Last Sunday Nita and I were out looking at open house's with our granddaughters when my 2008 BMW 335i overheated and had to be towed to the BMW dealer 37 miles away.  It seems that I have a broken rod and the engine has to be replaced.  This was caused by a “Good Samaritan” who rather than putting water in my radiator he put three gallons of water into my crankcase.  The end result is that I need a new engine at a cost of about $18,000.

Here's the good news, this is covered under the Comprehensive coverage of my auto insurance, I'm only responsible for the $1000 deductible.  So I said, last Monday, “go ahead put in the new engine”.   “We'll be done with the job Monday or Tuesday”, I was told.

Wait, the adjuster steps in along with the claims representative, “Your engine has 58,000 miles on it, we've found a refurbished engine with 57,000 miles on it that we want to replace yours with or you can get the new engine and pay the difference, I'll get you thos

e figures.”  That was last Friday at noon and I've heard nothing sense, so a Tuesday departure is looking unlikely.

Meanwhile we're living with our son and daughter-in-law, displacing our granddaughter from her room, no car and a lot to do at home.

As my son Trent said, “At least your not stuck in Oklahoma, where you don't know anyone.”  He does tend to see the glass as half full.

We've found some good restaurants.  This is a review that I posted on TravelAdvisor.com

We had dinner Friday night with our son and daughter-en-law who live in Watercolors. I've always enjoyed the European feel of Rosemary and had done a book signing at the Hidden Lantern Book Store but this was the first time that any of us had eaten at Edwards. Our water was Chance and he directed me to the sauteed Red Snapper smothered in succotash and garnished with fresh thyme. My grandmother had served succotash as I was growing up in Cincinnati and this brought back memories, but the Snapper was something new and it worked well. We shared a bottle of Pinot Grigio (actually it was 2 bottles) from Willinate Valley. Nita and my son had the Baked Apalachicola Oysters and a salad and and Ginger had the Jumbo Lump Crab-cakes. The food was great the atmosphere was European and Chance saw to our every need. Edwards is on our list for a return visit.

Our room/cottage came with an ocean view patio, fireplace, magnificent bathroom, all built into the side of a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean, while offering total privacy.  There is no reason to lower the blinds.  You shower with a view of the Pacific, you dress with a view of the Pacific, you sleep with a view of the Pacific, and you enjoy each other with a view of the Pacific.

The idea is to relax, to chill.  Morning starts with a Yoga Class followed by a dip in an infinity pool 1200 feet above the Pacific Ocean, followed by a complementary breakfast in the Sierra Mar Restaurant which is some how suspended off the side of a cliff above the Pacific Ocean.

The days activities consist of hiking the grounds, swimming in the pool, soaking in the two infinity hot tubs (kept at 102 degrees),  reading a book or visiting the shops in near by Carmel.  The evening is highlighted with a visit to a five star restaurant that doesn’t serve food but specializes in what I call “food art” – the blending of taste, texture, and color into a presentation that excites the eye, the pallet and the nose to a dinning high.

I had a King Salmon dish that enhanced the natural flavor of King Salmon with basil, artichoke, and tarragon educing an explosion of both pallet and  sense of smell resulting in a level of satisfaction that I’d never experienced with King Salmon.  My evening was caped with the mixing of a good Pinot Noir and a chocolate desert; if you’ve never done this treat yourself to a legal drug rush.

The staff at The Post Ranch are eager to fulfill your every desire.  “Would you like to use one of our Lexus convertibles to drive into Carmel?”  “Let me fill your wood bin so that you won’t run out of wood for your fireplace” or “The contents of your mini bar are compliments of The Post Ranch.”

They offer full Spa services and the only TV on the property is in the library, you have to relax.

We ended our California vacation with a day in the “1% Club”.

The fire’s burning down in our fireplace over the Pacific, it’s approaching midnight and tomorrow requires a step back into my world, but I’ll remember the time I’ve spent here.

