One of the aims of this trip was to highlight winemakers and wineries outside of the areas that one tends to  think of first when we talk about American wine. If you ask most people which state they would associate the most with wine, they would likely answer, California, and of course they would be right. California has more wineries than any other state and produces more wine grapes. In 2009, California produced over 600 million gallons of wine, amounting to 89% of the total US production. Interestingly, the next largest producing state is New York, which produced 3.7%. California is without doubt an animal unto itself where USA wines are concerned. 

So now our travels have taken us all the way to the West Coast and we are staying a couple of days in the Central Coast region of California. Broadly, this is the area between Los Angeles and San Francisco and encompasses such areas as Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Paso Robles and Monterey (amongst many others). This is my first time visiting the region. Scenically it is beautiful; rolling hills, lush vegetation and a mild climate all year round. Today, 30th April, the temperatures were in the upper 60s and lower 70s inland, although there was quite a wind that picked up late afternoon.

We didn't have appointments to visit wineries in the area, and as it is a weekend, the wineries were busy with visitors all wanting to taste and purchase. So my approach today was a little different. I decided that I wanted to get a feel for the region of San Luis Opispo, Edna Valley and Arroyo Grande. I have always believed that visiting a wine-growing region is the very best way to gain an understanding of the wines, and getting a feel for the geography is important. From just driving around, you can gain an understanding of which wineries are bigger and those that are smaller, which are more commercial and which less so. It is probably wrong to make judgements based on these factors, but I often find that my initial hunches are borne out at later tastings.

I was only able to actually visit and taste at one winery today, Baileyana. I realy wanted to go there as the winemaker, Christian Roguenant, is a Burgundian who makes Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays in the Burgundy tradition. The tasting room is in a 100 year old converted schoolhouse in the hills above San Luis Obispo and is delightful. There is an outdoor patio and families were enjoying sipping wine while their kids played petanque. Very French! I wasn't able to taste the wines I wanted to because of time, but was able to sample a glass of Pinot Gris which was firm, fruity and refreshing. Perfect, unpretentious quaffing wine for a summer (or in this case, Spring) afternoon.

Most wineries in this area are growing grapes according to sustainable farming practices which is commendable. We also managed to see Wolff Vineyards, Tolosa (which appeared to be quite big), Tangent, Sextant and Saucelito Canyon who have the misfortune to specialize in Zinfandels, my least favorite grape of al! We weren't able to take Hopi into any of the tasting rooms and so our tastings of most of these wines will be at a later date. We do, however, have a greater understanding and respect for the "terroir", the areas where the grapes are grown, where the wine is ultimately born and develops its character. 

We were able to spend some time in the delightful town of San Luis Obispo (shortened to SLO in everything - SLO Wine, SLO Food etc.) where we enjoyed lunch on the patio of a lovely sandwich shop, The Nautical Bean, and then take Hopi for a run on the beach at Morro Bay. 

Tomorrow we will taste in Paso Robles and then meet up with some old friends and colleagues in the afternoon. Fun times!

It's been a week already? Wow, we have done so much, seen so much, learned so much and experienced so much in one short week. I have fallen behind a bit with my blogging - a combination of iffy internet connections and tiredness at the end of a day. Ginnie has done, and continues to do a great job of updating her blog so don't forget to check out her take on things too.

So on Thursday we planned to head off from Moab through Nevada. We didn't know where we would be staying or how far we'd get. Vegas was a possibility but with Hopi that was not going to be much fun. There are not many places in the desert so at the last minute we changed plans and headed south towards Flagstaff, Arizona. From there we would head west again and eventually join Interstate 15. So off we went, back to an area that we had visited a couple of times before, once when we were doing research for Ginnie's novel, in Hopi and Navajo territory. We really love Arizona.

This route took us through some stunning scenery in both Utah and Arizona. It is extraordinary how the color of the rock changes and the rock formations are incredible especially through Monument Valley, AZ. Hopi had ever actually been to Hopiland so this was his first experience. I don't think he cared much!

We got to Flagstaff in good time and decided to drive a little further so we would have a shorter day on Friday when we wanted to get to Central Coast of California. I'm glad we did. We ended up staying in a Best Western Plus in Kingman, AZ and it was a great room, pet friendly with an excellent shower, comfortable bed and good price. We ordered pizza and watched the preparations for the Royal Wedding - another reason I didn't get to blog that evening!

