Wine Tasting & TCing

Jfresh wrote:
We ended up staying two nights at Calistoga Campground. If you are wondering it is a parking lot of a fairground for $52 per night. Yes there was full hook ups available. This time of year it was relatively peaceful because it was almost empty. I could see how it could get loud during the summer months. But, location, location, location. You can easily walk into town and Calistoga seems more centrally located for the areas we like than Napa. St. Helena was great. The food was great everywhere we went and you can not find a bad glass of wine. We are already planning to return next year. I complain about the price but compared to the food and wine budget it was a drop in the bucket.

After reading the reviews on Yelp we are glad we passed on the Napa Valley Expo park. We drove by the Alexander Valley Rv park and it was beautiful on the Russian River. But according to Yelp it turns into a overcrowded dump.

We are now in Carmel and looking forward to seeing what it has to offer.

If you head into Big Sur, Pacific Valley Campground is on a low cliff by the water. You can also gorilla boondock on the switchbacks of the old coast road above Andrew Molera State beach if you don't want to stay in the state parks.

If you want something a little different, mosey on east a few hours to the wineries of Grass Valley and Nevada City. There are dozens, many of them are just great, and they have tasting rooms and tours. If you do that, you can stay at the Nevada County Fairgrounds RV park. It has water and power nestled in 150 foot tall trees in the Mother Lode, if not much else. Before we bought in the area, we used the Fairgrounds RV camping facility in all four seasons to see if it was a good fit. It was.
If you do come up to the area, PM me and we'll meet you for the tours. I've given up beer and wine and liquor for Lent, a bonafide hardship, so I'm looking forward to some wine country tasting.
We came south from a month long TC trip and passed through Chico, CA, the home base for the Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. We stopped for lunch and the 16 beer sampler, and finally struggled out to the box for the 1-1/2 hour trip home. I was in no shape to drive, so we pulled down the steps and holed up in Lance in the parking lot for God knows how long. All's well after a while and we made it home before dark. Nice to have a place to hole up on the road while you recover.
jefe

I am glad you had a good time it is a beautiful area and a lot of things to do. I do agree the center of the park is like a parking lot but if you can get a site over by the fence near the golf course those are nice with trees and not so wide open. Have a great time traveling the coast line many many things to see along the way.

We ended up staying two nights at Calistoga Campground. If you are wondering it is a parking lot of a fairground for $52 per night. Yes there was full hook ups available. This time of year it was relatively peaceful because it was almost empty. I could see how it could get loud during the summer months. But, location, location, location. You can easily walk into town and Calistoga seems more centrally located for the areas we like than Napa. St. Helena was great. The food was great everywhere we went and you can not find a bad glass of wine. We are already planning to return next year. I complain about the price but compared to the food and wine budget it was a drop in the bucket.

After reading the reviews on Yelp we are glad we passed on the Napa Valley Expo park. We drove by the Alexander Valley Rv park and it was beautiful on the Russian River. But according to Yelp it turns into a overcrowded dump.

We are now in Carmel and looking forward to seeing what it has to offer.

garryk6 wrote:


HMSBeagle,
It has been over 20 years since I was in the Napa area, but when stationed in Vallejo in the late 80's, i used to spend time at the court house researching family lines that took me out of Napa to Pope Valley. It was a really neat valley, lost in time back then. Is it still as quiet and quaint as it was then? I would only recommend it to the TC crowd, as the road I to the valley is as twisty and wind-ee as they come with countless switchbacks. But the vineyards there were beautiful! If we ever make it back down to that country we hope to visit there again!

Garry

Napa has changed a lot in the last 20 years, but Pope Valley is pretty much the same. Vinyards have crept in as they have everywhere here, and some of the expensive homes. But the zoning is so restrictive it cannot change much. That is in the Ag Preserve, zoned for 40 acre minimum lot sizes (so you cannot split a 79 acre parcel). That slows development a bit!

Probably the most dramatically changed town is Yountville. 30 years ago it was a dump, broken down houses and one room apartments occupied by alcoholic Vets. Now it is posh hotels and fancy restaurants from one end to the other. St. Helena has gotten more sheik and has developed suburbs, but downtown looks about the same. Calistoga too.

My father arrived Napa in 1919. He saw plenty of change, it was a town of 6000 then.

That's a great part of California. I lived in SF for a decade and went up there a lot.

If you're into vintage campers (trailers not TCs) you should definitely check out this place in Guerneville. Real nice older guy running it, lots of crazy rare restored units to look at, and he'll talk your ear off (in a good way) about old school RVs.

http://www.rrvintagetrailers.com

Also if you like champagne, Korbel is nearby in Sebastabol and does a great free tour.

Russian river is great for fishing/rafting/canoeing if the water is high enough, and don't miss Armstrong Redwoods Park too for some giant trees.

Have fun!

HMS Beagle wrote:
I've lived here 60 years now. There are four campground facilities in the Napa Valley. Skyline park and Calistoga fairgrounds have been mentioned. There is also an RV campground at the Napa Town and County Fairgrounds in downtown Napa and Boothe State park just north of St. Helena on highway 29. The fairgrounds has been redone and is a nice facility with hookups though you will not consider the view particularly inviting. Boothe is nice but generally booked in advance and has traffic noise from the highway, but a nice surrounding area.

The Les Shwab/Home Depot parking lot on Soscol is used by some but technically illegal. Walmart in Napa will not let you stay - parking lot is too small.

If you are nice people and don't like anywhere else give me a PM, I might let you park on my farm, 12 acres just outside of the City of Napa (about a mile from Skyline Park).

HMSBeagle,
It has been over 20 years since I was in the Napa area, but when stationed in Vallejo in the late 80's, i used to spend time at the court house researching family lines that took me out of Napa to Pope Valley. It was a really neat valley, lost in time back then. Is it still as quiet and quaint as it was then? I would only recommend it to the TC crowd, as the road I to the valley is as twisty and wind-ee as they come with countless switchbacks. But the vineyards there were beautiful! If we ever make it back down to that country we hope to visit there again!

Garry

I've lived here 60 years now. There are four campground facilities in the Napa Valley. Skyline park and Calistoga fairgrounds have been mentioned. There is also an RV campground at the Napa Town and County Fairgrounds in downtown Napa and Boothe State park just north of St. Helena on highway 29. The fairgrounds has been redone and is a nice facility with hookups though you will not consider the view particularly inviting. Boothe is nice but generally booked in advance and has traffic noise from the highway, but a nice surrounding area.

The Les Shwab/Home Depot parking lot on Soscol is used by some but technically illegal. Walmart in Napa will not let you stay - parking lot is too small.

If you are nice people and don't like anywhere else give me a PM, I might let you park on my farm, 12 acres just outside of the City of Napa (about a mile from Skyline Park).

Well we are in Napa as I type and find the accommodations at Les Schwab comfy and affordable.

We Liked the Calistoga Couty Fair Park mentioned in a previous post. It was reasonable and easy to get to the wineries. Make sure you go on the Silverado trail a lot of nice wineries and not as many people.