Prison Break

Saturday June 18th 2011 San Rafael - Lake Tahoe

After a three night stay in San Rafael it was time to move on again, heading for Lake Tahoe via the Sonoma and Napa valley's. If I hadn't met any wine snobs before my visit then I certainly found them here, there’s nothing worse than a snotty yank! Not a run down chateau or crumbling "cave" a la France to be found anywhere, here the chateuas were more like ranches, very elaborate and a little over the top, that said it is very scenic and not how you’d really imagine California, I love the uniformed rows of grape vines on the undulating hills.

By the time we got to Sacramento on the i80 the temperature was up to 87 degrees, reluctantly I put the roof up and switched the air con on. We had a break at Starbucks in Folsom but alas I couldn't find the prison, I did however do my favourite Facebook checkin too date! 

Sorry to be a....

Napa valley

Napa valley

Not to put a damper on things!

Hey

The chateau

Local license plate?

Too darn hot

Folsom City blueberry muffin at Starbucks

Eldorado Forest I-50

First waterfall of the trip

Lake Tahoe

We finally made it to Howard Johnson Express Inn in Lake Tahoe at around 5pm and after a quick shower and change, we went out for the evening. Before our visit I didn't realise that Tahoe is devided by the state line and to visit a casino you have to cross it into Nevada. That was our first port of call, although I have to confess when it comes to gambling neither of us have got a clue. After a while wondering around, watching "the players" we left money still safely in pocket!

There was a really pretty sunset which we watched before heading into The Riva Grill a lively restaurant/bar on the edge of the lake. I tried the "50/50" local ale which went down rather easily before having a mega charbroiled steak. Whilst we were there a couple of young honies asked us to record a message for the troops overseas "sponsored by Budweiser" on their iPad, we duly obliged. "Hey get home safely" or something along those lines, we did manage to find it online a couple of days later!

Cross line to gamble

California here we come

"Sierra Nevada" - I tried this one

Another local beer

When in Rome

Toilet art!

The playlist

Back On The Chain Gang by The Pretenders - ironically this was playing while we had coffee at Starbucks in Folsom.

Folsom City Blues by Johnny Cash - couldn't resist.

Buffalo Soldier by Bob Marley & The Wailers - the song is a tribute to the black soldiers, who fought in the American Civil War.

Mr Bojangles by The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

If You Could Read My Mind - by Gordon Lightfoot

Like A Rolling Stone - by Bob Dylan - the three songs above were all played amongst others by the guitarist/singer at The Riva Grill . He asked me about "Shazam" (an app which identifies the song title etc whilst listening to it), after seeing me use it on my iPhone.