Funny Business at Work.

Working in Napa has been a great experience all around. NBVT has tripled in growth over the last 3 years and really doesn't show signs of stopping. And though we are hiring more guides and expanding the facilities the business still feels small. In the morning everyone is joking around, making digs at each other and having a really good time. And it is encouraged. The people working there appreciate what they have and really put a lot of energy and enthusiasm into there jobs. Everyone does a little of everything. The shop guys drive the vans and lead tours during the winter or in a pinch, the guides wash the vans, change bike tires and check in guests. The supervisors do it all. In addition, the owner's parents have been around lately. Dad was painting door frames and working on bikes.
Sometimes though funny things happen to your schedule. I was originally scheduled to work Monday - Thursday and then start a W2W tour on Sunday. Last week, the Thursday was cut. Then while at work today my boss asked me to work on Saturday since he needed another guide and then I could get things together for our Sunday morning departure. Then in the afternoon he told me he didn't need me tomorrow either. So now I have 3 days on my hands to fill. I think I have some vacation planning that could use some attention.
Other days you have to be serious. On Monday, one of my guests had an accident and broke her arm. That really got my attention since that is the second trip to the hospital in 3 weeks for my guests. Let me just remind you cyclists out there, never use just your front brake, you are liable to end up on the ground. The whole group was a bit shook up about that but we recovered and vowed to have fun for our lost comrades. I love the fact that I can be outside all day, enjoying people that are enjoying life.

In other news:
Thanks to those that have left comments, I enjoy reading them. Unfortunately, not all of the names that show up are identifiable to me. So if it isn't obvious by your screen name who you are, I would love you to give me some more info, either in the comment field or e-mail me, so I know who is paying attention.
I added a link to my new Flickr account. I will still post photos on the blog but if you want to see more, check it out.

Thanks for reading.

What else am I up to? Part 1

This new life is weird. Okay, that is a simplification but it is accurate. The 8am-6pm days are long gone and weekends no longer hold much meaning. My days off can be anywhere from 4 days consecutive and may encompass a weekend to one day in the middle of the week. Working in Napa has been a lot of fun and I am sad to see it coming to an end for the year. However, it's end means that my vacation is almost here. Don't laugh. I know many believe I am on a long vacation but being responsible for people's vacations is stressful. Which brings me to the 1st part of what I do with my non-work time... plan a vacation for myself and others. I am realizing that I must be crazy, didn't I just say it is stressful to be responsible for others vacations? Oh well, they survived Ireland, they will survive this. What is "this" you ask? For those that don't know, (I am just realizing that many haven't heard about this adventure) my mom, the Z's, the W's and I are headed to Europe for a few weeks. The W's are already there, DW is working in Zurich for a week, then they are off to Amsterdam for a week. Finally on 11/3, they will meet the rest of us in Brussels for the start of our adventure. After 2 days in Brussels we will head to Ghent for 2 days and then Brugge for 3. Belgium will be all about beer, chocolate and moules frites. Then I get to show off the love of my life to everyone. We will be in Paris for 7 glorious, marvelous, heavenly days. We have rented an apartment in the 11th, which I have never done before and a leisurely, tentative schedule. The Z's will be leaving us at the end of the week while rest of us fly to Barcelona and explore yet another new country. We will also have a nice little apartment there, not too far from the old part of town. So stay tuned for stories about our European Adventure 2007.

Thanks for reading.