Yesterday we drove from Kingman to Cayucos, CA where we are staying in a condominium suite. Everything in the area is pretty booked up and we weren't really prepared for that. It is a little disappointing for the price, but at least we can settle here for three days and explore the beauty of San Luis Opisbo and Paso Robles. And we get to see and hear the Pacific Ocean from our bedroom. 

It is almost surreal that we are here, the far west coast of the country and that we did it entirely by car. The trip is going wonderfully and in the next couple of days we'll visit more wineries. Now we are off to find some. Watch for more later!

We froze last night in our casita. There was a heater but it sounded like a 747 taking off when it was operating and so we could choose to stay awake because of noise or cold. We chose cold, reasoning that we could keep each other warm, but it wasn't to be. Hopi tried his best to keep us warm but his bony little body just got in the way!

After packing up again (we are getting good at this particular feat) we headed to Dead Horse Point National Park, the only one in the area that is pet-friendly, as it looked interesting in the brochures. It is about 30 miles from Moab and even the drive is dramatic. The sun was shining and the blue of the sky created an amazing backdrop for the red sandstone cliffs, canyons and mesas that surround the region. We've been to Arizona before and seen similar canyon structures, but these are different and in many ways I find them even more awe-inspiring in a different way that is hard to explain. When we drove to the Dead Horse Point itself and hiked around the rim of this narrow peninsula in the sky, we both felt that somehow we needed to speak in whispers; the 360 degree vistas really took our breath away. Photographs can never do justice to places like this. I have a very hard time trying to convey a sense of depth and height in photos but we tried nonetheless, knowing that we were shooting in the midday sun, the very worst kind of light. 

Hopi was in his element. He is named after the Hopi native American tribe who inhabit the Arizona mesas, and somehow he feels right at home clambering over the rocks. The sun shone but it was still only 48 degrees. Definitely the high, cool desert, but one in which it is still easy to get sunburned, as I realize now. fortunately it is just the back of my neck that got caught - I was wearing a hat, more for warmth than sun protection, but it stopped my balding pate from turning lobster-colored!

Returning to Moab we had two wineries to visit. Actually these are the ONLY two wineries in the state and they are about 20 miles apart. Wine making in Utah has an interesting history. The federal government at one time had provided grants for people to start growing grapes as part of an economic development venture. The enterprising people who did so soon found themselves embroiled in a battle with the State of Utah who would not let them sell the wine because of the predominant religion in Utah, Mormonism. The Church of Latter Day Saints is opposed to alcohol consumption and so there followed a number of years of lobbying and changes in administration until finally in the late 90s, winemaking could be licensed. Although there are about 8 licenses in the State, there are only two producing wineries, Spanish Valley Vineyards, just South of Moab, and Castle Creek Winery about 14 miles east.

I met with Will, the winemaker at Castle Creek where we are staying and he was kind enough to show me around. They are making about 14,000 gallons of wine per year mostly from fruit that they purchase from growers in Utah and Colorado (actually from around the Palisade area where we were yesterday). They have a small vineyard on site also but this is relatively insignificant in the scheme of things. About half of his wine is sold from the winery (which is attached to a very nice lodge where we are staying tonight) and the rest is sold to the State of Utah who control the sale in what is effectively a "one-tier" system. It seems that Utah still has a lot of power over who makes, sells and consumes any type of alcohol. 

Of the wines i tasted, I enjoyed the straightforward, off-dry Lily Rose white. This is an easy drinking blend which seems to change each year based on what is available. The wines are not vintage labeled (because of the cost or creating new labels each year) but those that I tasted were all 2009. The previous year had been a disaster for Utah and Colorado wineries who suffered from a lot of storm damage. The 2009 was well balanced with a good amount of acidic backbone and floral bouquet that came from the Orange Muscat in the blend. It has won a number of medals in national competitions and at just $9.95 a bottle, this was a good quaffing wine.

The reds are also good. The Outlaw Red is well made and is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah from the vineyards on property. This had structure and length and deserves a wider audience. 

