How to Pick Grapes in 8 Easy Steps

Reustle Prayer Rock Vineyard

1.      First you have to get invited, hired, or recruited.  We did this by buying copious amounts of wine at Reustle Winery.  They also recruited their neighbors, church members and other wine club members.  If you are hired as a seasonal worker, you probably wouldn’t be writing about it.

2.   Next you wait for the call.  The winemaker decides when the grapes are ready so you have to be “on call” for several days.  We called the winery several times to let them know we were in the area and when we got to Roseburg.  Luckily this trip we weren’t so scripted that we could stage ourselves near the winery and planned 2 day trips which could be shuffled depending on when we “got the call”.

3.   Get up on time.  Once we got the call, we realized that suddenly we had to get up at a definite time and be ready to go early.  While we tend to get up fairly early anyway, we enjoy coffee, the paper, and don’t exactly have to meet a deadline. We were careful the night before with preparations to make sure we got up on time.  David even pre-fixed the coffee!  Grapes need to be picked before the hard heat of the day and afternoon.  The grapes need to be crushed within a few hours of picking so it is necessary to be in the vineyard early.

4.     Get your instructions and your equipment.  We arrived at the vineyard by 8 am and were surprised at how many other volunteer workers had been recruited on a Friday.  Most were retirees, though we had a few college students.  There were about 25 of us in all.  All the grapes that we would pick today would earn the same fee per pound as the seasonal workers, but the money would be donated to charity.  It was obvious that the Reustle’s church had organized teams to help support the charity, a fund to provide respite for the families of children with special needs.   We were issued gloves and snippers. The instructions were pretty simple.  When your bucket gets full, yell “BUCKET”, and hopefully someone will bring you a new one.  Pass your bucket toward the tractor.  When lifting the bird nets which are secured with bread ties, yell, “Net up” so that folks can look away and not get a bread tie flung in their face.  Pickers would work in pairs with each team working on opposite sides of the vines and we would space out with 5 vines between teams.  Once you reached the point where the team ahead of you had picked you would do the "five plant hop" ahead of them.

5.     Get to work.  We found that it was one instance where short people had a slight advantage, for the grapes were at a great height for Deb to pick without stooping.  The work wasn’t particularly hard, but dirty and as the morning wore on, hot.  When we finished several rows, we took a water/coffee/cinnamon bun break.  We then picked some more, finishing right after noon. The only problem we had was a logistical one:  often the "grape crates" were being taken to the winery for crush and there was no place to empty the buckets so we would run out of empty buckets.  We picked Gruner Veltliner grapes which were green and often hid behind the leaves (Oh yes, one more instruction,  “no leaves in the bucket”.)  The grapes would be used to make a light white wine.

6.    Eat lunch.   After a hot morning picking, we were treated to lunch with some of the wine that our varietal would soon be made into. We all guessed how many pounds we had picked.  The person closest, got a bottle of wine.  Corporately the 23 of us picked 12,170 pounds of grapes in less than 4 hours.  While we were taking a much needed break, the workers at the winery continued the work, immediately crushing the grapes and getting them ready to ferment.

7.   Taste more wine.  Finally we enjoyed a tasting of other Reustle wines and met Chuck and Gayla, another couple staying in our RV Park.  We would later have supper with them.  Gloria Reustle agreed to ship the wine we had purchased so far at Russian River and in the Umqua Valley back to North Carolina; of course we filled out the cases with Reustle wine. 

Cave at Reustle
Tasting is done in the "catacombs"

8.       And the very last step:  much needed showers and a nap!!!

Redwoods by the Ocean!

Leaving the Russian River, we headed for the coast and decided to take California 1.   We knew this was adding time to our trip, but we didn’t appreciate how much time.  The coast was cloaked in fog and what could have been spectacular views were obscured by the fog.  The road was very steep and windy and by the time we got to where we had to cut inland on 101 we were whipped.  The first sign we saw was “steep grades and curves next 9 miles”.  We were really deflated! Dave would let cars pass him at most turn offs and they would honk as they went by.  We were never sure if they were saying “thank you”... or “What took you so long?!”  Probably both and different times.   What could have been a routine 5-6 hr drive, turned into 8 hours of “hard driving” with very little pay off in scenery.  But we needed to move forward.  We did a “stop and drop” in Eureka and then did a short hop the next day to Crescent City.

Tuesday we got into camp by lunch time and were pleased with our campground.  The smell of pine and cedar was strong and we were nestled under the big trees.  We drove into town and had a great seafood lunch on the bay and watched the harbor seals sleeping on the dock.  We wondered how they “confined” them to 2 sections and away from the boats.  Dave took pictures for Abbie and Ella.

