Blogs from Lodi, California, United States, North America

Have you heard of Spanish Priorat wine? During the Middle Ages, as the story goes, a villager had a vision of angels ascending and descending a stairway to heaven in the region. The next year, King Alfonso II of Aragón founded a small town and Carthusian monastery on the spot. The monastery became known as La Cartoixa, (Catalan for “charterhouse,” another name for a Carthusian monastery) and the town, Scala Dei (“God’s stairway”). Given the important presence of the monks, the region came to be known as Priorato, from the Spanish word for “priory.” Today, although the monastery has been long abandoned, the little hamlet nearby is still known as Scala Dei, and one of the oldest and best wineries in the region—Cellers de ... read more

Did I misspell "facts" or ?? No, I wanted to use some alliteration. But since you love my wine facts, here are some more for you to sip on. Sixty percent of Napa Valley wineries require an appointment to visit them, versus 20% which are open to the public. Other regions of California are less restrictive: 5% of Santa Cruz and Monterey wineries require an appointment; fewer than 10% of Santa Barbara; and 30% of Sonoma County. I think that is totally ridiculous. But a man in the know told me the reason why. To address the number of drunk drivers on the road up and down the Napa Valley. Good reason, I say, especially when I am on a bicycle!!! The German wine harvest will begin 21 days EARLY, making the 2018 harvest the earliest ... read more

In September 2011 we went on a road trip, planning to stop at interesting places along the way. One very interesting spot was the city of Lodi in California. "Just about a year ago, I set out on the road... Seekin' my fame and fortune... lookin' for a pot of gold... Things got bad, and things got worse... I guess you will know the tune... Oh Lord, I'm stuck in Lodi again" For those of you who are not familiar with this song, it was made popular in the 1970's by a rock band called Creedence Clearwater Revival (who also happens to be one of my all time favorite groups). After hearing this song many times on the radio back home in Yangon, Myanmar (known as Rangoon, Burma at that time) I have always wanted to ... read more

Carla: After leaving Lake Mead we drove north through the Nevada Desert, skirting the outer edge of Las Vegas. There are lots of words you can use to describe the desert here but one that springs to mind immediately is 'empty'. Its very very very empty indeed. The road stretches ahead shimmering into the distance in perfect straight lines. We drove for 6 hours and for 400 miles from Las Vegas to Reno and only saw trees on the last 20 miles as we entered Fallon a town who's tag line was “Nevada's little Oasis”. However that didn't mean that you could describe the desert as boring. There are lots of brown hills, brown rocks, brown and orange scrub and then surprising amounts of other colours from time to time. Flowering cacti provide yellow, pink and ... read more

On Monday morning, we left Mesa and drove to Indio, CA where we spent the night at Shadow Hills RV Park. Tuesday morning, we hitched up an headed to San Bernardino where we turned north to climb into the highlands and onward to Orange Grove RV Park in Bakersfield, CA. This Wednesday morning we set out for Lodi, CA where we will stay two nights a Flag City RV Park. After three days of driving, we like to chill and stay at a location for two nights before moving on. Here is our location: url=http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=38.11362,-121.3889&ll=38.11362,-121.3889&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1Flag City RV Park We may do some wine tasting in and about Lodi tomorry. Folks around here seem to grow grapes just about everywhere; back yards, side yards, and yes, in some front yards. Our membership in Passport America gives us ... read more