Castle Creek is the first and oldest of the two wineries and since 2002 have produced over 30 medal winning wines. Will is thrilled to have just bought a very expensive bottling machine from Italy that will make their production process much easier.

At Spanish Valley Winery, I met with Stacy Dezelsky, the winemaker. She and her husband, Cory produce some fine wines that are almost all made with Utah grown grapes, including Gewurtztraminer, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon from their own vineyards. Stacy learned her winemaking skills in St. Helena, California and Hawks Bay, New Zealand and she really knows what she is doing. Her wines are serious beverages that are made with as little intervention as possible from the winemaker. Stacy says that she grows wine, she doesn't make them. This is the philosophy of the greatest domaines and wineries in the world, where the quality of the wine begins in the vineyard which is ultimately where the character of the wine originates. Terroir.

I unhesitatingly bought a bottle of Stacy's Cabernet Sauvignon which she admits is her "baby". At  $16.95 it is still remarkable value for the quality but was the most expensive wine in the portfolio that includes Chardonnay (not from local grapes), Gewurtztraminer and Syrah. Stacy only sells her wines out of the tiny winery and admits she doesn't do a great job of marketing her products. I urge you to visit her, however, if you are ever in the Moab area. The wines are stellar.

Tomorrow we head to who knows where. It will be the first night without a reservation or planned destination. We'll see how that goes!

Leadville, Colorado, can be VERY cold! This morning we awoke to a good 3 inches of fresh snow. I had contemplated taking the car snow brush/scraper with us but rejected it at the last moment thinking that I had had enough snow for one season. This morning I regretted it as I attempted to clear snow off the car with the house’s snow shovel!

With the car packed, we headed off towards Palisade, CO, which is in Grand Valley, one of the two designated Colorado AVAs (American Viticultural Areas).

The drive from Leadville back to I70 was slow and arduous as the snow was falling hard and the plows were struggling to keep up. From Vail onwards, however, the skies cleared and it was plain sailing to Palisade.

First stop was at Grande River Vineyards, just off the highway. Grande River bottled their first wine in 1990, three years after planting their first vines. From 1990 until 2006, it was the largest grape producing winery in Colorado but in 2006, the owners, Steve and Naomi Smith decided to downsize and sold off all but ten acres to concentrate on winery operations.

These wines are serious players. We tasted six: Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier, White Meritage (Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon), Syrah, Red Meritage and Petite Verdot.  All are well made and the 2009 whites were excellent. I particularly enjoyed the Viognier, a favorite grape that is at its best in the Rhone Valley but also does very well in Virginia. The floral nose was followed by a rich textured, well-balanced flavor, bursting with fruit and tempered with just the right amount of acidity. The finish was much longer than I expected and was a real star. The Sauvignon Blanc was OK but a tad too acidic for my taste. The 2008 Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon white Meritage had been oaked in new barrels and the oak was evident but not too prominent. As this ages a little longer, the oak will likely integrate more and be more pleasing than at present but it is a fine wine nonetheless.

Of the reds, I enjoyed the 2008 Syrah but really found the red Meritage (2004) to be a wine to watch. This is definitely made in Bordeaux style and the tannins are still quite prominent. There is plenty of fruit still and it will likely age for a good 3-5 years with no problem. The 2007 Reserve Petite Verdot, an unusual wine, is a spicy, earthy yet elegantly-made wine that deserves to be served with red meat or game; a truly exceptional product. All of their wines are estate produced and bottled. They only distribute them within the state of Colorado (they produce between 5,000 and 7,000 cases a year) and you can find their wines in some of the best restaurants.  Oh and doggies are welcome in the tasting room which is big plus for us, and Hopi!

After Grande River, we wanted to see a different style of winery. So from what was the largest producer we went to Colorado Cellars, the first and oldest in Colorado, slated as the state’s “original winery” and when added to the brands of Rocky Mountain Vineyards and the Orchard Mesa Wine Company, today’s largest producer. Bear in mind however, that their production figures include a high number of fruit wines – Cherry, Peach, Plum, Blackberry, Raspberry, Elderberry, Blueberry, Pomegranite, as well as a couple of meads (honey “wines”).