Pictures of our California Trip

May 1933 

Nita and I were delighted to receive an invitation to spend a long weekend at the Hearst Castle.  We knew that William Randolph Hearst had spent 28 years with the assistance of architect Julia Morgan building castle of 165 rooms and 127 acres of gardens, terraces, pools and walkways—all built to house Hearst’s specifications and to showcase his legendary art collection.  We’d been told that after World War I  the Europeans were in such need of cash that WR had purchased millions of dollars of art at bargain prices to furnish his Cuesta Encantada.

We arrived in San Simeon and were met by a car and driven up the 5 mile winding road to the entrance of the castle where we were met by one of the staff.  We were aware of the four ruled that  were not to be broken if one had any hope of being invited back. 1. Do not use foul language in the presents of a lady.  2. Do not get drunk and do not bring spirits onto the property. 3. Show the staff respect they are not servants that are the staff of the castle.  4. Do not philander with a woman that you are not married to.

The staff led us in to the gathering room where we were served a class of Champagne and given an orientation to the property.  Basically we were on our own to enjoy the many amenities of the property until the cocktail hour at 7:00 PM sharp in the gathering room which would be followed by dinner at 8:00 PM  and a movie in the theater at 10:00 PM.

We were shown our rooms on the second floor which consisted of a lavishly furnished bedroom for each of us, each with a bath with shower, and a sitting room.  Then we were off to the Neptune Pool.  At the pool we met some of the other guests to include Cary Grant, Charles Lindberg, Joan Crawford, Clark Gable and our hostess Marion Davies (Mr. Hearst’s companion).  Our days activities also included horseback riding, a game of tennis on the mountain top courts and sharing our lives with these interesting people.

Cocktail hour consisted of wine or beer no liquor, and small hor’dourves. At promptly 7:30 Mr. Hearst made his entrance through an inconspicuous door in the ornate paneling just to the left of the massive fireplace. He was a gracious host, knowing everyone’s name and background.  He shared that last Christmas he had become aware of The Christmas Web and he had incorporated into their family Christmas calibration with his five sons.

Dinner was served on a 30 foot by three foot table with Mr. Hearst and Ms. Davis sitting across from each other in the middle of the table Nita was to Mr. Hearst’s right and I was to Mrs. Davies’s left thus knee to knee.  “Tell me how you came up with The Christmas Web?”

Dinner consisted of Hearst Beef and fruits and vegetable raised on the property accompanied by the finest wine money could buy, (the Wine Cellar was constructed during the Prohibition Era, and featured gates to protect Hearst’s collection).

The evening passed quickly and at 11:00 we were in the 62 seat theater to see “Peg O’ My Heart”  staring Marion Davies, Onslow Stevens, J. Farrell MacDonald and produced by Cosmopolitan Productions, Mr. Hearst’s company.The evening ended at 1:30 AM we went to bed, Mr. Hearst went to his third floor suit to finish his work day and ready for his early morning when a copy of each of his newspapers would arrive visa his private airplane for his critique.

Once we left Farmington everything turned brown, we were in cattle country, acre after acre of rolling brow grass.  Then we entered the foothills of the Shara Nevada Mountains, brown grass and scrub trees which then turned into the forests of Yosemite National Park.

Several years ago we visited Washington DC and I came away feeling that those of us who lived outside of DC were getting cheated because of everything that those in the DC area had access to provided by the rest of our tax dollars.  Four million people visit Yosemite each year at a gate entry fee of $20 per car.  I’m sorry but I feel cheated because we have nothing like this in Alabama.  We stayed at the Ahwahnee Hotel which is Yosemite’s premiere hotel.

The Hotel was built in 1927 and is beautiful, we were booked to have a room in the hotel but were asked if we’d like to have a cabin in the woods.  It turned to be a larger accommodations with an outside patio.  The decor of the hotel is out of the 1930′s, very rustic and very grand and the Ahwahnee drew the political and celebrity figures of it’s time an continues to, including Nita and Kerry.

The dinning room is massive and provides panoramic views of the surrounding marvels of  nature.  We eat in the dinning room the first night and it was quite satisfactory but opted for lesser fare the following night.  We did however, enjoy our cocktail hour on our little patio in the middle of nature.

