Jazz and Blues on the Russian River

Saturday dawned hot and we decided to take our luck at parking in Gurnesville and ride our Segways to the Russian River Beach for the festival.  This worked out great and as we were surveying the crowd and trying to figure out where to “plant” our chairs, we  were adopted by Ken and Bill from Oakland.  They had “reserved” spaces with 3 tarps and offered us a corner.  Soon they were buying us beer and offering us “interesting” smokes.  It was a very laid back and interesting crowd.  We basically lazed the day away, drinking beer and eating “Carolina BBQ” (white sauce???) and jambayla from our camping neighbors.  All the while we were people watching, finishing my novel and listening to incredible jazz.  The line up included Meklit Hedro, an Ethiopian singer who was amazing, The Dream Tour:  Brian Cuthbertson and David Sanbourn, George Benson, and the Tower of Power.  Dave took some amazing photos.   If we were to do it again, we would come prepared to swim in the river to cool off!

George Benson wows on his guitar

Brian Cuthbertson from the Dream Tour

Deb goes Californian with a Chinese umbrella

Medicinal Smoke was Rampant!

Back at camp, we played Farkel with our next door neighbor, Pamela.  She had been playing it for several years but never with real dice, just on line.

Sunday we skyped the grandkids.  Abbie showed me (cupped hand raised), her new “fantasy” puppy:  Pupcake.  When I asked her what color it was, she said, “pink”.  LOL  She was drinking lemonaid, and I raised my coffee to say “cheers” and she said, “Gammy, you can’t clink through the phone!”  It is amazing how a three year old can be perfectly logical one minute and completely wrapped up in "pretend" the next!  We read part of a book I had bought them together.  Technology is amazing. 

Abbie and Ella (from Emily's Facebook Page)

We decided that a trip to Beaver Creek would be better done as a “day trip” without the RV as it was in the opposite direction we want to go, so we arranged for either a late departure or another day at the RV Park.  The road up to Calistoga was pretty winding and steep and we had definitely made the right choice.  Beaver Creek looked the same, minus the old BMW, but it had lost some of its charm.  We were greeted by Bruno’s partner and when we asked about him (his picture is still behind the bar), we were told he had “moved on” and they had severed their partnership.  Obviously, there had been “trouble in paradise.”  The wines were good, but not great and the partner was….very much “understated” after Bruno and  almost depressed!  You got the idea he was “hanging on by a thread”.  The sheep and the chickens were still around!

Dave and Bruno's Partner at Beaver Creek

After a quick trip to the grocery store, and a nap, we set out for Petaluna to Lagunitas Brewery.  They were having a fundraiser for a Charter School and the bands were rocking!  We got to talk a long time with the host, Randy, who told us a lot about the beers.  Their sour was great and David liked the Max which was double hopped.