To reach this little tasting room, we drove 6.5 miles through some stunning mesa scenery, passing more orchards than vineyards. We were reminded that many vineyards were ripped out during prohibition and fruit trees planted in their place. It is the most dramatic area for growing any kind of fruit, with a backdrop of flat-topped mesas that today were sprinkled with snow that looked like powdered sugar.

The owners of Colorado Cellars are a husband and wife team, Richard and Pattie Turley. Pattie makes the wines and Richard acts as their lone salesman. Apparently he clocks 90,000 miles a year just traveling around the state of Colorado. This makes our little cross-country adventure look like child’s play! They grow some Gewürztraminer right in front of the winery and they make it in a semi-sweet style, which is more commercial. In fact, their wines are all made in a more commercial style than Grande River; they are best known for their semi-sweet light red, called Road Kill. Whereas Grande River is making some serious wines for serious drinkers, I think the Road Kill says it all about Colorado Cellars!

We continued on to Moab, Utah, passing incredible scenes of red rock and white peaks. Our accommodation here is pretty basic and the wind is howling around the little casita we rented. Tomorrow we will be splurging at a much nicer place, but this evening we are watching the Vancouver Canucks play in game 7 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs and drinking Corona!

Tomorrow is another day….

We were a little discombobulated by not having Internet access on Saturday but we're hoping to get back on track from now on. 

We left beautiful Sage Hill Vineyards yesterday morning and headed west on I76. The roads were good and the traffic was light as we drove towards Denver. We stopped on the outskirts of the city to buy some groceries as we would be spending the next two nights in a rented house in Leadville, CO and the plan was to cook dinners, write our blogs, process and correct the photos and just be cozy. There were no other wineries to visit en route and anyway yesterday was Easter Sunday so most would likely be closed anyway. 

It was amazing how the landscape still seemed very flat even as we approached Denver and then quite suddenly we were on I70 and right in the Rockies. Snow was falling as we continued to climb. Hal Walker, the Sage Hill Vineyard owner, had warned us that Leadville, our day-3 destination, would be very cold and as we got closer to this historic mining town, the thermometer dropped to 30 degrees. The road leading to Leadville is called The Top of The Rockies and Leadville is one of the highest points at 10,152'

Leadville is bigger than Parks, Nebraska, but only just. It is now officially designated a ghost town but in it's heyday it was a bustling frontier mining community and it is rich in mineral and pioneering history. 

While there are wineries in Colorado, this area is really too cold to grow grapes successfully. There is a winery in Minturn on the way to Vail but it seems it is more of a tasting room geared to summer tourists. It was closed when we tried to visit this morning but we should have more luck in the Grand Junction area tomorrow as we head towards Utah. 

We did visit Vail. I had never been there before and wanted to at least experience it. The ski hills closed yesterday to the public but were open today for the mountain employees who were also being treated to an end of season celebratory party. It was therefore quite bustly and had a wonderful atmosphere. One day I would love to ski here. A job in this region would not be the worst thing in the world! Please take note, headhunters!

Before dinner this evening, Ginnie and I left Hopi in our little rented house for half an hour and wandered down 4th Street to take in the atmosphere at the oldest saloon in Colorado, the Silver Dollar. This place is amazing! It has been a saloon since 1879 and has an Irish theme.  Miners, gamblers and local gangsters have frequented it for over 130 years and if the walls could talk there would be incredible stories. As it is, the walls are covered with an eclectic collection of antiques, memorabilia, art and plain junk. It is authentic, unpretentious and thoroughly entertaining just to sit at the bar and soak up the history. The beautifully carved back bar is a work of art in itself. We were both so pleased that we ventured in!

Another great couple of days with new adventures. Tomorrow we head to Moab, Utah. Stay tuned!

Today was to be a more relaxed day, half as much driving as yesterday and a chance to take in more of the surrounding landscapes as we continued west across Nebraska.

This was this first time in the Prairies for all three of us (Ginnie and Me and a Dog Named Hopi), and although we are told that we shouldn’t judge Nebraska by the vistas from Interstate 80, it is mostly a flat and characterless canvas that is at the same time quite fascinating.

