Napa Day Trip

Sharon and I spent the day in Napa. We tasted at Bouchaine Vineyards and picked up our wine club shipments. We have been members there since 2010. Like Donum, the place bears very little resemblance to how it looked on our first visit; it has expanded significantly. They are now digging a wine cave!?!

We had a late lunch at the Sky & Vine Rooftop Bar in Downtown Napa. We split Roasted Brussels Sprouts [goat cheese, creamy herb dressing]. We both had a Seared Yellowfin Tuna Niçoise salad [county line harvest lettuce, hard-boiled egg, potato, tomato, green beans]. The salads were not good...

Frances Ha

Saturday night after we got back from the Donum Estates Spring Celebration, we watched Frances Ha. Sharon is the reading the Lena Dunham memoir and the film is mentioned in the book. The film is ranked 90th on the New York Times list of the 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century.

Frances Ha is a 2012 independent film. Directed by Noah Baumbach, the script was written by Baumbach and Greta Gerwig. It stars Grewig with supporting performances by Adam Driver, Michael Zegen and Mickey Sumner.

The film follows Frances Halladay (Gerwig), a 27-year-old apprentice for a dance company living in New York City. Frances is a terminal optimist, but her life is a bit of a chaotic mess: she isn't really a dancer, she doesn't quite have an apartment, and she is fiercely, codependently attached to her best friend from college, Sophie (played by Mickey Sumner).

Before he became a massive household name through Star Wars and Marriage Story, a young Adam Driver played Lev, a wealthy, trendy hipster who briefly becomes Frances’s roommate. Michael Zegen (Joel Maisel from The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) as Benji is Lev’s roommate—an aspiring sketch writer who lives off a trust fund and spends his time watching television and making fun of Frances.

The film received several notable accolades and nominations across major industry awards and critic associations, primarily recognizing Gerwig's breakout performance and the film's editing. In particular, Greta Gerwig received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical.

Sharon liked the movie more than I did. I got bored. While it is an interesting piece of Baumbach and Gerwig's career, I don't recommend it.

Donum Spring Celebration

Sharon and I spent the day at the Donum Spring Celeberation. We have been wine club members there since February of 2017.

Donum Estate is home to The Donum Collection, one of the largest accessible private sculpture collections in the world. It features over 60 monumental, site-specific works dotted across the landscape by globally renowned artists such as Ai Weiwei, Yayoi Kusama, Keith Haring, Louise Bourgeois, and Richard Hudson. The newest piece is Look III (Show) by Antony Gormley.

'LOOK III' 2016 | Antony Gormley (1950, UK)

Antony Gormley’s Slabworks extend the language of his earlier Blockworks and explore the human body as both structure and presence. Composed of interlocking planes that build a body, these works hold a tension between inward reflection and outward orientation. Cast in solid iron as a single form, the Slabwork 'Look III' conveys weight and permanence, while its open, stacked construction introduces a sense of balance poised against vulnerability. Originally conceived in response to a commission for Pilane, an ancient burial site along the Baltic coast of southern Sweden, the Slabworks were developed in dialogue with an expansive landscape: open ground, distant horizons, and vast skies.

Their form recalls both the precariousness of a house of cards and the enduring mass of megalithic structures, binding contemporary urban sensibility to deep historical memory. At The Donum Estate, 'Look III' is sited on a hillside, where its verticality and shifting planes engage directly with the surrounding terrain and long vineyard views. Set within an open landscape, the figure becomes at once a solitary presence and a point of connection—anchored to the earth, oriented toward the horizon, and in quiet conversation with the land.

To Napa

Sharon and Terra spent the day in Napa. They wined tasted at Donum, had lunch at Bistro Jeanty in Yountville and shopped at CAbi.

2025 Napa - Day #1

Explore Experience

Indulge in an exclusive, in-depth exploration of the wine, land and art of the Donum Estate with this 2-hour private experience—perfect for guests seeking an immersive and personalized adventure. The experience begins with a splash of one of our award-winning wines, followed by a guided all-terrain vehicle tour of our expansive art collection, working farm and surrounding vineyards. After the tour guests will enjoy a private tasting of seasonal, Estate wines, paired with Chef-prepared small plates featuring Estate-grown ingredients.

When we were in L@s Vegas visiting Marlene and Phil, we made plans to go to Napa for a couple of days. Marlene and Phil pulled up at our house at 12 pm. After a tour of the new kitchen, we headed out at 12:30 pm. I drove.

