Steel Wheels

What They Have In Fresno

Second star to the right and straight on ’til morning . . .

The image of Neverland will always be how we first imagined it—and it’s exactly like Yosemite. Everyone becomes child-like upon entering this enchanted forest. People just explode from the park entrance after paying $7 and go bat-crazy. From the old rider looking to see if anyone’s watching before scooting up a dark road the wrong way on a one-way (true story), to the exuberant stomp of gleeful Germans departing the tour bus, to a bridal veil vattenfal, to the Japanese father so taken with a Harley-Davidson motorcycle at the bottom of the falls that he could NOT stop smiling while his kids stood by for a picture, to the playful poses of young teens, and to all the strange tongues heard that day—none of which was English.

But the coup de grace was arriving at the top to see the Ansel Adams Gallery staring eerily back at me in black and white.

Yosemite – Take Hwy 41 up from Fresno all the way to the top – September 2013

Vine-Ripe In St Helena

Margaret & I found this Farmers Market in St Helena over 26 years ago and it was the beginning of a recurring rendezvous . . . we found ourselves planning our wine country trip around Farmers Market day

The sign is the same but Angie is in her 80s now (90s?). The color of her organic produce shocks. Everybody stops to say “Hi” and buy. Watching her work the crowd I wonder if Angie’s greatest joy is farming, or selling. Today I bought tomatoes, green beans, plums, and apples – the perfect antidote to the rich cuisine in Napa Valley. The same lady still covers the event for the local paper. Everyone hopes to be the story one day so they can display a copy. St Helena may have the last newspaper on Earth with currency. The same whole new generation of young farmers take their places behind tables. With the hottest and most diverse collections of Cucurbita pepo we’ve ever seen. The same gentility showed up for the Volunteer Chef pancakes and waffles under the shade trees. The same Bocce courts now lay claim to being the divine centre of bocce as well as wine & food … St Helena has a population of five thousand and boasts 122 bocce teams with 1500 players – the largest number in the Bay area and most of the players are vintage. Eat your veggies and enjoy the show.

The sweetest thing takes place right under the schooled noses of people seeking the smells, nuances, and mouth-feel of great wine as they drive past the sign pointing to heaven. Ironically, it all plays out in the finest vineyards in California. I’m lucky we found this place so long ago and that it’s still here, better than ever.

Grapes aren’t the only things vine-ripe in St Helena.

St Helena, California at the Farmers Market – Friday, September 20, 2013

Keep Going, Don’t Stop

All year all over America a gazillion people ride 150 miles taking the fight to MS…

The MS-150 Waves To Wine Ride started in San Francisco and ended the next afternoon in the Sonoma wine country. Only in San Francisco could you start at a Cow Palace and end-up in a vineyard. But fighting MS isn’t the only thing that happens on these rides. For two days people accomplish something they didn’t know they could do. Husbands and wives. Kids. Co-workers. Mothers & Daughters. And The Lean Bean Dream Team. They kept going and didn’t stop. And that’s what it takes to win this fight.