Pulling off I80 and onto a regular highway, the speed limit, which is a generous 75 on the Interstate, went down to 60. Although this road was only two lanes, there was not another car in sight, and Ginnie and I were reveling in this fact, when out of nowhere, red flashing lights appeared in my rear view mirror. I pulled over and a very nice policeman asked if I knew the speed limit. For a split second I considered feigning ignorance but fessed up that I knew it was 60. He had clocked me at 78 but wrote me a ticket for only 75 to keep me below the next fine threshold! He wished us a safe and happy continuation to our journey and we motored on, ensuring to slow to the requisite 35 MPH going through each little town en route!

We crossed into the Mountain Time Zone and instantly gained an hour, which meant we arrived at the Sage Hill Vineyard and Winery a little after 3:00pm. Locating the winery was not without some drama. The address is Parks, Nebraska and GPS Woman brought us there without further incident. However the town of Parks is something to behold. Main Street, which houses the Post Office, is actually a dirt road. If 25 people live here I’d be surprised. The Community Building has even less paint on it than our house, and the few residents appear to live in ramshackle trailers with myriad abandoned cars and trucks in their yards.

We wondered what kind of place this winery, where we would be staying the night, would be like.  A sign in the town pointed to the winery so we steeled ourselves and headed off in search of adventure and blog fodder.

The scenery began to change to something quite amazing. Rolling hills, covered in sagebrush, remote and almost surreal in places spread before us, as we climbed until we saw a sign directing us into the winery. We crossed a cattle grid and drove the winding dirt road down and then back up to the winery. As we grew closer we were astonished. What a find!

Hopi bounded out as if unshackled from years of solitary confinement and we headed into the winery to be greeted by owner, Carol Walker. Her ebullient personality instantly made us feel at home and Hopi was encouraged to go free and explore inside and out. He was in his element especially as he had the owners’ springer spaniel to play with too!

Carol called her husband, Hal, in to the tasting room. He was in the vineyard pruning but needed little encouragement to take a break and come to talk to us about his wines and his winemaking exploits.

Hal is a fish farmer by trade but in 2001 he started to experiment with fruit wines, blackcurrant, rhubarb etc. He enjoyed that experience, progressed to “kit wines” and then wanted to jump on the booming Nebraska wine business bandwagon and try making real wine from real grapes. The acquisition of the 16 acres that he now owns above Parks, Nebraska, came about because of a chance meeting with a friend in the local Wal-Mart. He said he was looking for land that would be suitable for grape growing and his friend (another Hal) eventually sold him the land. Water was going to be a problem and Hal knows a little bit about streams and creeks from his other life as a fish farmer. The creek that goes through the land would not produce sufficient water for the 2.5 acres of vines that he wanted to grow. So he dug for water and drilled a well. He found water 70 feet down but needed to pump it to the vineyard. The answer was a very green solution; Hal installed a pump that is powered by solar energy. Now he had land and water. He just needed vines.

Hal is a self-taught winemaker and would be the first to admit that he lacks skills and experience in many respects. He also has very basic equipment currently. He has applied for a grant to purchase two temperature-controlled jacket fermenters, which will help him enormously. Right now, he relies on a simple air conditioner to do what he can to control the fermentation. And he only has a mechanical press. No fancy (and expensive) bladder press for him – at least not yet.

What Hal lacks in experience and equipment, he makes up with boundless energy, enthusiasm and a genuine love for what he is doing. His wines, if we’re being brutally honest, are not that great yet, but they certainly have potential. His wines are all varietals (no blends) and the varieties are French hybrids. Vitis Vinifera have not found a place in his 2.5 acres of vineyards yet, but he is making a valiant effort with the varieties he does have and also makes wines with juice bought from other growers in Nebraska and Colorado. Of the wines we tasted, the Edelweiss was pretty good, although the juice was bought from eastern Nebraska where his friend grows the grapes and yields a very high 10 tons per acre!

Of Hal’s own grown grapes, we enjoyed the Traminette (a hybrid that is related to the Gewürztraminer grape that has actually been chosen as Indiana’s signature state wine) the most of his whites.  The Cayuga was very funky and something weird was going on there. Hal knows there is a problem with that wine. It has elevated ethyl acetate  (the smell you get from nail polish remover) and is throwing some crystals. Temperature instability was probably the cause. I didn’t care for the LaCrosse much either but others rave about the cidery style.

