Lodi, CA

When we realized that son, Lee, would be able to meet up with us we went looking for a perfect meeting place.  We were heading north on I-5, Lee was coming from San Jose, CA and our friend, Lou, would come visit from Grass Valley.  So we needed a place central for all of us and a decent RV park for Kirby and I.  We decided on Lodi, CA and Flag City RV Park.

No one was very excited about the location and the weather was forecast to be in the triple digits.  Wow, were we ever surprised at how our day played out.  We left Success Lake and drove about four hours and settled into our site.  Lee arrived about 4:00 and we enjoyed a nice evening together eating carnitas and getting caught up on family news and gossip.

We also met our neighbors who have a beautiful black lab, Lola, whom Jake thought was wonderful.  We found out that Flo and Larry are from Yuma and actually live just down the street from where we were last month.  I remembered seeing them walking Lola.  We all hit it off right away and now l have a new BFF!  We can’t wait to get back to Yuma next fall and enjoy their company again.

Lou came over on Saturday from Grass Valley and it was old home week at our rig.  Kirby and Lee have known Lou for about 20 years and I have known him almost as long….he is family now! 

Since it was already so hot we headed into town to check out the local brewery that we had found online.  Lodi Beer Company is located downtown Lodi on a tree lined street – beautiful!  We each ordered different beers and enjoyed them along with a plate of nachos.  (I got the Red which I loved and Kirby of course tried the IPA which was very hoppy – just the way he likes them!)

The streets of downtown Lodi are really lovely!

What would be your choice?

I love the bar and the beer taps.  Very unusual.

A great smile on Lee's face!

Then it was on to wine tasting.  I had no idea that Lodi was a great wine tasting area so what a wonderful surprise.  I love wine.  I really love wine – so this was perfect for me and the men enjoyed it to.

Our first tasting room was the Van Ruiten FamilyVineyards.  That is where we met Nicole who explained all about their wines (and that she is going to Hawaii on vacation very soon and taking her twin 17 year old sons for their high school graduation).  I think our favorite there was the Sauvignon Blanc. It was a beautiful tasting room full of people having fun and enjoying the wines.  Lou got a couple of bottles for his wife who didn’t get to come and then we went on to the next.

Thanks, Nicole for the fun time!

That's us!

Michael-David Winery was next.  We loved their various zinfandels and we even got to sample a $60 bottle that we would never be able to purchase so that was very special.  It was awesome!  All of the wines we tried there were exceptional and we would like to have purchased a case – but we just don’t have the space!

YUM!!

Tasting at Michael-David

 Then it was back to the rig – which was only about a mile down the road.  We hung out visiting until the power went out!  Yikes – 105 degrees and no AC!  So, what do you do?  You go outside and sit in the shade of the RV, get the hose and get wet and invite your neighbors to join you.  It turned into a great party!  What an awesome day we had!  I love this life!

This is our Jake

And this is his new friend, Lola!