Camping Trip, Day Two, July 28

Thursday, July 28: This morning, we had quick breads fruits for breakfast, and then got ready to tour the area.

To prevent Sis's hyper dog from disturbing our laid-back shih tzu, and to keep her from rushing up to Cat's cage for a bloody swat to the nose, we caged her. She yapped in protest, of course, but when Sis announced that she was leaving and told Dog she loved her, she settled down. Sis has to leave her home while she works, so she knows that when Sis grabs her purse and makes her announcements, it's time to settle down for a nap.

Our first stop was at a local bank, which features fascinating fifty-six foot, sand carved mural. The mural has ten panels that trace the history of the small town from the time when Indians lived on the land, to the Westward covered wagon movement, to the pioneers of the area, to shipment of goods by steamboat, and to the railroad era.

From the bank we stopped by the museum and flea market to find out when they would be open, and learned they open on Friday.

Our next stop was a beautifully restored Catholic Church, located on a hill overlooking the river valley and town. A 1902 Basilica-style church, it is noted for its paintings, stained glass windows, and goldleaf work. Naturally, it's listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Before leaving the church grounds, we stopped at the overlook and took snapshots of the vista...houses and businesses nestled among trees, against the backdrop of blue hills beyond.

After that, we stopped by a grocery store on the way back to camp to pick up a few grocery items, including grapes and locally-grown peaches.

Back at camp, we had lunch and fed the animals, and then continued our tour. Mother opted to stay at camp and nap. Dog was caged again, but, according the Mother later, settled right down as soon as we left.

We began the afternoon by visiting a winery, located in a Swiss-like village. The village is an incorporated town with a population of 46. The village includes a city hall, a wine cellar/store/entertainment hall, an RV park of sorts, a popular restaurant, and of course vineyards.

Here, we went on a guided tour through the old underground wine cellar, made of native stone and mortar, where a young woman dressed in a Swiss Miss costume showed us an old wooden wine press, and huge wooden aging casks. Some casks were oval...these were used for transporting wine on ships, because they would rock, but not roll over. In the early days of wine making, we learned, it was children who crawled into the giant casks through a small opening and scrubbed the insides of the barrels. Today, wine is processed in stainless steel tanks.

Of course, at the end of the tour, we proceeded to the tasting room, where we enjoyed samples of several wines.

From there, we toured two other local wineries, and sampled wines at both. At one, we bought a case of red table wine...good for my heart...and a package of cheese made at a place close to where Sis lives.

The other winery specializes in fruit wines, so we sampled strawberry, plum, raspberry, elderberry, and blackberry wines. Sis and I each bought bottles of the elderberry, which is delicious.

We returned to camp after that, where I fixed spaghetti for supper. The sauce was already prepared, leftover from a batch Mother made a couple of weeks ago and then froze, so all I needed to do was cook the spaghetti. We had green beans and Italian bread with the meal.

Later, we played several games of Skipbo again, and then at dusk, we went to the end of the campground, where there is a parking lot and boat launch, and where there is a clear view of the lighted bridge. I took along my tripod, so Sis and I could get shots of the bridge.

Before going back to the camper, we drove to the other end of the campground, where I took pictures of the lighted dam.

At camp, we enjoyed a snack of the white cheddar cheese I bought today, along with a white, salt-free cheese that Sis made, and baby Swiss, with crackers, and glasses of wine.

After that, bedtime.