Of the reds, Hal makes Marechal Foch from bought-in juice that is OK. The Leon Millot is interesting and I swear it has a sage-like nose perhaps picked up from the sagebrush that inhabits the surrounding land. The best of the reds is what they describe as their Big Dog, the Chambourcin. This is a much bigger wine than the others and more extracted, although it still needs more color and brightness to be totally successful.  Hal also makes an interesting Rhubarb wine that is colored with some Chambourcin and works as a dessert wine, and an even more interesting mead, a beverage (not really a wine) with ancient origins made from local honey.

The most expensive wine is only $16 per bottle (for the Chambourcin). We enjoyed a bottle of Traminette ($14.00) with dinner in the delightful loft above the winery. This is a gem of a find; spotlessly clean, with a full kitchen, bedroom, living room with dining area and nice bathroom – all for just $90 per night including a bottle of Hal’s wine. And doggies are welcome which was the original reason for staying here for us! The only negative – no cell phone service or Internet. While that is very liberating in many ways, it means that this blog will not get posted until tomorrow.

I would love to spend more time exploring the Nebraska Wine Trail. They are a very young industry but growing rapidly, producing ten times as much wine in 2009 as they did in 2000 when they started. Over 30 varieties are grown here and in 2009 they made 69,140 gallons of wine. Hal made about 1000.  About two-dozen winegrowers make wine in over 50 counties in Nebraska and so the state really does have a Wine Country. Our hope during this trip, is to unearth some winemakers who are adding to the rich American wine culture in small but exciting ways. These wines are not Napa, or Bordeaux or Burgundy or Chianti. In most cases the winemakers are still “garagistes” making small quantities for the local market. But just as some states like New York and Virginia have excelled in recent years, people like Hal are to be congratulated for their pioneering spirit. Our lives are richer because of them and the Great American Wine Industry is alive and kicking all over the country. Go Hal!

The daffodils were just beginning to poke up through the late season snow as we drove away from our house this morning commencing what we hope will be an epic journey of discovery and adventure. The house, which we love, is not looking its best right now, as it is in the throes of being repainted and is currently in that messy stage after the power washing, when the loose paint has all come off and there are bare patches all over. Actually it looks awful, but by the time we return it will be all spruced up in its new coat of paint, ready to woo buyers if for an reason our contingent purchasers have to pull out.

Almost as soon as we started, an argument ensued. Not between Ginnie and me (we rarely argue) but between the GPS woman and us. We had plotted our route on Yahoo Maps and were planning to head west through Fond du Lac and Madison. GPS Woman had other ideas and was hellbent on taking us to Chicago. I ignored her and headed to Fond du Lac anyway, knowing that she would recalculate in time and toe the line. But this time she was stubborn, insisting that I should make "a legal U-turn" at the next opportunity. I ignored her as long as I could then finally stopped for gas and reprogrammed her. Eleven hours later, after driving through fog, rain and mist, we arrived in Lincoln, Nebraska. 

While following one of GPS Woman's suggested detours, we came across a sign to a vineyard. Botham Vineyards, 30 miles west of Madison. I braked hard and headed down a country road until we saw the vineyard entrance. The winery is a converted barn and home to a winery that grows red wine grapes adjacent to it on 10 acres, and also makes some surprisingly good whites from grapes bought in from other states including the Finger Lakes in New York. Today was Good Friday so it was very quiet, but the tasting room manager, Gina, gave me a quick synopsis of the wines and the winemaker, Peter Botham, who started the winery in the early 90s. 

I bought a bottle of their semi-dry Riesling and we just enjoyed it in our modest Lincoln hotel room with a take-out meal from a local restaurant. Both were surprisingly good! The Riesling is definitely on the the sweeter side of semi-dry, but there is enough acidity to keep it from cloying and has distinct green apple overtones. It is non-vintage of course and made from Finger Lakes juice that is trucked in to Wisconsin. It would make a great accompaniment to spicy food and was good, even when drunk out of plastic cups. That's the thing about wine - it should just be enjoyed and shouldn't be taken too seriously. At $9.50 a bottle, this wine is not meant to be revered. It is not a great wine, but it is fun, well made, balanced and MADE IN WISCONSIN! 

This was a great start to our trip. The weather was not good and the road surfaces in Wisconsin and Iowa leave much to be desired (budget cuts I guess are to blame), but now we are in Lincoln and have 600 miles between us and our naked house. Our stomachs are full and I am still sipping the last drops of Botham Riesling. 