Deb puts her toe in the Pacific Ocean

Then we went to Mystery Tree.  We had been there before in 2001 and again with Glenn and Pat, but that time arrived too late in the afternoon to make the walk through the Giant Redwoods or take the lift up the mountain.  The ocean fog still obscured the view to the ocean but the mountains and views of the trees were spectacular.  The trail through the Redwoods highlighted a “family tree” where the Mother trees branches supported 12 other vertical trees some as high as 100 feet.  Then there was the candelabra three where 6 trees were growing up and out of a horizontal trunk.  The “cathedral tree”, which is often used as a backdrop for weddings, was formed by a “fairy ring” of trees growing around a stump.  The second half of the trail showed many of the stories of Paul Bunyan in chain saw sculptures and relief panels.  It was a lot of fun and I bought Abbie and Ella a book of Tall Tales and a pink furry creature.

Deb at the bottom of
Paul Bunyan's foot

The Family Tree
supporting 12 other upright trees

Deb at the Cathedral Tree

Back at camp we had a grand time swapping our own tall tales around a campfire with two couples, one from Oregon and another from Indiana.  The couple from Indiana was on their first trip to California, so we swapped I-5 tales and got information about Oregon from them.  The couple from Indiana said this was the first time they had been invited to a campfire and we again commented on the difference between “campers” and folks traveling in their motor homes.  The vehicles may look the same; it is all in the mind set.

After getting up and doing some routine maintenance (that ride shook several loose!) and cleaning, we are off to Roseburg where we hope to explore some more Oregon wines and take a day trip to Crater Lake.

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. 

 

 

 

 

Brews, Views, and Wine on the Russian River

We arrived at River Bend RV Park after a LONG drive from Yosemite.  David was whipped and I had white knuckles from “side seat driving” through San Francisco!!   So we were really glad to settle into our site near the river.  Wednesday night we went into Santa Rosa to Russian River Brewery.  I LOVED the sour beers and Dave is ready to vote for “Pliny for President” one of their hoppy brews. 

Thursday we visited Robert Rue Winery where we had been graciously greeted before by Robert and Carleen Rue.  This time was no different and we were able to see their completed tasting room.  When Carleen found out we had segways in the back of the truck her eyes lit up.  We got them out and gave everyone rides.  We all had a blast, even their daughter who stopped by for “just a minute” on a break from work.  Carleen suggested some other wineries and we found Battaglini Estate Winery to be a truly old world Italian winery.  We swapped tales of Tuscany with the owner who was from Lucca.  At Harvest Moon we were not quite as impressed, and I’m sure it had to do with the fact that neither the owner nor winemaker was there.  Dave went to the grocery and in search of firewood while I toured the Charles Shultz (writer of Peanuts) museum.  Some of the art work was fun and they had his studio set up as it was in the 60’s,  and many cartoons framed.  Dave was glad the gallery and gift shop were closed for repairs.  We got back just in time to walk over to the Russian River Pub (vs. Brewery) next door to our campsite where they were showing the Panther/Giants game.  The beer and food were good anyway…. lol

Carleen and Robert Rue enjoying the Segway
in their new tasting room

Lucy is a compilate of Peanut Cartoons!!

Friday we had a leisurely morning and then went into Santa Rosa to the Luther Burbank Home and Gardens.  Our docent was very knowledgeable and we learned a lot about some of the plants he “invented”, though did not make any money from many of them because plant patents had not yet been secured.  He married late in life  - he was 60ish and she was 30ish – and his wife lived in the restored house until the 70’s. 

From there we decided to catch a few wineries and the first was Paradise Ridge.  Again we probably would have bought more if we had not been served by twentysomethings (though Dave enjoyed the view!)  Adjacent to the winery was a sculpture garden with some amazing sculptures. Deb had fun watching a wedding rehearsal. 

Can you see the LOVE sculpture in the far background?
hint:  double click on the pic to make it bigger

Dave thought this sculpture was the "Cone of Silence"
from Get Smart

The find of the day was “Old World Winery”.  We truly enjoyed talking with Darek Trowbridge, the young owner who Carleen had recommended.  After getting a masters in winemaking at Fresno State, he dumped most that he had learned and went back to making wine like his grandfather had taught him.  According to him he has 4 acres of Aborious grapes, which are “very rare” in California.  We loved the Zin blend with them and also bought a 100% varietal which we look forward to sharing with the “group”.

As I write this, we are “chillin’” in the campground which has filled up in anticipation of the Jazz Festival tomorrow and Dave is playing the “bands” in preview through Pandora.  George Benson is the big draw.  The campers beside us just introduced themselves:  they are vendors tomorrow selling creole and soul food!   Should be fun!!