It was an easy hour and 45 minute drive to Donum Estate. Sharon and Marlene are both wine club members. The first time that we stopped at Donum was on way to Sea R@nch with Marlene and Phil in 2017.

We did the Explore tasting. Sharon and I have done this tasting twice before. Once with Jack and once with the Tomasins. The property has changed a lot since our last tasting with the additional of several new art pieces.

After the tasting, we headed to the Napa Valley Marriott. Given that I spent most of 2015 and 2016 working out of the Napa Valley and staying at this Marriott, it is always a little odd for me to come back there.

After checking in and getting settled in the room, we had a drink in the bar. We had an interesting set of interactions with the restaurant manager (Bobby). He was born and raised in Harlem.

We took an Uber to A16 for dinner. Sharon and I split a squash blossom antipasti and a Funghi pizza [mixed mushroom, caciocavallo, fior di latte, grana padano, garlic, chili, oregano with sausage added].

Taking an Uber back to the Marriott, we walked in just as they were closing the bar. The four of us ended up sitting in the lobby and sharing a bottle of Donum sparkling wine. It was midnight by the time Sharon and I wandered back to the room and crashed.

The Donum Estate

With the kitchen rem0del going full speed, Sharon and I got out of the house for the day. We went wine tasting at The Donum Estate. We have been wine club members there since February of 2017 and had a wine shipment to pick up. The host was Don; he was from Holland. Oddly, we haven't been to Donum since October of 2023.

We had a late lunch at Mustards Grill. After splitting a caesar salad, we both had a lackluster lamb burger special. Sharon stopped at the Cabi store in the Napa Outlets on the way home.

Amazing Race - Season 36

Thursday night, Sharon and I finished watching season thirty-six of the Amazing Race. With a passion for traveling, I have enjoyed watching the Amazing Race over the last few years. We finished season 32 in January of 2021, season 33 in March of 2022, season 34 in December of 2022 and season 35 in December of 2023.

Though this season is the 36th to air, it was the 35th to be filmed. The season was postponed following the decision to air 90-minute episodes as a result of the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike. The episodes were re-edited to include cut footage. The season premiered on CBS on March 13, 2024 and concluded on May 15, 2024.

Filming for this season began on October 25, 2022, outside of the United States for a second time in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. The final episode was filmed in Philadelphia in mid-November. Much like the 33rd and 34th seasons, teams traveled by chartered plane. A charter was used to transport teams and production crew between locations to reduce personal interactions associated with COVID-19 infections. This This is the first season to visit Barbados and the Dominican Republic.

Boyfriends Ricky Rotandi and César Aldrete were the winners of this season, while military pilots Juan Villa and Shane Bilek finished in second place. Married couple Rod (former NFL player) and Leticia Gardner finished in third place.

The legs of the race included:

• Leg 1 (Mexico)
• Leg 2 (Mexico)
• Leg 3 (Mexico → Colombia)
• Leg 4 (Colombia)
• Leg 5 (Colombia → Chile)
• Leg 6 (Chile → Argentina)
• Leg 7 (Argentina → Uruguay)
• Leg 8 (Uruguay → Barbados)
• Leg 9 (Barbados → Dominican Republic)
• Leg 10 (Dominican Republic)
• Leg 11 (Dominican Republic → United States)

Although the use of a charter makes it somewhat pedestrian, I enjoyed the season. I particularly enjoyed the stop at the Botero Plaza in Medellín, Columbia. The plaza contains 23 sculptures by Colombian artist Fernando Botero. Donum Estates has one of his sculptures. Sharon and I haven't traveled in South America. This definitely needs to be on our travel list at some point.

Donum Estates Fall Harvest Member Event

Like last year, we went to the Donum Estates Fall Harvest Member Event. We took our neighbors Jim and Debi. The four of us walked up to the wind chimes. Sharon and I continued up to the King and Queen sculpture by Keith Haring. With a north wind blowing, the view was amazing.

Donum Estate

Sharon and I took the Tomasins wine tasting at Donum Estate. We have been wine club members since early 2017.

We did an "Explore Experience" tasting. It is described as an "exclusive, in-depth exploration of the wine, land and art of the Donum Estate with this 2-hour experience, perfect for guests seeking an immersive and personalized adventure. The experience begins with a splash of one of our award-winning wines, followed by a guided all-terrain vehicle tour of our open-air art sculpture collection, working farm and surrounding vineyards. After the tour guests will be escorted to their private tasting in a serene and elegant open-air tasting salon, where they'll embark on a seasonal exploration of our wines. Each wine is paired with a small seasonal canapé, elevating the tasting experience to new heights."