Wine 2 Waves

Last week I got to do my first over-the-road (tour director speak for multi-day trips) tour that was not in Alaska. This was a 5 day bike tour for NBVT, there were two guides and 8 guests. Well we started with 8 guests but that is part of the story. The tour starts in Yountville with a nice breakfast at Pacific Blues, then we head towards the Carneros region with a stop at Artesa Winery, which has an amazing view of the south valley and on a clear day, San Francisco. Then on to Folio, the new Mondavi venture, where we had a picnic lunch then headed on to Sonoma. My job on this day was to drive the van, pick up lunch and deliver luggage. I really enjoyed it. That night our guests stayed at two very nice hotels, MacArthur Place and El Dorado Hotel and we all ate dinner at the El Dorado Kitchen, right on the square. Unfortunately, one of the ladies on our trip had some trouble with her sit bones and was in a lot of pain so when we got ready to head out the next morning she wasn't up to it, so she road in the van. JW drove in the morning, so she picked up lunch and luggage. We had a beautiful ride up through the Valley of the Moon, then over the hills into Rohnert Park near Sonoma State University. We did have one hill that I was not up to but the rest of the ride was rolling and fun. We had another picnic lunch in Cotati, the JW took over the biking. There was a tough hill in our path but right before it one of our guests had an accident. It was on a downhill and his back tire slid out from under him. He really banged up his arm and I had to take him and his wife (the van passenger) to the hospital in Sebastopol. From there I checked on all my riders as I headed on to Bodega Bay to deliver luggage. There are really only two nice hotels in Bodega Bay, The Inn at the Tides and the Bodega Bay Lodge and Spa. I had to shower quickly and get back on the road to get my guests from the hospital in Sebastopol. I turned out his road rash needed serious cleaning out and 10 stitches. We jammed back to Bodega Bay in time to pick up the rest of the group and go to dinner at Rocker Oysterfellers. Crazy name but great food. Though it stormed overnight, it was beautiful and clear the next morning for the ride up the coast and then inland through the Russian River Valley. We lunched at Korbel, after a little champagne tasting, then continued on toward Healdsburg via the funky town of Guerneville. At this point two of our guests left the tour. The rest of the guests stayed in an amazing place right on the square, called Healdsburg Hotel. It is relatively new but used existing buildings and has a trendy, modern feel. We had dinner at the Dry Creek Kitchen, the Michael Palmer restaurant attached to the hotel. I don't know who Micheal Palmer is but apparently he is famous and we had phenomenal food once again. The next morning we headed of to Calistoga, it was only a half day so we lunched at the Calistoga Inn and Brewery. The rest of the days consisted of sitting in a cafe and reading, then some time in the hot spring pools of our hotel. That night we ate at Brennan's, what can I say, not a bad days work. On our last day, it rained and it was my day on the bike. I did my best to not too obviously convince the ladies (the husbands were a no go, one had a sore arm the other had better sense) that biking was not the best idea. So we packed everything up on the van and went to taste at a winery (I know, shocking), the ladies hoping that the rain would let up and me knowing that this day could get very wet. Well, we biked, there was no stopping them. We got wet, cold, went very fast and had a lot of fun. We looked like drowned rats when we got back to Yountville, so we showered and went off to have some hot, Mexican food to close out the tour.
The tour was great and I can't wait to do the next one, I just hope that I am in better shape and the rain holds off until November.

Thanks for reading.

Pic 1 - Entry to Artesa in Carneros
Pic 2 - Carneros vineyards
Pic 3 - Getting ready in Sonoma
Pic 4 - Windmill between Sonoma & Rohnert Park
Pic 5 - Bodega Bay from the Inn at the Tides
Pic 6 - Inn at the Tides
Pic 7 - Monte Rio thinks very highly of themselves
Pic 8 - Hop Kiln Winery in the Russian River Valley
Pic 9 - Vineyards in the Russian River Valley

From Alaska to Napa

After my few days off and whirlwind travel to see everyone, I started my next stint in my new career. I have been working quite a bit in Napa and at least some of it has been on the bike. As a guide I have to split time driving the support van and being the bike guide. Obviously, I enjoy one much more then the other but I am getting to work. And I must say I am very lucky to be working in such a beautiful place. We often forget how beautiful the world right around us is and we go looking across the world for something to impress us. I am very guilty of this, look at how much time I have spent in Europe, especially France and though I believe that there are some places that strike a deep, resonant chord with an individual and deserve our extra attention since it makes us feel so good to be there (my heart is always in Paris,) we should spend some time appreciating what is in our backyard. Being a guide allows me to an extra opportunity to do this, I get to see Napa and California through the eyes of people from all over the country and beyond. September and early October are a great time to visit the wine country, since it looks like how people imagine it. Heavy, bunches of grapes hanging on fully, foliaged vines that are tinged with color. As we head toward the end of October, there are fewer grapes but more color, and the smell of fermenting fruit fills the air. I am truly enjoying working in Napa and though the commute is a bit long it is all worth it. It has also given me a great chance to visit my Aunt, Uncle and cousins as well and generously they have offered me a bed to combat the time commuting. NVBT is also planning on expanding their offered tours beyond the day trips and the Wine to Waves, so that could provide not only more work but even more opportunity for me to explore my backyard.

Pic. 1 - The NVBT support van, oh yeah, nice back drop.
Pic. 2 - A back road in the Carneros area.
Pic. 3 - View of the south Napa Valley from Bouchaine Winery.
Pic. 4 & 5 - Early morning in the Napa Valley.
Pic. 6 - Somebody in Yountville already has my dream home.
Pic. 7 - Duh!

Home Sweet Home

I have now been back for 10 days and it feels like forever. Alaska really seems ages ago, most likely because I have been on the go since I returned. Greeting me at the airport on my return was my sister and nieces along with KB, which was a huge surprise. From there on it was a whirlwind.