The really great aspect of the National Park system is that it is accessible to everyone.  You can bring your tent and supply’s, pay $15 a night for your camp site and enjoy the same benefits of the park as those that are paying $400 plus a night for a room at the Ahwahnee.  The fact is you can pay nothing per night and camp out in the forest or on the side of the mountain.  There’s a free shuttle that runes form 6 AM to 10PM and you have the opportunity to meet each other all day long.  The second day we were in the park we took the Glacier Point Tour, this was a four hour tour that took us to the highest point in the park where you could see the effects of these two glaciers coming together millions of years ago to form the grant rock formations that are here today.  It is one “Wow!” moment after another and it leaves you saying “everyone in the US needs to see this and everyone in the US needs to appreciate what our tax dolor’s are providing us, and if you don’t take the time to come and enjoy this “shame on you”.

I met a guy in an art exhibit that told me that he’d been volunteering at Yosemite for over 12 years.  He comes one to two weeks a year gets his room and board and serves in any number of capacities in the park. this week he was in the art exhibit explaining how the Juried Show worked.  If things slow down look for Nita and I in the National Parks volunteering some time in the future.  Hope to see you there as well.

Then there’s the specialty wineries, they might produce 8500 cases per year, that’s 100,000 bottles of wine they’ll sell 90% of it to their “Club Members” for say $50 a bottle.  That’s a $5 million a year business with no wholesaler and no retailer sharing in the take.

So what’s it cost to produce a bottle of wine?  You can buy a California wine in Whole Foods for $8 a bottle every day, so we must assume Whole Foods paid $4 for it and the wholesaler paid $3 for it so it must have cost the producer $1.50 to produce it.  But the $50 and $100 bottles must cost more to make, so let’s double it and call it a $3 cost on a $100 bottle of wine sold directly to the consumer.  Most of these wineries have been around since the 1970′s so the land is paid for, their brand is established.  What a business!

I found the best Pinot Noir that I’ve ever tasted at Lynmar Estates in Northern Sonoma ( now remember that I’ve been tasting wine non-stop for two days and it could have been red goat piss), I’ve become a club member, they’ll send me two bottles of wine each quarter at a cost of $40 each, that’s a$320 a year commitment. They’ve got another 10,000 subscribers doing the same; no wholesaler, no retailer, factory direct for them and some of my fellow members are buying a case a quarter.  The property is beautiful, yes I’m a club member with privileges.  What a business!

I can see why everyone wants to live in Northern California, if I die a good Catholic I’m confident this is where I’ll live out my existence (what ever that might mean).

Having joined three or four “Wine Clubs”, and confident that my future wine consumption is mapped for the balance of my life, we’re hitting the road for a four and a half hour drive to Yosemite National Park.  I’m 80% confident in the lady that lives within my GPS box so I’ve purchased a California map to just make sure she’s doing right by us.  I’ve realized that she opts for the shortest route when there’s a choice.  This means that if there’s a four lane road that skirts around the mountain that separates Napa from Sonoma and a winding road up the mountain then and equally winding road down the other side and it saves us one mile of road we’re going up the mountain.

So I was surprised that I pulled into the Robert Mondavi Winery as our first stop in the Napa area.  What I learned inside was that the Robert Mondavi that I had purchased in our local stores has been the bottom of their line and their better wines are marketed under the Robert Mondavi Winery label in the $23 to $45 price range.  After sampling these it was suggested that we go to another tasting room and taste their Reserve wines.  It was here that we met a young lady from Alaska who taught us not only about Mondavi wines but wine in general.  I came away feeling I wanted to drink less wine in future but better wine, I want to drink the best and I’m convinced that Mondavi can deliver.

We left Mondavi feeling good about our quest and just feeling good.  Our next stop was at the Sterling Winery which required a tram ride up to the top of the mountain where their winery is located.  This was a totally different experience, less personal and more mechanical in their presentation on their wines.  A bonus to several good wines was meeting a couple from Noblesville Indiana who are staying in the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa as well, the tasting turned into a social experience and a lot of fun.  Still feeling good we stopped in Calistoga at Cafe Sarafornia for a much needed lunch.

Belly’s full and heads a bit settled we headed for Rombauers Winery in search for a robust buttery, oaky Chardonnay.  We had been pointed to Rombauers by the lady’s at Mondavi.  We were not able to taste the said Chardonnay but were able to purchase a bottle thus we fund two comfortable chairs with a view and did our own tasting before making our way over the mountain to Sonoma.

