that was constructed from concrete I-Beams that had about a 1.5-2 inch gaps between the ridges. Inside live about a million bats also, that fly out every night and go all the way to the coast, about a 300 mi. round trip.

I crashed that night in a motel as there were, unfortunately, no hostels in the area but this one only cost $50/night. I was completely famished by the time I checked in so I went to Chillies to have a burger and a beer.

Today, I made my way to White Sands National Park and am glad I did. It is the worlds largest pile of gypsum and it forms acres of sand dunes that are pure white. It was amazing driving up to it as all you see are the desert scrub and then a ridge of white. Once inside the park (well worth the $3) there is an 8 mile track that you can take back into the dunes. Everything is pearly white with the odd patch of plants. The dunes were really cool, I had thought before getting there that I would have to dig out my walkin' shoes but I noticed that everyone was hiking around barefoot. It was like being at the beach. It was great. I just walked around for a bit but it was amazing to get on top of a dune and all you can see for miles is white. The pictures below really don't capture the texture of the landscape, it gets all whited out (I dint know the proper photographic term). What thrilled me the most was that even only 8 miles from the highway, when on top of the dune, there is complete silence. No cars, wind, animals, people - just silence. It made my ears buzz. The sand was so white and the sun so intense that if I did not have sunglasses, my eyes would be fried. As it was I got a sunburn in less than 10 minutes. I also found heaps of sage plants that smelled great.









From White Sands, I made a run for Albuquerque and this is when I knew that I was home. I went from hot, dry desert to the mountains where it was cool, rainy, and lush with green trees. I just makes me want to start walking and see where I end up, it is so intensely accessible.



Continuing on I25 I had to go through a traffic stop for customs that was weird because I never left the country, I didn't even go near Mexico. Regardless, they directed everyone off the highway and through a guard station. Now I consider my truck a very respectable and well kept vehicle but I do know that with an old, used, beat up topper with the windows blocked out by newspaper (I covered them before N.O. figuring that people will be less likely to try and steal my bikes if they cannot see them) must look sketchy to a boarder patrol agent. But no! I fully expected them to ask me to pull aside and to look in the back but all they asked was if I was a US citizen and what was in the back - to which I answered: "Yes sir I am and I have bikes, gear, and cloths back there". And I was on my way. The reality is, as unfair as it may be, it is great to be a white, blond, blue eyed male.

Tonight I am crashing at the Route 66 Hostel that, again, is nice enough.

More Legs

After staying the night at a hotel in Gulfport ($75) I cruised into New Orleans to explore for the day. A note about the hotels, I cannot believe that they can charge so much, most were asking $100. There must be a dearth of travelers theses days, with gas prices, inflation, and general uneasiness...how are the hotels doing so well that they refuse to barter? Hell, I remember 2005 when I drove to Pennsylvania and was able to negotiate a Days Inn from $50 to $35 by getting the AAA discount and then threatening to go next door, its like buying a car. Maybe it is just because I was in a tourist thick area, or maybe they have such huge reserves that they are just going to weather the storm, I dunno.

So, I cruised into N.O. and found a parking lot for the day so that I could just wander around. Jonathan from SRQ had told me that I had to go to a place by the name of Coop's. After some stumbling around, I found it and hot damn did it turn out good. A down to earth, grungy (but in a clean way), earthy bar, I got the Jono recommendation of fried chicken with a side of rabbit jambalaya and coleslaw. The chicken was good, nice and salty and crunch with a bit of spice but it was the jambalaya that caught my attention. Almost like paella, it was a hearty mix of rice, rabbit, sausage, tomatoes, and other stuff. It had the little crispy bits from the bottom of the pan and was a relatively mild spice at first, but after a bit was really quite intense. The coleslaw was your average creamy coleslaw but was also spicy. Everything was spicy, but we are in N.O. aren’t we? To drink, Jockamo IPA. It had a nice amount of hop but not too bitter, a sweet middle and a fruity finish...good but not great with the spicy food, personally I was dreaming of some of those German Auselse Rieslings mmmmmmm...

After that I wandered around a bit but it was so hot (and I was a bit sleepy) and everything seemed to be gift shops that I made my way back to the car and continued on.

It was late enough in the day that I stopped at a hostel in Lafayette ($18) (In Gulfport, after spending $75, I planned several possible hostel stops). This place...was...amazing. Very homey, clean, comfy beds, free breakfast and coffee (because they are not allowed to sell any, so they give it away) and that is just where you sleep. Called the Blue Moon Hostel, attached to the side was the Blue Moon Saloon and there they have great music every night. The night I was there the band playing was Bandryland W/ Kenneth Richard and they blew me away for just playing in a "hole in the wall" saloon. And apparently, from talking to the people there, this was just average for the night. A great mix of jazzy, country, folk, electric guitar...they fit no profile but they sounded good. And there was lots of beer. Fantastic.

