Road Trip, Day Two

On this second of an eight-day road trip with my eldest daughter Becky, we explored the Napa Valley. I've been here several times in the past few years; this was Becky's first time here.

We had hoped to catch the Napa Valley Wine Train for a luncheon excursion, but it was booked. The next best thing: waiting for the train to pass and looking in every window as it went by!

We spent about an hour in lovely, historic St. Helena, where we strolled along the main street, window-shopped and ventured into a few stores.

Of all the people in all the world, living or dead, who might have a museum devoted to them in St. Helena wine country, the last one we expected was Robert Louis Stevenson.

Yep, the prolific Scottish author of remarkable books including "Treasure Island," "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," "A Child's Garden of Verses" and so many more is honored in this little Napa Valley town at the Silverado Museum on the grounds of the St. Helena Public Library.

There's an extensive collection of original photographs, letters, paintings, furniture and other extremely valuable items, including first editions of all his works. Just about everything is on permanent loan from a local resident who has been a Stevenson collector and auction hunter for decades. Here's just a small portion of the museum:

This is the Culinary Institute of America, located at the historic, majestic former Christian Brothers Winery. We didn't have time to take a tour but wanted to have a photo, so I pulled into the parking area and Becky stepped out of the car and snapped this.

One interesting phenomenon we saw at many of the Napa Valley vineyards, which I had not seen on my previous trips there, is that a rose bush is planted at the end of every row of vines. We decided this is a very nice touch.

At about 3 p.m. we bid a fond farewell to the Napa Valley and headed north to Redding, Calif. I'm writing this blog post from Redding while Becky is looking at maps and reading from the AAA guidebook about where to go and what to see tomorrow. 

Where will we lay our heads at the end of the day tomorrow? You'll have to check in on the blog tomorrow evening to find out!