Across the street from Taylor’s Refresher lie part of the tracks for the Napa Wine Train. The wine train takes customers from downtown Napa to St. Helena and back. While on board patrons are treated to a fine meal and wine while enjoying the view of the vineyards.

We road the wine train for Thanksgiving dinner several years ago.

Once upon a time I was a tour guide in Napa so I’ve been on the route from Napa to St. Helena countless times. The beauty of the place never gets old or boring though.

Posted on October 7th, 2009 under places. Tags: california, food, napa, trains. Comments Off on Napa Wine Train (Napa Trip — Part 3 of 3)

The day after the aforementioned reunion there was a second gathering for families held at Taylor’s Refresher in St. Helena. Apparently Taylor’s Refresher has been featured on some Food Channel or Food Network shows (maybe “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” and some others?). The place was crazy packed for a town of 6,000 people. There was a line of more than 50 people the entire time we were there. And we were there for more than 3 hours enjoying the picnic on the back lawn.

The food was good, but the prices are high. You’ll be lucky to spend much less than $20 a person ($10 burgers, $6 shakes, $4 fries, etc.). Despite the prices, and long lines, people were coming from far away just to eat at Taylor’s Refresher. The people in line behind us came all the way from Sacramento (an hour and a half at least) just for lunch.

An embarrassing moment happened after we got our food and made our way to the reunion picnic area. My wife sat down next to a man she didn’t know (a spouse of an old classmate) who asked about the food. She said it was OK but the line was ridiculous. It turns out the man was the owner of the place. Oops.

Posted on October 5th, 2009 under people, places. Tags: buildings, california, food, people. Comments: 1

A couple months back we took a trip down I-5 to Napa, California for my wife’s 20th high school reunion. While there we spotted the above Kara’s Cupcakes in the Oxbow Market. Cupcake shops have sprouted up all over the country, but none have made it to Ashland yet. You can see the menu details by clicking on the above picture for a much more enlarged view. The prices seem more than a bit ridiculous to me. $80 for two dozen cupcakes and a bottle of milk?!? I don’t think I’ll be a customer even if they make it to my hometown.

Posted on October 3rd, 2009 under places. Tags: california, food. Comments: 1

October is now upon us so let’s look back to last year’s Halloween parade. Here we find everyone gathering in front of the library to begin the parade. The guy in the Flash Gordon costume was really funny. He ran up and down the street looking just like the real thing.

Posted on October 1st, 2009 under only in ashland, people, places. Tags: autumn, halloween, people. Comments Off on Ashland Halloween Parade at the library

For directions to this little piece of heaven see my prior blog entry.

Posted on September 28th, 2009 under nature, places. Tags: avenue of the giant boulders, clouds, rocks, skywatch, trees, water. Comments Off on Another angle on the Avenue of Giant Boulders

It is difficult to choose just one photograph to share. I’ll post one now, and one next time, but expect to see many more in the future. This place is heaven on earth.

Posted on September 26th, 2009 under nature, places. Tags: avenue of the giant boulders, water. Comments Off on The Avenue of Giant Boulders

The overlook location for Barr Falls is really nice. I could sit here for hours. The wide angle on my LX3 provides a nice overview of the scene. I’ll show you a close up in a later entry. Next we’ll turn to my pick for the best thing to see in the Prospect area–Avenue of the Giant Boulders. For directions see my prior entry.

Posted on September 23rd, 2009 under nature, places. Tags: hike, lx3, trees, water. Comments Off on Barr Falls

Many people that go to Mill Creek Falls miss out on the other wonders in the area. The directions to the waterfall are well marked on Highway 62 and easy to get to from Medford or Crater Lake. My book said to get off at mile post 38. Mile post 38 is actually a few feet beyond the turnoff if you are coming from the Medford area. So either turn before mile post 38 onto Mill Creek Road or wait and get off at the junction (marked with a large sign that says “Mill Creek Falls ==>”) at about mile post 42. If you are going further down the road after your visit (like to Union Creek, the Rogue River Gorge, or Crater Lake) you can turn right out of the parking lot rather than backtrack.

Back to my first statement about what not to miss. After viewing Mill Creek Falls continue to walk another five minutes (to the right if you are viewing this scene). There you will find the even more spectacular Barr Creek Falls (photograph in my next blog entry). But the best place of all in this neck of the woods is “Avenue of Giant Boulders.” The “Avenue of Giant Boulders” is one of my favorite places on the planet.

Posted on September 20th, 2009 under nature, places. Tags: nature, trees, water. Comments: 1

This location is on the California/Oregon border. I’m on top of Pilot Rock. In the far distance on the left is Mt. Shasta. To the right, and out of view in this picture, is Mt. Ashland.

Posted on September 17th, 2009 under nature, places. Tags: mt. shasta, pilot rock. Comments: 1