MUGA Day #50: Mendocino to San Francisco

On My Ultimate Global Adventure day #50 I report on my final wine tasting and return to the San Francisco Airport.  I should add that my host, Terry Surles, is a long-time friend who I first met when he was at Argonne National Laboratory almost 30 years ago.  Since those days, he has worked at EPRI, the California Energy Commission, the Pacific International Center for High Technology Research and the University of Hawaii.  His wife, Sally Benson, who is in India this week, is Director of the Global Climate and Energy Project at Stanford University.

Terry and I went through Anderson Valley, starting with Goldeneye, which includes Duckhorn and Paraduxx.  Their tasting system is  totally different.  We had cheese and cold cut plates, and they deliver four to six glasses to your outside table, with a magnificent view:

Terry then drove to Edmeads/ Champ de Reves, where I was able to use my computer.  (Terry the next day ordered an internet service for their home in Albion.  He has been without it here for a decade or so.)  I might add that I'm posting this article from his computer system in Richmond Point (left), one of the three homes, at least that I know of, owned by this couple.  Right is their Palo Alto place.  I lost count on the number of vehicles.  My life is simple:  Honda Fit and a small apartment.

The next stop was Navarro:

He purchased various whites and roses for his wife.  Our final tasting was at Roederer Estate, that French champagne company.

They are known for Cristal, that bubbly rock stars love to drink.  Their set-up is, like Goldeneye, classy.  I've said this before, but every winery I visited on this grand tour now charges for wine-tasting.  However, some delete this cost if you buy their wines.  I'm sure there are exceptions, for there are 40 wine companies just in Anderson Valley, and I did not visit them all.

We then breezed past the Berkeley Campus of the University of California, then by San Francisco:

After a drive up University Avenue into Palo Alto, we had lunch at Il Fornuio:

The trees in my days here were much smaller, but this was more than half a century ago.  My final real meal on My Ultimate Global Adventure was a most memorable one:  Prosecco and Chianti to accompany a green salad and excellent vegetable risotto, sitting by the sidewalk on a bright sunny day where the temperature was in the low 70's.

Then, of course, back up University Avenue to Stanford University and the iconic Hoo Tow (or Hoover Tower if you are an alien):

Tomorrow, back to Honolulu.

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