Time to Hit The Road

The first 100 degree day in Scottsdale, and we Hit The Road!  A little detour to Park City was in the cards - as we headed to Napa Valley to meet up with three other retired Touche/Deloitte partners and their spouses to 'explore' the Napa Valley;-)  As usual, we took about three days to get there with a delightful stop our first night out.  Diaz Lake County CG proved to be a beautiful stopover - and a perfect way to start our trip.

Our spot at Diaz Lake near Lone Pine, with a sunlit
Mt Whitney just above Magic's windshield.

Our view in the other direction - Diaz Lake.

Our choice of this particular area to stop for the night, was so that we could visit Manzanar National Historic Site (NHS).  This was the site of the internment of nearly 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II and was established as a NHS to preserve the stories of the interred and to serve as a reminder to all generations of the fragility of American civil liberties.  Most of the buildings of the Manzanar War Relocation Center were sold as scrap lumber when the Center was closed in 1945. Original sentry posts and the auditorium, along with foundations, concrete slabs and some garden features still exist.  The National Park Service is in the process of restoring two barracks, a mess hall and some rock gardens.  Very disturbing and thought provoking to walk through here and see the stories of many of the interred.

An original sentry post near the entrance to the Manzanar Relocation Camp.

Just one of the hundreds of barracks type buildings that were inhabited from 1942 to 1944.

Several families may have been assigned to this small space - with NO privacy.

Our next few days were much lighter - as we met up with friends in Napa Valley for three days of eating, visiting, eating, wine tours, eating - - - oh yes - and more eating!!  Thanks to Jack and Richard we got first class treatment at Hanzell and Joseph Phelps -  

Some of the Hanzell Vineyards as seen from their winery.

A pre-tasting tour for the 8 of us.

The Hanzell caves.

Time for a taste

At the Joseph Phelps Winery we were joined at our picnic lunch by members of the Phelps family, Gary and Richard had fun flying their quadracopters over the vineyard and then we got a private tour of one of the Phelps family homes.  A really special day for which we were quite grateful.

Boys and their toys!

As mentioned - we spent a lot of time eating.  AND, we can highly recommend all of our stops - REDD, The Mustard Grill and Bouchon (all in Yountville).

While our camping spot was not the very best we have ever stayed in, it was quite adequate (especially since we did not spend any time at the Bus!).  And, we did wake up one morning to that sound of a burner in a balloon.  E ran outside quickly to find - A Balloon -

How perfect to get us ready for Park City!  See you there in a couple of days -

Elizabeth & Gary back in Magic - back on the road;-)