We finished our day at El Molino Cental a small, sit outside  Mexican tortilla and tamales stand. These guy run a spotless fantastic Mexican restaurant.  It sits across the street from the Fairmont and if you want a great meal for less the $15 a person take a short walk and have a great surprise while saving yourself $100.  It won’t be the fine dining offered by The Fairmont but it’s good food at a bargain price.

Our first stop is the Muir Woods. One hundred and fifty million years ago ancestors of redwood and sequoia trees found in Muir Woods grew throughout the United States. Today, the Sequoias can be found only in a narrow, cool coastal belt from Monterrey California, in the south to Oregon in the north.

We then headed further north for Point Reyes. Point Reyes is the windiest place on the Pacific Coast, and second foggiest place in North American. Fog frequently reduces visibility to just a few hundred feet, posing serious challenges for passing mariners. The Point Reyes Lighthouse was constructed in 1870 to help mariners safely navigate the oft-concealed and turbulent shores of the Point Reyes Headlands.

There’s not much of a trail per see leading to the Lighthouse, rather a paved road which we walked from the main parking area to reach the Visitor Center (.45 miles : 535′). From here, when open, we continued down 308 steps to the Lighthouse base (.6 miles : 225′).

We had stopped at a Deli along the road to pick up some sandwiches and a bottle of wine for our lunch.  The Visitors center was closed but their tables provided the best surroundings for a Pacific Coast Beach lunch.  It just doesn’t get any better then this!

We’re wrapping up our stay in San Francisco and will be  heading for the wine country.  We went to Sausalito, it’s falls into the category of “been there done that, don’t care to do it again”.  It’s some good shopping but we’ve got all the stuff that we need in fact what we need is a large garage sale to get rid of stuff. 

Did go to Alcatraz and enjoyed the audio tour, it’s funny that the way they give you a feel for how life was in the prison is to share with you the details of the two most dramatic escape attempts, and detail the lives of the most vicious criminals.  At one level I hate to see us glorify the worst of us but I know that there are at least three Boston Marathon bombers movies in the planning.  I enjoyed our time at Alcatraz, “been there done that.”

We also spent time on San Francisco’s public transit system; the Cable Cars and the Trolleys were both a step into the past as well as a wonderful way to see and experience a beautiful city.  Sunday we found ourselves in downtown with elbow to elbow people shopping listening to street music, then out on Fisherman’s Wharf elbow to elbow people enjoying themselves.  I’ve never seen such activity in Birmingham.

I can see why so many people want to live in San Francisco, it appears to be what we all wish our city would be, a place with vibrancy, a diverse ethnic population that gets along, lots of activity, a moderate climate, great restaurants and a safe place to live.

We spent our first day on the Big Bus, a Hop on and Hop Off bus that makes a two hour loop around the city with a tour guide pointing out all the major attraction, highlighting the history, and giving you a lay of the land.  From the top of the open air bus we saw how San Francisco came together burned to the ground, rebuilt, burned down, rebuilt, was destroyed by and earthquake, rebuilt into what it is today, a concrete and cinder block city with the knowledge that their going to have to continue to deal with earthquakes.  I was impressed with how clean the city is and how every race on the earth lives side by side.  Unlike most big metropolitan cities I seldom heard a siren, saw few police and no military presence.

The highlights of our trip around San Francisco was our walk across the 1.7 mile Golden Gate Bridge, lunch in China Town, our 8 mile walk from Union Square through China Town to Fisherman’s Wharf and feeling totally safe the whole way. 

Our night was finished with dinner at Quince (470 Pacific Ave.).  What Nita and I had was not a meal it was a presentation of food art.  Everything that was place on our table used the plate as a canvas to present a piece of art, each morsel of food was a brush stroke of color, texture, and flavor that combined to make a visual as well a taste culinary pleasure.   

