Day 21, Tuesday, July 6, 2010
We have learned that Olympic skating star Peggy Fleming and her husband Dr. Greg Jenkins have a winery with their store in Los Gatos. Since it is closed on Mondays and will be open this morning, we will wait until they open, check it out and perhaps buy a bottle of wine from there.
The motel where we are staying is having difficulty with their internet access so I won’t be able to post my blog until later. Perhaps we will go to McDonalds. Their’s always works.
Floyce & I have noticed that there are so many coffee shops & espresso shops here. They seem to be everywhere; even little “stand alone” drive thrus in parking lots of larger stores. They must drink a lot of coffee here.
After checking out of our motel, we went down to the shopping district. On the way we passed a car dealership where you can buy an Aston-Martin, Rolls Royce or whatever other upscale car you might desire. My credit card melted in my pocket as I got closer.
Floyce has found a store called “Napa Style” and went in to look around. While there, she found that it was owned by Michael Chiarellos, one of the chefs on The Food Channel. She was excited. As I sit outside the store in the shade and wait, I find that the breeze is chilly. Moving into the sunshine is great. The sun is warm and the breeze is cool, an interesting sensation.










A little later while Floyce is still shopping, I slip into a coffee shop to enjoy a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice. While I am writing this, I realize there is no glass in front of the shop where I am sitting. There are very, very few flies here. There are open air cafes everywhere.















We went to Peggy Fleming’s and bought some wine. Having it shipped to Palmyra. Left Los Gatos about 1:00 and headed east.














As we drove along, I knew when I saw the sign, that I would need to turn around and go back. We had just passed a fruit & vegetable stand advertising garlic, yes garlic ice cream. It was pretty good, but oooooh the aftertaste.

















Going on east, we pass acres and acres of orange trees and other fruit trees; Floyce thought perhaps kiwi.













We saw fields of artichokes. Also, as we drive, we meet many, many semi’s loaded with garlic. They were actually “doubles”; a trailer unit pulling a 2nd trailer.















We are using a GPS unit to help us get around and it has been incredibly helpful. This afternoon, I programmed in the town of Squaw Valley where we hoped to spend the night before going to see the giant sequoias tomorrow. She(Samantha, the voice of the GPS unit) always selects the quickest route first and some of the roads she took me on were pretty rural. When we got to Squaw Valley, it was about the size of Taylor, Mo. Needless to say, we moved on and are staying in Vasilia, CA , a town of about 121,000, at the Fairfield Inn.