Day One = Success!

We're all packed and ready to set off on our cross country adventure. After yesterday's snow and ice, I am MORE than ready to get out of Wisconsin and head west.

Next stop - Nebraska. Never been there before. See you all tomorrow!

So we have decided to do it. We are going to take advantage of the time I have available and make the cross-continental trip that we have dreamed of doing for years. Ginnie and Me and a dog named Hopi (isn't that a song?)

We will be hitting the road, heading west, a week from tomorrow (Good Friday) and blogging about our adventures. We plan to visit wineries that are off the beaten track and less well known, interviewing the winemakers and hopefully turning the adventures into a book. We have a certain amount planned - some of it more definite than other parts, and I will be meeting with some interesting people to find out about potential job opportunities en route.

Much more to come. For the next few days I have my youngest daughter, Rachel, with me and I am just enjoying her company and that of her cousin, Paul. 

We were excited to read that a new Sushi restaurant was opening in our little Midwestern town. The owners occupied about half of the front page of the local newspaper yesterday morning in an article heralding the new project, and so last evening we headed over to try it.

We arrived at about 6:15pm and as we walked through the door, a sign greeted us that said "please wait to be seated". We stood and waited. Nobody greeted us, nobody even acknowledged our presence for several minutes. (Complaining guests can be known to exaggerate, and so I will not claim it was five minutes, but it was certainly more than three). Finally, a frazzled server told us we could sit anywhere. So we found a table and sat down. Then we overheard another table being told they could not serve alcohol because they didn't have their license yet. OK, I can live without alcohol for an evening, no biggie. 

So we sat staring into space but nothing happened. Finally, two glasses of water arrived - no menus yet. We ordered two Diet Cokes. Ten minutes later, after asking, we receive menus, but no Coke. Then the frazzled waitress finally came to take our order. We ordered and reminded her about the Cokes. There was no music in the room, and people were arriving and being ignored at the door, just like we were. I wanted to jump up and start taking charge. This was the second night that they were open and there was no atmosphere, no welcome, nobody having fun. Everyone was waiting an eternity for their meal and I was reminded of episodes of Hell's Kitchen or Kitchen Nightmares. The owner was behind the bar, presumably making sushi, studiously ignoring everyone.

The server came and told us our order would be up next. Twenty minutes later it still hadn't appeared. I am really patient in situations like this because I have been in nightmare services too and I know how they can go wrong, but I was concerned that the owner seemed completely oblivious to what was going on. 

Finally our one plate of sushi arrived, 75 minutes after we arrived at the restaurant. The server said she was going to see if she could give us a discount or a free dessert or something. I asked if we could have a bowl for our soy sauce, and maybe also a plate. They were brought to the table and almost thrown at us.

I was so hungry at that point that I ate everything, even though the food was mediocre at best.  The frazzled waitress cleared our table and I asked for the bill. I put my credit card on the table so I could give it to her as soon as the bill arrived; I wanted to leave at that point. She came past the table and whisked away my Visa before a bill had even been presented, then returned with the credit card slip for signature. She told me she didn't charge for the two Cokes.

I paid the $25 and also, against my better judgement, added a tip. We left and nobody said a word. Nothing. Zip.

When I got to the car, I was fizzing and told Ginnie I was going to go back in and tell the owner that he is not doing himself any favors by opening before he's ready. I quietly told him this and that our meal was extremely disappointing. He told me that he had to open because he has everything in this business, but he has no chef and the server didn't show up. So his cousin and aunt were serving. I repeated that he is losing customers and really creating a poor first impression. Otherwise, people like me will not return.

"That's fine" said he, all cocky and smart Alecky. 

"So you don't care if customers don't return?". 

"We get it", said he. "You don't have to come back". 

No apology. No regret. No business or marketing sense whatsoever.

I really do understand how hard it is to own and run your own business (I've done it) and in the current economy it is all the harder. We all recognize that things can go wrong, but this is not an auspicious start to a new local business, and it is such a shame. 

I hate to say this, but really, he doesn't deserve to succeed, which is all the sadder, because sometimes, even people who do it all right, also don't make it.