I started with Wild King Salmon Crudo – Borkaw Farm Avocado, Orange Blossom and Green Almond.  It a arrived on a grey stone ware plate, my first reaction was it’s beautiful; the deep red of the raw King Salmon, contrasting with the greed dribble of the Avocado, some other stuff and those tinny almonds but there’s not enough to feed a small child.  I cut one of the small pieces of Salmon in half moved it through the other stuff and put it in my mouth and BAM…. that’s a mouth orgasm!  That’s the best Salmon I’ve ever tasted; I followed it with a sip of the Vie Di Romans, “Flors Di Uis” Friuli 2010 ( an Italian white that had been paired by the wine steward) and the culinary adventure began. 

The second course was better then the first, “Casoncelli”, Willey Farm Artichoke and Pecorino Cheese.  Again the presentation was an eatable piece of art.  This is a pasta dish; the pasta was small squares stuffed with creamy cheese, the artichoke leaves were placed to connect the pastas in a serpentine line across the plate and a sauce served as the paint to bring the picture together.  The flavors or the cheese, the artichoke blended to create something special to my pallet.  Again there wasn’t a large portion so I savored every bite knowing that this pleasure will soon pass. 

My main course was St. Canut Suckering Pig, Endive, Turnip and Whey; paired with a Pinot Gris from Dundee Hills, OR, another brilliant selection. I was served what looked like two tinny pink Lamb Chops a slice to turnip with something over it all in a sauce.  I’d never had suckling pig before, I’d heard the term but never gave it much thought.  “So this is from a suckling pig; that explains the small bone.”  I sliced a piece and tried it, full of flavor, not dry like many pork chops, OK so a baby pig didn’t get to roll in the mud.  The big surprise was the turnip and whey ( curds and whey) Wow, I wish there had been more of that.   

I’m not a big desert lover, I prefer real food but it was a part of the package so I went for the Pistachio Millefoglie, what a way to end a fantastic meal.

Our meal at Quince will go down as one of the finest meals that I’ve ever eaten.  The food was fantastic and the service was something to behold, it was a well choreographed production of no less then 15 professionals moving through the restaurant to fill 72 patrons every wish.  This place should be a training ground on how to run a business that serves the public.  Nita asked me, “What are you watching?”   I answered. “I’m watching a theatrical production designed to serve us a fantastic meal.”

In full disclosure our evening carried a price tag of $310, I don’t mind paying for a memorable meal and experience.  As I see it you can pay a modest price for a forgettable meal or you can pay for a memorable experience that you will carry forward as the standard for all future dinning experiences. 

I’ve been alive now for 25,063 days thus I’ve eaten about 75,190 meals; I’ll remember this one.

The last time I was in California was in 1965; my brother and I decided that we wanted to complete our college careers in California with a degree from UCLA so we packed up the Austin Healey and headed west from Indianapolis, each with $100 in our pockets.  That doesn’t  sound like much but as I remember gas was about 28 cents a gallon, we could eat at McDonald’s for less then 50 cents and a motel room could be had for $8.00a night.  We were confident that we could survive on our stash until be gained employment.

Nita and I will be spending a bit more then $100 each on this trip.  We’ll be spending three nights in San Francisco at Fisherman’s Wharf, three nights in the wine country at the Fairmont, two nights a Yosemite, four nights at Big Sur and then another night in San Francisco before flying back to Birmingham.

 In 65 the plan was to get a job as a waiter or something close, work for six months and enroll as and instate resident.  This trip is more about seeing our country, we’ve spent a lot of time in the past several years traveling around the world and experiencing other cultures, it’s time to see what all the fuss is about California, besides I like good wine and good food.

The first several night on the 65 road trip were spent on the road, literally on the rode.  That is rather then spring for a motel we merely pulled off the road at a road side picnic area threw down our sleeping bags and slept next to the car.  The first night we discovered that we had laid down within 50 feet of a railroad track and the 1:00 AM freighter created a out of body experience.  That was followed with the discovery that the west is full of snakes and they are very active in the night, but we saved the cost of a motel room.

This time we checked into the Marriott Fisherman’s Wharf and got into the mood of San Francisco at Alioto’s.  I had the Crab Cioppino and walked away full and impressed with the San Francisco atmosphere.

I’ll be blogging on our adventure and posting on Facebook, enjoy with us.