How to kill a day in Northern California

Dinner last night was quite good. We met Dad's friend Harvey at a very nice resturant. Harvey is a wine dealer so he brought two bottles with him. My Dad has known Harvey for 20 years... and tells a story that he got to know him by buying three cases of really bad wine from him. I understand that quite well as some of my best relationships with Clients started as bad experiences. Go figure. It is too bad that I have this cold/sinus problem because drinking good wine in this condition is like going to an art museum with a hat pulled over your eyes. The bottle of white was like drinking water for me, so I skipped it after one glass. The bottle of Red was good, even through the haze of my bad sinuses, though I only had a glass or two. The meal was good, and the conversation excellent. It was nice to meet Harvey and spend some time with him.

After dinner we drive back to the hotel and Dad crashes while I update my website, and catch up on email... a few hours later, I go to sleep as well... only to awaken at 6 am, with a start. I am presenting a session at a technical conference in January. In my dreams I had just delivered an outline verbally to my co-presenter ... weird I know. But since it was fresh in my mind, I jumped up and wrote it all down, and fired it off in an email to my colleague in Illinois. Hopefully it is coherent. =)

My furious banging at the keyboard (I'm a 2-finger typist) wakes up my Dad. He's really confused as it appears to him that I've been typing all night!

We make it a slow morning... packing, getting dressed, having breakfast at the hotel. We play another round of Tetris with the Jaguar's Boot and our bags, and head up the road to see Harvey's wine shop. It is amazing. A small place, but exuding an aura of what you would imagine with the words "wine cellar"... cool, dark, a bit dusty, and packed to the rafters with a bazillion bottles. All excellent wines. My Dad was like a kid in a candy store, running from box to box, looking at treasures. I didn't really have any comprehension of what was surrounding me, but I'm sure it was an enophile's playground. Here are the pictures:

Above: Dad and Harvey and the 65E.

Above: Harvey stores wine for customers. I obscured the name here, but I loved the note. =)

For lunch, we head across the Bay for some barbeque. I have to thank my friends Michael and Sharon for introducing me to Bo's BBQ. It was worth the thousand mile drive! My Dad, being a Texan is a "Barbeque Connoisseur" and agreed with me that Bo smokes some mean meat. We chowed down on pork ribs. I exchanged phone calls with Michael, but we did not meet up since he was taking his company's staff out for a meal. I wanted to show him & Sharon the car, especially as Sharon's mother has a nice old Jag Saloon car from the same era. They'll see it someday as they've promised to let Nick & I sleep at their place on our next father/son summer roadtrip. We were planning to come down here this summer, but it looks like it will be delayed until next. Nick and I will come see the Blackhawk car collection, ride some roller coasters, and see some sights. Maybe early next summer.

After lunch we head back over the I-580 bridge and head up to Novato, where the rally starts. We park the car in the shade, and chill out in the room for a while. After a while I head out and clean up the car, and as I'm there a few other participants show up. It looks like a nice collection of cars, Alfa's, Ferrari's, AC's, Porsches, MG's, a gorgeous early Aston-Martin, and even a Siata. Here, take a look:

We head off to dinner, and as we pass the front of the hotel, there is another Jaguar, this on an XK-140.

Above: Dad and the XK-140.

Dinner is being served in an outdoor setting, with a huge stone fireplace. It is an enjoyable, social affair with large tables.

We have a nice meal,a nd lots of great conversation. In the middle of it all two deer show up and browse just above the dining area.

I drink way too much wine. My glass never got empty.

As a result I do not sleep very well. I think I got about three hours of sleep. As a result, I don't feel too good on Friday...