We have done this tasting twice before. We took Jack in 2019 and Holly and Van in 2021.

Afterwards, the four of us had a late lunch at Bloom Carneros. I had a BLT special with peaches instead of tomatoes, while Sharon had halibut tacos.

It was a slog getting home in the traffic.

Jenkinson Lake Loop plus Lunch and Dinner

An ambitious day...

Up and moving early, we drove to Sly Park. The plan for the morning was to hike a loop around Jenkinson Lake. We were hiking by about 8:40 am. With stops, it took us just under four hours to cover 8.8 miles. Alltrails said that our moving time was three hours and thirty-six minutes.

Hiking up the south shore, we stopped at a waterfall about mile three. The waterfall is a man-made waterfall created from a diversion tunnel on Camp Creek. It drops 33 feet into Sly Park Creek. Even though it is man-made, it is a pretty waterfall and drops into a nice pool.


I was surprised by the number of campgrounds and people on the northern shore during the second half of the hike. The last mile and a half was a little bit of a grind. We had to hike across two short dams along the road.



After the hike, we met Morgan, Daniel and Lee for a late lunch at Cascada in Plaerville. I had Basa Tacos. It is very nice to have them close by!

After getting cleaned up, we finished the day having dinner with the Maynards at Zinfandel Grille. Sharon and I spilt a BRUSCHETTA starter [Heirloom Tomatoes, Roasted Marinated Local Eggplant, Fresh Mozzarella, Smoked Sea Salt, Basil, Aged Balsamic]. For entrees, I had TORTELLINI FORMAGGIO [English Pea, Roasted Corn, Heirloom Cherry Tomato & Lemon Cream], while Sharon had PAPPARDELLE [Prawns, Bay Scallops, Saffron Lemongrass Broth, Savoy Spinach, Citrus Gremolata]. We brought a bottle of Donum 2020 Carneros Estate Pinot Noir to share.

A Wild Couple of Months!

It has been a very busy couple of months.

In late August, I flew to SoCal for the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series [August 26th to 28th].

After I got back Sharon left for New York. She and Tom spent thirteen days exploring the state [August 30th to September 11th].

Less than a week after Sharon got back from New York, she and I left for nineteen days in Greece and Turkey [September 16th to October 5th]. It was a spectacular trip!

We went to David and Lo's wedding [October 15th].

We hosted our annual Fall Dinner Party [October 22nd].

We spent a long weekend in San Francisco for Brian and Sam's wedding, including a Donum Harvest Party [October 27th to October 30th].

Sharon and Laura spent a long weekend in Las Vegas [November 4th to November 7th].

Brian and Sam's Wedding - Day #4

Sharon and I had breakfast in the hotel [AVOCADO TARTINE and LANDMARK OMELET]. We ran into Holly in the lobby and had a chance to visit with her for a few mintues.

Packing up the room, we pulled away from the hotel about 10:15 am. The plan for the day was the Donum Estates Fall Harvest Member Event. We have been wine club members at Donum since February of 2017. We rolled up to the winery about 11:15 am.

They held the event in the lavender field below the tasting room. We got a chance to walk through the new pavilion for the first time. We had a nice time. We had some food and tasted a number of wines. We walked up to the wind chimes, but decided not to walk to the heart. We started for home a little after 1:30 pm.

It was a very easy drive home; the traffic was very light. With a quick stop for groceries, we were home before 3:30 pm. It was a nice long weekend. It was great to get a chance to spend some time with Jack.

July 2022 Sea Ranch - Day #1

Sharon and I rolled from Carmichael about 8:15 am. We met the Gainsleys at Donum Estates for a tasting. Although it feels longer, we have been wine club members at Donum since 2017. The four of us did an experience tasting that includes a walk around the property.


We stopped for lunch in Bodega Bay. Sharon and I brought sandwiches that we picked up at Whole Foods. We shopped for oysters and smoked salmon at the Tides Wharf Fish Market.

We rolled in Gualala just before 3 pm to pick up the key. We are spending eight nights at Monette. We stayed in the same house in February.

After unloading and settling into the house, the four of us walked to the Sea Ranch Lodge and had a drink at the bar. It was very windy on the walk back to the house. Sharon has always talked about how windy it is at Sea Ranch in the summer.