Yosemite....or Trying to Unplug for a Few Days

We drove into the park at the Southern entrance and our camping space was near the North entrance so we got an overview of the park as we drove in.  Our space was in Dave’s view, “perfect”, and he was right.  We had plenty of privacy, and a fire ring.  We settled in and enjoyed steaks on the grill. 

Monday we drove down to Yosemite Village and enjoyed the Ansel Adams’ Gallery.  Deb bought some great books for the granddaughters,  while Dave worked with Becky and Ben to get some information he needed.  So much for being off the grid!    We discovered there was a good connection of bike paths around the meadows and sights of Yosemite Village so we enjoyed a great segway ride, catching sight of El Capitan,  Half Dome and the other sites of the village.  Back at camp, we enjoyed talking around the campfire with a JoAnn and Chuck from Michigan.  They will be exploring Yosemite on their Harley’s on Tuesday!

While we didn’t have Harleys, we enjoyed a trek up to Glacier Point and Tunnel View on Tuesday.  We ate a picnic lunch at Bridal Veil Falls and then went back to the village to catch the open air shuttle tour.

Words just can express the sites of Yosemite.  Basically, we rode around and looked at big rocks.  Even pictures don’t do it justice.  Just think these granite faces are taller than the Empire State Building!!

 

The Brewery and the Seventh Day Adventists

Thursday and Friday we decided to just “putz” around and enjoy Prado Park and the surrounding area.  There was some shopping to do and Dave wanted to check out some breweries.  After filling up the fridge and pantry we set off for 2 of Dave’s favorites:  The Bruery and Bootleggers.  At Bootleggers, Dave joined the “old white men drinking beer club” (really!  That’s what they called themselves!).  This table adopted us.  They meet almost every Thursday and they bring interesting brews to share with each other.  It was a little weird drinking Bruery Specialy Reserve at the Bootlegger, but we overcame it!  Dave really enjoyed shooting the bull with the guys and I joined in too between trips to the food truck.  In California, tasting rooms can’t sell food, so they almost always have a food truck in the parking lot.  This one had a truck specializing in bratwust and tatertots with various toppings.  We skipped the tots!  The “old white men” warned us that the Bruery had a new tatsting room and had lost its character.  They were really right.  It was nice and air conditioned, but the owners and brewers had been replaced by college students pouring the beer and they weren’t near as much fun to talk to.  I guess this is a case where success breeds contempt… at least by the “old white men!”  The food truck, however, served great burgers!

Friday dawned hot so we took the segways out early.  I wanted to find the peacock again and instead of finding just “cocky”…. We found a whole flock!! Behind one of the service sheds was a feeding pen .  Unfortunately they were too skittish for photos. After polishing off the cleaning of the RV, I took a nap with my novel.  When I woke up, a tent town had blossomed on the field outside our RV.  We had noticed the string grid, and wondered what it was for.  There was a Pathfinder conclave scheduled for the weekend at the park.  About 500 young people and their chaperones proceeded to come in and set up.  We found out that Pathfinders is a co-ed scout-type organization run by the Seventh Day Adventists.  The other RV campers were not thrilled, but we sort of enjoyed watching them and knowing we didn’t have to chaperone.  Except for using up all the toilet paper in the loo, they were really nice kids and were not noisy at night.  We decided that the rest of the RV’ers were cranks who couldn’t enjoy watching kids having good clean fun.  We thought it was refreshing, but of course we were leaving in the morning.

 

On the way to Sequoia (actually Vasailia) we saw vineyards with oil wells in the middle.  That seemed like a win, win situation!  We again noticed the California flora… there is always something blooming and I swear we saw ivy (or some vine) growing up more than 6 stories on a Holiday Inn!!  And they can make a hedge out of almost any plant!  We also saw nut trees, cotton, peaches, oranges and pomegranates growing.

We dropped the RV at a KOA and took off for Sequoia before dark.  It was pretty far and curvy to go for the Sequoia grove, but they are so massive and quiet, it was worth the trip. 

On Sunday morning, we realized that they Panthers/Saints game would start at 10am our time and that there was probably a sports bar with all access to games.  A call to Wild Wings confirmed this.  We folded up the RV and dropped it at a Walmart and had Panthers and Saints for breakfast!   Somehow though, chicken wings for breakfast was a little less than appetizing!   We left at the start of the 4^th Quarter to make sure we got to Yosemite before it was too late and I worked Dave’s phone with the NFL app and my phone with Jennifer playing Words with Friends and texting me to keep tabs of the game… Jennifer told us about the ultimate win first!! Go WWF!!!

Return to the West!

