As it was Member Appreciation Week at Madroña Vineyards, several people from the pop-up meetings (wine-drinking and socializing parties) were going to the winery. We suddenly decided to drive down to California to visit the Madroña Vineyards and see the people from this group who could make it and would be there when we could go.
We had to reschedule some appointments, but we managed. We left on Thursday and stopped for the night in Corning, California. We had planned to stay at a roadside rest there, but it was hotter than Hades, and we wanted needed to use our AC to keep cool, so we quickly made a reservation at Heritage RV Campground and Resort right before they closed their office for the day.
They have a nice little gravel dog run, which we used several times, as it was very close to our site. Friday morning we were off again, completing the trip to Placerville RV Resort and Campground around lunchtime.
The first thing Charlie did after getting us hooked up was take a nap with the dogs. It was a very long drive, especially pulling a trailer.
This campground has a large grassy play area for dogs. Each time we took advantage of the off-leash area we found more tennis balls, to Dusty and Sandy's delight. We left the balls when we went back to the RPod, but the dogs sure had fun while we were there.
Saturday was the big day. We had agreed to meet with some of the people from the pop-up meetings (referred to as "Zoomies") who could be there at noon. We had checked to see if the dogs would be welcome inside, and they were. I'm not sure we could have gone without that, because leaving them so long in the RPod might not have been good, and the cost of boarding them while we were gone would have cut into our finances. We had looked into staying at a motel, but it was going to cost almost as much to do that as to board them. It turned out to be cheaper to take the RPod and the dogs. We enjoy their company anyway, and it has worked out well. The four of us (having 12 legs in all between us) arrived at Madroña right on time. Four of our friends from the pop-ups were already there. We went down to the cellar where big tanks of wine were busy fermenting.
We recognized each other from our Zoom meetings, so no introductions were needed. We got a group photo right away.
The owners' daughter Tessa works in the "tasting room." She took some of the group photos and proved to be competent with a variety of cameras and devices. For "Member Appreciation Week," we, as members, each received our choice of a couple of flights of wines, along with a little box of munchies for each couple. It was hard to choose our wines, because there were so many options.
I had taken one copy of each of my books to give out to the people in our group. I let them pick which ones they wanted. One of the participants had made some chocolates to share. She's also an artist, so we looked at photos of some of her paintings.
Paul, the owner of the winery, who runs the place, left his activity of the day (harvesting zucchini to give to people in need) because he knew we all would be there and wanted to visit with us. Another member of our pop-up group Zoomies showed up a little later. We didn't recognize her face, but we knew her voice, because during meetings, she shows up as a black rectangle with her name in white in the middle.
Of course, we needed another group photo, as the group had enlarged.
While we were there some other people we knew from the group showed up. It was like a party. After we were done with wine-tasting and discussing what we liked, the in-person meeting broke up, and some people left. The rest of us sat at one of the tables upstairs and chatted some more, while the pups took a nap on the floor.
We didn't buy any wine on Saturday, but instead took the list of options home to mull over. (Mulled wine?) We planned to go back Sunday morning to pick up our selections. I'm not a fan of chardonnay, but I really like Madroña's chardonnay, especially the 2024 vintage, so that was one of our choices. We arrived back at the tasting room before they got too busy. Tammy, who is also one of the "Zoomies," works in the tasting room. We had seen her on Saturday, so we could take the time to chat and discuss what we wanted to take home. She had plenty of time to put together our order before Tessa arrived and other customers began to appear. Then things got busy and they had to help other people.
They took a moment to pose for a photo, though, before we left to eat our lunch outdoors.
I also got some photos of the grape vines posing with actual grapes on them.
After lunch, we went back inside and picked up our wine, along with a couple of Madroña glasses.
From there, we went to Lava Cap Winery, where we picked up a couple more bottles of wine. Then we went on into Placerville, where Charlie bought some beer from Eldorado Brewing Company, which he had read about.
It was almost midafternoon when we arrived back at Placerville RV Resort and Campground to pack up, disconnect the trailer and take off. We got gas, then started our trip home. We pulled in to our campground in Corning, California, again, about 7:00 PM. We had to put everything back on the shelves and hook up to utilities before I could fix supper. We still had approximately 325 miles to go to reach home.
Today we are finishing the trip. We may even have reached home as you read this. Tomorrow will be a busy day, with dogs going to the groomer, andI have a doctor's appointment. In the evening, guess what we're doing? It's another Madroña pop-up Zoom meeting!
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What's in The Doll's Storybook: A Ski Trip for Jolena takes us back to when Emil was fairly new in the family, and he finds out that Jolena is going on a ski trip with the Doll Ski Team, but it's summer. Billy explains how the Southern Hemisphere is having winter right now, and the boys help Jolena get ready to go, but who will cook for the family while she's gone?
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