I ended up talking for a couple hours with a very interesting individual. Britt was his name, he was home schooled through the 7th grade, then dropped out, then joined the merchant marine, then got his GED and College Degree in Business something or other. Currently he works as the captain for a boat that finds sunken vessels such as 17 century Spanish galleons and such. Remember those guys you see on Discovery and National Geographic dragging the sonar devise and finding old wrecks? That him. A big rough guy, with tattoos all over, he would not strike you as a scholar but this guy was well read. 100% a constitutionalist, he could quote the constitution, court cases, laws etc. better than I could describe the back of my own hand. And he has not paid Federal Income Tax in many years. This is what occupied much of our time. According to him, and he cited enough source that I could look up (and I will) that I trust him for now, there is no law in the US of A that requires anyone to pay Federal Income Tax. Among many reasons, the most prominent were the forms 3406 A & B. 3406 B is your 1040 and W4. 3406 B only is only valid with 3406 A, and this form says that only these people need pay Federal Income Tax: US citizens living in Washington DC or Outside the country, or Foreign Nationals working in the USA. If you do not fall into any of the above, then technically you do not need to pay Income Tax. Very Interesting. My only concern is what kind of reproductions might ensue if you do refuse to pay, albeit legally. More research is definitely needed but I am certainly interested, and skeptical.

I wanted to say another day and catch the next nights band but I also wanted to get to Wyoming and see the family and start working on the farm, getting back to nature and all that - so I set off in the morning.

Today, I am arrived in San Antonio and am staying a another Hostel ($25). A bit grungier, and not in a good way, this one is nice enough for just crashing for the night. Run by a grandmotherly type, it works and that is about it.

As for driving in Texas...I have been driving the speed limit dead on for this whole trip to both be more fuel efficient and because I can neither afford, nor do I want a ticket. So as soon as I entered Texas there was a big sign saying "You had better drive the limit or else..." but damn do they try hard to confuse you as to what the limit is. The signs range from 55mph to 70mph and everywhere in between. Often the signs are placed just before the off ramp and not after the on ramp so you are not sure if the speed has just dropped from 70 to 55 only for the ramp, or for everyone? And then there are the signs that are turned parallel to the road, do they apply or are they there for some future change? And then there are the construction zones that consist of two signs signaling the beginning and end of construction but with no apparent action in between. In despair, I just sit in the slow lane behind a semi and cruise along, which actually works well enough-I go at a constant speed that is great for the economy and don’t have to worry about weaving between lanes (this is especially hard anyway considering the topper full of stuff so I only have my side mirrors and cannot look over my shoulder, I prefer to just get in one lane and stay there).

Here at the hostel in San Antonio, I met another character. This one a writer and a bit of a yogi/hippie, we had a long talk about the state of the world and what to expect in the future and is it really all falling apart or does it just seem that way? He had just finished a research paper looking at how all the ancient cultures, be they Eskimos, Aztecs, Sumerians, Aborigines, Maoris, everyone had a ‘dooms day’ or end of the world myth and they all revolved around a flood (think Noah’s ark and such).

And that is where I am so far.

Here are some pictures and a video from the hostel in Lafayette:

Leg 2

I am casually making my way westward. Tallahassee was relaxing, just had dinner with Alex and then watched a movie and then started the real driving the next morning. Books on tape are what keep me sane while sitting for so long. Mostly I have been listening to the podcasts Democracy Now, Car Talk, and Enter the Bee Hive (a guide to business and the corporate world). Also a lot of The Modern Scholar's Global Warming: Global Threat with Professor Michael B. McElroy. McElroy really does a great job presenting all the ideas and concerns about Global Warming in a very strait forward and easy to understand way with lots of analogies. It is much nicer learning about the problem from a scientist rather than either fanatically Left or Right people. It is very clear that this is not a cut and dry issue and that as with any biological system (And the Earth is one) there are a daunting number of factors to consider and everything is tightly bound together. One interesting factoid that he mentions is that we may have warded off the next Ice Age that was scheduled for about this time. Highly recommended.

All the sitting has also gotten to me physically so I have decided to start doing a series of push-ups, sit-ups, and pull-ups (something that I should also be doing at home...), and a lot of stretching. The pull-ups are hard with no pull-up bar but I manage to squeeze out a few by crimping the door frame, at least this will really help my climbing. I also shaved my head as it was getting just too hot.