If our last trip was dubbed Westward Bound, I guess we are now in the sequel:  Return to the West!  However the last 2 days could be titled the “Servicing Soap Opera”

Our flight out on 9-11 was uneventful, which is always a good thing.  I wish you all could have seen David’s face when both the truck and the RV cranked on the first try.  He was like a kid with a new hotrod!!  We were able to move everything over to the Prado County Park with few hassles.  Having skipped lunch due to a tight connection in Salt Lake City, we drove into town to a brew pub for supper and stopped at a grocery to buy the essentials for breakfast in the morning, plus a steak to grill later.  Jet lag caught up with us and we were ready for bed by 7:30…. We did stretch it to 8!!  I can hear you all now …. “They really are turning into “old farts”…

We knew that Wednesday would be “Mechanics’ Day” and that it would hold a few unwanted surprises.  When you have a 13 year old RV, a 15 yr old truck and a 10 and 6 year old Segway , there are sure to be maintenance issues.  We dropped the RV off first and though they poked and prodded it all day, most everything passed with flying colors.  “Bessie” got new oil, fluids and one new headlight (so I guess she now “needs glasses” like the rest of us!).

Can you guess what this is? **

 When we plugged up Deb’s Segway, the battery wouldn’t charge. We found a dealership in Anaheim:  Orange County Segways.  So while they were tending the RV, we headed there figuring we would find a Jiffy Lube for the truck along the way.   It was about 40 miles away.  Before we started out, we remembered the last episode of OCC (Orange County Choppers) we had watched where Paul Sr. had added a restaurant to his shop.  “We’ll go there for lunch,” we thought.  A little research told us that OCC is located in Orange County NEW YORK, not Cali!  Glad we googled first rather than asking locals and looking foolish! (so what am I doing, but confessing to everyone on our blog!  LOL).   We found out that the best way to totally kill a lithium segway battery is to leave it on the segway for 5 months.  Actually since it has a small drain, even a few weeks will totally drain it and it will be DOA!!  Trying to make us feel better, the dealers checked our serial numbers and told us that the batteries were 5 and 6 years old and were nearing their life expectancy anyway.  We also found out that our older segway is now a “collectable”… lol  It was an expensive lesson to learn.

Sure enough, a Jiffy Lube was close by the segway dealership and we dipped in there and managed to  ward off all of their “up-selling” and thought we had accomplished all of our maintenance chores before a late lunch!!  On the way to the brew pub we noticed a battery and brake light. Now were 40 miles away from our RV and in dire need of an alternator!  Again, google to the rescue, we found a Nissan dealership within 2 miles and they were able to get “Rosie” going within a few hours.  Our only real problem was we were not going to be able to get back to the RV place before they closed, but they were able to charge our credit card and leave her outside the gates with the keys locked inside (and Dave did think ahead and had the spare key with him!).

Now we had 3 hours to kill, car-less in Anaheim.  We walked across the street to a diner.  We enjoyed several laughs with the waitress about their “Carolina BBQ” and “Carolina Stir Fry”.  Apparently if you are writing a menu in Southern California, Carolina means sweet and bourbon flavored.  (well, I guess that does describe David pretty well!... mmmm…)  We passed, but did enjoy their “diner food”.  Since we had “bonded” with the waitress, we asked her what we could do for 2 hours within walking distance and found that there was a movie theatre right around the corner.  One more check with google, and we found out we had just enough time to walk there before the 2:40 showing of The Words.  We were blown away by The Words with Dennis Quaid, and Jeremy Irons.  We highly recommend it!

With Rosie now enjoying her new pacemaker, we were about to test it out on 40 miles of LA freeway and 5 o’clock traffic.  We learned the delights of the HOV lane!  Everyone else is going 20MPH and we are sailing along at 50! Oh there were a few slowdowns, when we got to freeway intersections, but if I lived here, I would pay someone to travel with me to be able to use the HOV.  We did notice that the double yellow line to “protect” the HOV, was just a “suggestion”, especially to big Ford trucks and motorcycles.

As we began to reset up camp in the dark, Dave says, “There’s something wrong with this picture:  we spent twice as much on the truck as we did the RV and 4 times more on the segways!”  I guess that is the cost of technology!  The steaks we bought Tuesday would have to wait another night or 2, as we were too tired for anything more complicated than a sandwich!  We did listen to NPR and watch TV past 10, to reset our jetlag.

As I write this leisurely on Thursday morning, Dave has plotted our course for next week.  We are looking forward to a few days in Yosemite and will be spending the weekend near Healdsburg where the Guernsville Jazz and Blues Festival should be in full swing.  Meanwhile, THIS weekend, we are looking forward to revisiting The Bruery and Bootleggers and a few new breweries here in Chino.  Maybe we’ll even grill those steaks!

** The Answer:  The inside brain of a Segway - note the 5 gyros in the yellow bracket in the middle