Wine and Flowers (but no Roses)

Speaking of whining...oh my gosh. Smitty has not been a happy camper this trip. We have, sadly, not been any place where he felt comfortable getting out for more than the briefest of excursions. He's begun telling us how unhappy he is every morning, beginning about 4:00 a.m. He sings the song of his people...loudly and mournfully. This morning we told him we'd be heading for home tomorrow, and we can't get there soon enough for him.

Sadie, on the other hand, has taken it all in stride. She's a lot like our former cat Gracie in that regard. With traveling comes lots of lap time, and that's just fine with her. Also, she's really enjoyed the cat toys this trip. We put them in a little basket every evening, but every morning when we get up, she's gotten her favorites out again.

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, we had dinner at the restaurant here last night. What a lovely evening with great food and a nice atmosphere to boot. The restaurant and winery are separate from the RV park, but they might as well be one and the same. As we were leaving the restaurant, we passed through the tasting room and noted their sign that offered 7 complimentary tastings. We had a wonderful zinfandel with dinner and planned to buy a bottle, and so we went back over this afternoon to taste some of their other wines.

You'd be disappointed if I didn't take pictures of every blooming thing along the way, wouldn't you? The grounds here are lovely. These first ones look like some we saw blooming wild in the desert, but I don't think they are the same.

These are dahlias...my favorite flower.

Of course, daisies...

and petunias.

This is some sort of succulent.

No thoughts about this one.

This pyracantha is growing near the pool.

This low shrub was covered with little blue flowers, and it was alive with bees.

Looking beyond the park and across the desert, you can see snow-covered mountain peaks.

So here's the entrance to the tasting room and the restaurant. The restaurant is called "Symphonies," but the winery is called Pahrump Valley Winery.

Who knew cactus could look so pretty in a landscape?

The wrought iron railing leading into the winery had this design.

Inside, we bellied up to the bar...

and chose the 7 wines we wanted to try.

So here we go...

Good wines...we ended up buying three bottles in addition to the zinfandel we had with dinner last night.

And this is the real deal. Walking beyond the tasting room was this entrance into the winery itself. These are just some of the wines they've produced at one time or another...some of them sporting ribbons.

Through some glass doors, we could see the winery, and it was spotlessly clean.

There was also a gift shop with some funny signs and napkins.

Sorry about the reflections on some of these. They were wrapped in cellophane.

I liked this one...in my case it would have been my former sister-in-law..."former" being the operative word.

There was a full wall of these next ones. I loved this one.

In a former life, I was a pretty good pianist, and so I appreciated this metal sculpture of the pianist and the singer.

Outside, they grow some of their own grapes.

We ended up walking all around the RV park just to get some exercise. Aside from that, we've just been relaxing and I've been stitching. I got a small start on my newest stitchery yesterday.

I stopped when I had it this far this morning. I might do a little more later on. I'm afraid I'm going to run out of that green floss before I'm finished. There is a Joann up the road in Carson City, and so we'll stop in there as we pass through so I can get some more.

Tomorrow, we'll head for home. It's a three day drive (two nights). We'll spend the first night in Reno, Nevada, and the second in Bend, Oregon, where we have some friends we'll meet up with for dinner. After that, it will be a short trip from Bend to home on Sunday. We're going to pass through Sisters, Oregon. I've already checked to see if the Stitchin' Post quilt shop is open on Sundays, and it is! I actually need some fabrics to finish off the Sundress quilt, and so we'll stop in there. I really like that shop, and so we always stop when we pass through Sisters.

The next couple of days will be spent mostly driving, driving, driving, and so I'll post if I have anything to tell you. Surely we'll at least see some barns along the way. But seriously, we'll be driving through some pretty country, and so I imagine I'll have some pictures to show. If not, you can expect to hear from me again by Monday when we'll be at home. It's been a great trip so far. Mike was really needing some down time, and we both needed the desert warmth. It's been a good combination of sight-seeing and relaxation. Fingers crossed the trip home is uneventful.