Both my spontaneous stops for State Parks ended in disappointment. The first was the Florida Caverns, which were closed. The second were some springs that turned out to be completely encased with concrete and might as well have been a swimming pool and over run with screaming kids. But not to despair, I will keep trying. The good side though was that just outside the springs park was a little BBQ place with $4.99 pork sandwiches which, while not amazing, were quite good.

First Leg

Getting out of SRQ was just about as hellish as I could handle. I had decided last minute to buy a topper for the truck to keep everything dry, secure, and locked down. Jonathan made a good point about parking in New Orleans or any big city for that matter, and that is unsecured stuff is subject to theft. So I shopped around and the cheapest by far was a used aluminum one in Pinellas Park. I quickly unpacked everything from the truck, drove to Pinellas, bought the topper, drove back to SRQ and re-loaded everything. Not the most stress free day by far. But at lest now everything is much easier to just stuff into crevasses and is slightly more difficult to steal.

I made to Gainesville by 21:50 and had dinner at Jennifer and Ricks house and then shot over to Mike and Ian's house to sleep there. Now I am off to Tallahassee.

And I'm Off

Topper for the truck: $200
First Tank of Gas: $50
Leaving Sarasota like a Bat out of Hell: Priceless

Shrimp Boil and Wines to Match

For our tasting today at the store we presented all Alsatian and German whites. A mix of Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Muscat, and Pinot Gris; all were wonderfully refreshing and lively and ran from dry to quite sweet. To accompany, we did a spicy shrimp boil - New Orleans style. First we boiled the spice pouch mix, a lemon, and a head of garlic. Toss in the potatoes for 10 min., corn for 6 min, and then the shrimp to sit for 6 min. with the burner off. The best batch was the third one after the water had turned to stock and reduced down a bit. I thought it was great with only a hint of spice that you felt on your lips though pretty much everyone in the tasting thought that it was too spicy - almost too much. That didn't stop them from stuffing their faces. Maybe I just have a high tolerance, or maybe people just like to complain.

Mom also came to this one and it turns out that it was her first wine tasting! I had not realized that for all the tastings we have had here, she had not made it to a single one. She was blown away by the sheer amount of wine to taste but seemed to really enjoy it and loved the shrimp. Really it is a lot to drink as we pour 1 ounce tastes and at 12 wines that is half a bottle if you only taste each one once. Many people come back for seconds. She also brought my camera so that I could snap some pictures.

Here are first the ingredients and then the finished product: Delicious.





The wines were amazing. The Alsatian whites had all their richness and complexity and were nice enough but the German Rieslings blew me away. Ranging from off-dry to syrupy sweet, each and every one had super bright acidity that was lively and refreshing. Most surprising of all, though, was that they all had tannin. It was really fine and you could only really feel it along the tip and sides of your tongue but it was definitely there and then washed away in the finish. All being really young, only a few had that characteristic rubber or petrol nose and even then it was quite faint. The last, a dessert Riesling by the name of Schloss Johannisberger Auslese, was incredible in that it was quite syrupy and had a distinct honey tasted but was, at the same time, very refreshing and again with the acidity, finished very cleanly - not cloying at all.

Here are Rachel with the Alsatians and Jonathan with (of course) his German Rieslings:





Alsace:
Ostertag Fronholz Muscat 2004
Kuentz-Bas Pinot Gris 2005
Bott-Geyl Riesling 2001
Kuentz-Bas Gewurztraminer 2005
Ostertag Gewurztraminer 2005

Germany:
JJ Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhur Kabinett 2004
SA Prum Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Spatlese 2003
Deidesheim Forster Jesuitengarten Riesling Spatlese 2004
Dr. Fischer Ockfener Bockstein Riesling Auslese 2003
Dr. Loosen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese 2003
JJ Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese 2003
Schloss Johannisberger Riesling Auslese 2003

As for the boil, the leftover stock turned really tasty with a hint of shrimpyness and very salty. I am going to save it as a brine for some kind of meat. Think deep fried turkey....

An interesting phenomenon also happened at the end of the tasting: Rachel developed the infamous "wine headache". This brings back into discussion the topic of sulfites and even though I dislike beating dead horses, customers still torment me with the comment of "Wine gives me headaches because of the sulfites". A bit of research a few weeks ago along with my experience in NZ gave me some more evidence to throw at these people. Most wines have sulfite levels that hover around 20ppm with sweeter whites around 30ppm. The sweetest wines will be at most 60ppm. Salsa, as in chips and salsa, contains round 1500ppm along with dried fruit at about 1800ppm. Never hear of people blaming salsa on their headaches do you? I also noticed in the ingredients label on a jar of sauerkraut in my fridge: potassium metabisulfite, or PMS, the same preservative used in wine. And so to hazard a guess at the source of the headache: Sugar. All the wines we had in the tasting had very high levels of residual sugar and I guess that this with alcohol creates the perfect cocktail for headaches.

