Saturday, July 30

I had trouble going to sleep last night, and was still tossing and turning at 2 a.m. The train horns didn't help, but I finally drifted off, waking up again at 4 a.m., and drifting off again after a long time. So I was bleary-eyed at 7 a.m., when we got up.

After a breakfast of toasted raisin bread with cream cheese, and a variety of fruits, plus coffee, we took turns using the bathroom to get dressed and ready to go to the festival.

We arrived at the festival around 10 a.m., where a polka band was in full swing. We took a turn around the park, pushing Mother in her wheelchair, to briefly look at the booths offering goods from home baked breads, to honeys and jams, to clothing, to hats, to hair feathers, to temporary tattoos, to manicures, to characiture drawings, to jewelry, etc.

Then we parked Mother's wheelchair under trees near the bandstand, where she enjoyed the music while we visited the winery booths to sample wines. Before we did this, though, I went to the ice cream stand to buy Mother a cup of soft serve ice cream. I was surprised that the fellow running the stand remembered me from last year. Of course this is a very, very small community (under 300 population), so anyone new in town is probably noticed right away.

We watched a grape stomp, followed by the blessing of the vines by a local priest, before returning to the campground for lunch. After lunch, I convinced Mother that she should take a nap, and helped her get comfortable on the couch under a couple of afghans, before Hubbie, Sis, and I went to a package store owned by one of the wineries.

We didn't find anything we wanted there, so we went to the store's winery, which is located in a Swiss village that is an incorporated town (population 46). After visiting the tasting room, we bought a bottle of this year's festival wine, along with bottles of our other favorites.

While we were in the village, Hubbie made reservations for dinner at the German restaurant, located in the village's quaint former wine cellar. Here, the waitresses are dressed in colorful Swiss costumes, and ours agreed to let me photograph her seated with Mother and Sis.

For dinner (served by candlelight), Mother, Sis, and I ordered baked salmon, with baked potatoes, while Hubbie ordered steak and shrimp. Before the main course, we were served a salad, followed by Swiss onion soup and hot loaves of yeast bread. We also enjoyed a bottle of wine with the meal.

After we returned to the campground, we again played several rounds of Skipbo (Mother's favorite game). I think we each won at least one game this time, but Sis and Hubbie still remained the champs.

Just after dark, we hopped in the truck (well, Mother, already dressed in her pajamas and housecoat, didn't exactly hop in), and rode down to the end of the campground, where there is a spectacular view of the lighted bridge. This is listed as one of the sixteen prettiest lighted spans in the state, with it's amber lights reflecting off the water.

Then we swung back by the dam to see those lights. These are white lights, but the effect is still nice.

Back home, we resumed playing cards, but by this time, thanks to loss of sleep last night and a day of wine sampling, I was having a hard time staying awake, so we soon decided to call it a night.