For dinner, Kevin barbecued oysters and steaks. Donna baked a couple of potatoes and Sharon made a salad. We finished the night in the hot tub. When we were here in February, Sharon never went into the hot tub...

2022 Sea Ranch - Day #1

For the ninth time in twelve years ['20, '19, '18, '17, '16, '14, '13 and '11], we are spending time at Sea Ranch in the winter. We had reservations in January 2020, but Sonoma County closed down as part of a surge in the pandemic and our reservation was cancelled.

We rolled from Carmichael about 8:20 am. We dropped Tiber at Best Friends. Due to a major accident at the junction of highways 29 and 12, waze routed us from 80 to 37 to 121 to 12.

I made reservations at La Rochelle Winery for a tasting. Maggie is now the marketing director there. We met Maggie years ago at Donum, followed her to Three Sticks and then to La Rochelle. I was a nice intimate relaxed tasting.

After the tasting, we stopped at the Glen Ellen Market for sandwiches. Leaving Glen Ellen, we made a tactical error. Waze offered a "quicker" route by going up Highway 101 and taking the Stewards Point Skaggs Springs Road rather than Highway 1 up the coast. Figuring that we were open to something different, we decided to give it a try. Never again. It was a very slow winding road. I think that Morgan actually came this way in the summer of 2020.

Picking up the key in Gualala, we were in the house before 5 pm. We are spending nine nights at Monette. We have never stayed at this house before. After we unloaded the Volvo, we walked south along the bluffs towards the lodge. We got back to the house just in time to enjoy the sunset.

Sharon made some snapper, rice and a caesar salad for dinner. We finished the night watching episode one and two of season four of the The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.

To Glendale

For the first time in almost exactly two years, I am traveling for work. Matt, Tyler and I spent the day going to Glendale and Simi Valley two years ago tomorrow.

My rule of thumb is that if I am not checking a bag, I leave the house an hour and forty-five minutes ahead of the departure time. This time I left an hour and forty minutes ahead of the flight.

The Sacramento Airport now has CLEAR. I signed us up for CLEAR in a moment of frustration in Seattle a couple of years ago. Using CLEAR and TSA Pre, I breezed through security.

I caught a 7:40 am Southwest flight to Burbank. Boarding with A37, I was able to get the best aisle exit row on an older 727. I am fascinated by the fact that people don't go straight for that seat; the flight attendant and I ended up talking about how people want to be close to the front so they can get off the plane quickly.

The plane took off about 20 minutes late. On the ground in Burbank, I picked up a rental car and headed to the Glendale hospital. I spent the day in the Cerner Experience Center.

At the end of day, I checked into the Residence Inn Glendale Loss Angeles. After a run on the treadmill, I walked a couple of blocks to Chiplote for dinner.

Sharon and Jack spent the day in Napa: wine tasting at Donum; having lunch in Yountville, and; shopping at the outlet stores. Drew and Carmen spent the day at Disneyland.

2021 San Francisco - Day 3

Up and moving before 7 am, we got room service. Sharon had YOGURT & PUMPKIN SEED GRANOLA, while I had a BUTTERMILK WAFFLE. We packed up the room.

The plan for the day was wine tasting in the Napa Valley. In the car and heading out of the city just after 9 am, we got to Donum Estate about 10:15 am. We spent the morning at a wine club member event.

Afterwards, we headed into Napa. Sharon wanted to stop at the cabi outlet store. We were home back in Carmichael about 3:30 pm.

A few comments about San Francisco. The hotel [Proper Hotel] was right on Market Street. The area was very dirty and essentially surrounded by homeless people. When we left the hotel on Friday night, there was a homeless person sleeping and blocking the door exiting the hotel on to Market. When I went to open the door, I was essentially pushing him out of the way. Coming back into the hotel on one occasion, we got yelled at by a homeless person with obvious mental health issues. In the Uber on the way back from dinner on Saturday night, we passed a large homeless tent camp on the street about a block from the hotel. I don't recommend this hotel.

While we had similar experiences in this general area when we were in San Francisco in December of 2009 and October of 2014, the problem seems worse now. I don't know what the solution to the homeless problem is. I don't know what San Francisco's homeless strategy is. It does seem like they need to take a different tack.

2021 Sea Ranch - Day 1

After our planned Sea Ranch trip in January was cancelled due to Sonoma County Coronavirus restrictions, we booked a house for the Mother's Day weekend. Having dinner with Holly and Van after golf in February, we invited them to join us.