Monkeying around with Jared.

Also, big news: this Monday I bought $250 each of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. They are at rock bottom and our blessed government is willing to bail them out if it gets worse. Buy low...Sell high....
I am very excited to see how this turns out as this is my first real action in the stock market where I saw an opportunity, did the research, and made the plunge. Hope it pans out.

After climbing in Tampa, I picked up mom from the airport. Its really good to see her and she'll be here for a week helping me pack up the house and wrap up some stuff with her properties in Tampa. I am out of here in 9 days!

Flight of wine

Went out last night to Fleming's. About three weeks or so ago, a guy came into the store looking for a basic, good Cab so I showed him around a bit and eventually suggested the Calamity 2005, a killer Cab for the price. As luck would have it, we had a bottle open from the tasting the night before and I gave him a sample which he loved. As he is tasting, we get into conversation and it turns out that he is the regional manager guy for Fleming's Steakhouse or "Joint Venture Partner S.E." as his card reads. He asks me how often I go and, feeling somewhat guilty for some reason, reply that I had never been. I immediately explain that he should not feel bad and that I am sure that it is a fine restaurant but that I am just not a good representative of their customer base. "I never go out to eat, I cook all my own food" I quickly tell him. But a good sales man all the same, he shoots back that it is all OK and that he needs to get Jonathan and I into the place. So he gives me the card above which is fantastic. Two free wine flights and a charcuterie for appetizer.

Between our schedules we didn't make it to the restaurant until last night but it really worked out and we decided to do it up nice, since we were getting free stuff and all. I got there early and started with a gin/tonic at the bar. Normally I would go with Hendricks but this time I decided to try something new, Bombay (regular, not sapphire). After Jono got there, we moved to the table and ordered the wine flights: any three wines from their extensive wine by the glass menu and you get an ounce of each, kind of a neat idea for trying new things. As for their wine list: Boooring. The vast majority was American and everything was stuff you can find anywhere. Clearly it is a corporate list where they can guarantee a consistent supply (meaning no small production stuff) and a have the same list throughout their restaurants. For what they did have, a lot was quite good though, not to be too critical.

For my flight:
Condes de Albarei Albarino 2005
Seghesio Zinfandel 2006
Hall Cabernet 2004

Jono's Flight:
Cakebread Sauvigion Blanc
some Barbera d'Asti
Robert Sinskey Merlot ('04?)

All were excellent though the Cakebread confirmed my suspicion that it is over priced. The Albarino was delicious and slightly off-dry. The best by far was the Sinskey merlot which was surprisingly bordeau-esk in its tannin, acidity, and overall character. The Berbera was the most surprising with a distinct aroma of cloves. Hall cab was quite tight but by the time the food arrived was much better, it must have only just been opened. The Zin was rich and creamy as always.



Charcuterie, as it turns out, means (In french) platter of cured meats and cheese - chefs choice. Very tasty. I got the 16oz New York strip, house salad, and we split the creamed spinach. Amazing steak (medium-rare for me, just shy of bloody for Jono) and way more than I could eat in a night along with everything else on the table which is just fine as I love leftovers anyway. The creamed spinach tasted decidedly creamy with a lil spinach flavor and plenty of calories, scrumptious. A nice scotch ended a fine meal, Glenfiddich 18 year old - neat with a few ice cubes. All-in-all a great evening. Thank you John for the free goods, it definitely got us into the place (even though we ended up spending $90 each, at least we weren't buying wine and you have to treat yourself every once in a while... every once in a great while.)

Road trip to Alabama

Squeezed out of work early Wednesday and made a bullet run up to Mentone, Alabama stopping in TPA to meet up with Jared and his friend Mat and then in G'ville to pickup my old roommate Jonathan. Jonathan and Jared are two brothers that I have been going to school with since way back in my Beach Park Montessori days. Made it to their cabin around 5:30 am and slept for a few hours. After pancakes a-la Chuck we headed out to this amazing waterfall/lake area called DeSoto Falls where we bouldered and swam around for a bit. It had a great wall that leaned slightly out over the water so we could just swim up, climb as far as we could and then fall back into the water. I am embarrassingly out of shape for climbing. Absolutely no stamina; between the combination of swimming, treading water, and the climbing, i could barely make it half way up to the first ledge. Great fun though, I would love to chill up here for a week or so and go climbing every day. If you look closely at the last photo, you can see Mat making his way up in the middle of the wall...