Our California Adventure Part One

I know I blogged about the first part of our "adventure" already but indulge me in a bit of repetition so I can also post a few pictures here that some of my loyal readers probably have not seen yet! Mrs. B

Here we are in Sun City, California with Don and Kathleen. This is actually Day #2 of our vacation, but, it is the first time I've really had the opportunity to write (in my travel journal).

I have to say our travel here from North Carolina was a bit frustrating. Our flight out of RDU to Atlanta was supposed to take off around 4:30 pm. Well, due to "weather" in Atlanta, flights to and from Atlanta were all late. What weather? A few sprinkles? Anyway, departure time moved to 5:30 pm, then 6:30 pm, then 6:55 pm, etc. So, we sat in the bar, had a few drinks, ate some dinner and played cards (Gin).

We finally got on the plane and made it to Atlanta and just barely made our connection to Ontario. Thankfully, that flight was also delayed because the pilot had been stuck in Miami. We got on the plane and sat there waiting for him.

The flight was long and there was a family with two small kids sitting behind me. Ugh. But, all in all, fairly uneventful.

We arrived in Ontario at 11:30 pm, went to baggage claim...no bags for us. So, after filing the claim, we went to Alamo to get our car. The agent tried to talk us into upgrading to a larger car; no thanks. We went out to get our car...no cars (except the larger ones she'd tried to talk us into upgrading to...hmmm...) We ended up with the larger car at no extra charge (obviously, since there were no compact cars!)

Made it safely to Don and Kathleen's (lovely new) house. After a welcome tour and an even more welcome glass of wine (and a bit of a chat with Kathleen) we crashed.

Yesterday we found out our bags would not arrive until 9:00 pm that night and, since they can not deliver to a residence after 10:00 pm, we would be SOL until Sunday morning. This meant we had to make an emergency run to Target for a few essentials.

Despite all of this, we had a wonderful day and evening with Don and Kathleen. We went to Ponte Winery in Temecula for tasting/tour/lunch. We ended up buying a case of wine (no surprise, that; especially since their wine is made in the Italian style that both of us love). Our lunch was wonderful although the guys broke with tradition and drank beer with their meal (Kathleen and I shared a pitcher of Sangria...woo hoo!) On the tour, we learned all about the grapes, the vines, the climate, what "pink" wine is, got to do some "barrel" tastings (stainless steel containers here) and I impressed the tour giver with my knowledge of wine. Ha ha. Seriously, he was a bit of a card, anyway, and, when he said, "What is the best wine in the world?" I shouted "The one you LIKE!" to which he replied, "I love her!" Okay, keep in mind, we went on this tour AFTER we'd been tasting!

The wine tour guy at Ponte

Mrs. B in the vineyards at Ponte

Kathleen, Don, Mr. B and Mrs. B in the tasting room at Ponte

Mrs. B learns about pink wine (wine in the stainless that has yet to be turned into either white rose or red; did not know that!)

Did I mention it was HOT? Something like in the mid-90s. Temecula is in the desert, after all. But still, a tad warm for late October, even by California standards.

We got back to Don and Kathleen's house and settled in for a great evening of chat, card playing (Kathleen and I beat Don and Mark at Euchre...not once...but twice (and I know Mr. B; he'd NEVER EVER let someone win, it's not in his nature)), listening to 80s music ("SISTER CHRISTIAN!") and made a Jack in the Box run for tacos (2 for 99 cents, some things NEVER change) and curly fries (theirs are the best I've ever had).

The signs says it all, baby!

BTW, while listening to music (courtesy of Kathleen's iPod through a boom-box contraption), one song came on that cracked me up SO much that I had to add it to my Play List. It's called "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk"; you've GOT to listen to it right now! Of course, Mr. B is already tired of me complaining about my big fat badonkadonk! "Lord have mercy how'd she even get them britches on?"

Indiana James models his Halloween costume

This morning has been laid back; breakfast, mimosas and waiting for our luggage! We can check into the resort at 4:00 pm. The rest of the week will be relatively busy and we'll have to find a grocery store to stock up on "essentials" for our stay at the resort. But, tomorrow is wide open!

James gave me my own private "concert" on his clarinet!