Rolling from Carmichael about 9:15 am, we met the Wongs at Donum for a wine tasting. We did the Explore tasting. We did this tasting with Jack in November of 2019. It is a fabulous experience that includes an ATV tour of the art collection and a tasting in a small building along a pond. We have talked about bringing some other couples like the Gainsleys and the Larkins for the same tasting.

From there we headed to the Tides Market in Bogeta Bay. We had sandwiches on the picnic tables. Sharon had made muffaletta sandwiches. It has become somewhat of a tradition for Sharon to make these sandwiches to eat on the way to Sea Ranch. After lunch, Sharon bought some smoked salmon.

We rolled into Gualala just after 4:30 pm to pick up the key. Meeting the Wongs at the house, we spent some time unloading the vehicles and getting settled. We are spending four nights at Sea Haven. While we have never stayed at this house before, Graham View is two properties to the North, while Crestview is three properties to the south.

After getting settled in to the house, the four of us walked south along the bluffs past the Sea Pine and Walk On Beaches. We ended up hiking 3.7 miles in just over an hour and a half.

We finished the day with a late dinner of lasagna and salad. Sharon making a lsasnga for the first night dinner at Sea Ranch has also become a tradition. We finished the day talking and visiting until almost midnight.

Dinner with the Gainsleys

We met the Gainsleys for dinner outside at Piatti. I was shocked at the number of tables and space heaters that they had set up outside.

Sharon and I split an antipasta Fritto misto [jumbo prawns, olives, lemon, cauliflower, calabrian chili aïoli]. We both had Cast iron king salmon [cauliflower, nantes carrots, sunchokes, charred lemon and green olive salmoriglio] for an entree. I brought a bottle of Donum 2018 Three Hills Pinot Noir that we got last Sunday.

To Napa for the day

Looking for an excuse to get out of the house, we made a reservation for a tasting at Donum Estates. We rolled from Carmichael about 11:15 am and pulled up to the gate at Donum at 12:50 pm.

Donun is remodeling their tasting room that they only opened a couple of years ago. We had a nice tasting in the winery amongst the tanks. Our host (Alex?) has actually hosted Sharon and I twice before [December 2018, January 2019] as well as the book club [March 2019]. Alex played division two tennis in college at Ferris State University in Big Rapids. After the tasting, we wandered the property, including visiting the spider house.

From there, we headed to Napa. After Sharon did some shopping at the Cabi outlet store, we drove through Yountville to the Napa River Ecological Reserve on the Yountville Cross Road. Working in the Napa Valley in 2015 and 2016, I probably drove by this spot hundreds of times, but never stopped. We took a short hike along the banks of the Napa River.

We wandered back to Yountville after the hike. We had a 5 pm reservation at Ad Hoc. This has always been one of Sharon's favorite resturants. Getting seated outside early, we split a family style dinner of Mixed Greens Lettuce Salad [castelvatrano olives, cucumbers, pickled red onions, brioche croutons, italian dressing], Grilled 1855 Black Angus Ribeye [roasted brussels sprouts, garlic & spinach orzo, red wine sauce], Cowgirl Creamery Devil’s Gulch [focaccia, tomato marmalade] and Ice Cream Sundaes [vanilla ice cream, chocolate, butterscotch & strawberry sauces, pearson farm pecans, whipped chantilly]. It was a very nice dinner.

The traffic wasn't bad on the way home. It took about an hour and twenty-five minute to get home. We were home just before 7:50 pm.

2020 Work from Sea Ranch - Day 1

After the Sea Ranch trip in August, Sharon and I started talking about the idea that since we are working from home we could work from anywhere. We decided to book ten days back at Sea Ranch.

We rolled from the house about 9. We met the Gainsleys at Blue Farm Wine at about 10:35 am for an 11 am tasting. The owner of Blue Farm was the founder of Donum. The wine was very good.

After the tasting, the four of us stopped in Bogeta Bay at the Tides. We bought some oysters and smoked salmon. We ate a late lunch on the south deck. Sharon made muffuletta sandwiches for lunch.

We got to Gualala about 3:30 pm and picked up the keys to the house. We are spending ten days at Deerfield. The house is on the east side of Highway 1. We haven't stayed on this side of the highway in more than twenty years.

After doing a work Teams meeting, I did a quick loop around the area to explore. Sharon made a lasagna for dinner. The four of us finished the day in the hot tub. Everyone crashed fairly early.