• Visiting with my nieces and nephews, oh yeah and their parents.
• Biking, biking, biking.
• Eating home cooked food, especially TD's.
• Football Sunday.
• A ton of work on the schedule for October.
• Many days of weather above 75 degrees.
• Redecorating my room and getting it organized...though that isn't done yet.
• Lots of Grey's Anatomy with KB.
• A fridge drawer full of various cheeses. Yes, I relish the small things.
  

Things like sleeping in my own bed and not living out of a suitcase are nice but I am just fine having that be a small part of my life. Thanks for reading about my first huge adventure. I do intend to continue this blog, I hope you enjoy it.

Thanks for reading.

Solitude and Recovery

So I ran off and hid for two days. I am now ready to face the world in California again. I rented a car and drove down the Kenai Peninsula, all the way to Homer. The drive was amazing, the accommodation's were interesting and the time was well spent. Now you might be preparing yourself to read some deep insights that I gained while being off by myself. But no such luck. I did look back over the summer to see if things went like I had hoped. For the most part they exceeded expectations. I loved the job and can handle the time away from home. I enjoyed the challenges of the job and just like any other place of work there are problems and things that need to be improved. However, as I suspected, I have made the right decision for my life at this time in it.

The driving was my favorite part. I hadn't driven in 3 months and to be able to go where I want and listen to the music that I want was great. The first day, the weather was perfect. I stopped by Kenai Lake, one of the beautiful glacially fed lakes that we passed making the weekly trip down to Seward. I was able to see Mt. Redoubt and the other huge mountains that sit across the Cook Inlet from the Kenai Peninsula. I found a funky little place to stay outside of Homer, it is a working farm with some small cabins and a main house that has been converted into rooms to rent on the main floor and a in the basement. Mossy, the owner, also had an organic raspberry patch that you could pay and pick but the best part was access to the water. She had a nice quiet beach on Kachemek Bay with great views of the glaciers across the way. On day 2 I had a late start, a wonderful lunch (halibut), drove back along Kachemek Bay and then took a long walk along the Homer Spit. The last day, the weather wasn't great but as I drove up to the City of Kenai for lunch I stopped to see some of the old Russian Othodox churches then through Soldotna and on to Anchorage. The weather in Anchorage was crummy but I spent the late afternoon in my favorite coffee shop, then had dinner at Tito's, a great gyro place and then returned the car to the airport and settled in for a long wait until my 1:20 am flight.

The last few days in Alaska were important in preparing to return to California. I am glad I spend the time and saw an area of Alaska that everyone talks about. Unfortunately, I was a little late to get out fishing, though there were still a few out on the river. Maybe next year.

Thanks for reading.

Termination Dust

It is almost the end. You know how I know, I saw snow falling on the top of the Kenai Mountains. Around here they call it termination dust signaling the end of the summer. Many at Holland America called it that since it is the end of our contracts. The other sign is that most of the tour directors have flown south for the winter and there are a sparse few us left. My time up here has been amazing and I wouldn't change it for everything but the time has come to return home. I still love the guests and the traveling, even to places I have been to 12 times or more. However, my hermit side is getting the best of me. I miss the time when I can get away from all people. Every night when I am done with my guests, I return to a busy apartment, a hotel room with a roommate or the sourdoughs where everyone is in everyone's business. So to combat that problem, before returning to the loving harms of my friends, I am taking off for two solitary days on the Kenai Peninsula. They call the Kenai Pen. the place Alaskans go for vacation, so I am going to check it out and actually be on vacation. I plan on giving a full report when I return.
As for the future, October is filling up with reacquainting myself with small children that may have forgotten my name, meeting a new addition to the extended family, biking, oops, I mean working in Napa and last but not least, finishing the plans for the big trip in November. Stay tuned, I don't anticipate my new life becoming dull anytime soon.

Thanks for reading.

Random pictures to enjoy:
Pic. 1 - Kenai Mountains with termination dust.
Pic. 2 - Top of Denali Peak.
Pic. 3 - Chena River in Fairbanks.
Pic. 4 - "First Family" statue in Fairbanks.
Pic. 5 - Mileage marker, yes Paris is only 1000 miles farther from Fairbanks the SF.
Pic. 6 - Two black bears up in the same tree.
Pic. 7 - The Nenana River just outside of Denali National Park in September.
Pic. 8 - The Volendam cruise ship at the Seward dock.
Pic. 9 - A Stellar sea lion posing for a photo.
Pic. 10 - Aialik Glacier from 3 miles away.
Pic. 11 - Three hole rock in the Kenai Fjords National Park.