16 June - Missed the Boat (literally), Vallejo and Napa Valley #2

16 June
We spent the morning working on near future visits to San Francisco and made a startling discovery.  We "missed the boat, literally!  ##$@%%$##  Dang it!  There is a ferry boat that departs Vallejo, which is north of San Francisco and would take us directly to AT&T Park where the San Francisco Giants play and return us back there again, directly.  This would be very convenient and we were counting on it as we will attend the Giants game next Sunday while we are camping at Petaluma, which is also north of San Francisco.  BUT, the dang ferry is full already.  What really ticks me off is we could have easily reserved our seats several weeks ago but never dreamed the ferry would be full.  Oh well.  Nothing we can do now so this will require a lot of other creativity to "get there from here".  I think we got it sorted out, but it really soured the morning.  Since we were working logistics, we went ahead and planned through our Alcatraz visit also.

Then we headed to Vallejo where the ferry terminal is so we could purchase tickets in advance and sort out parking in advance.  It was time well spent and we got our tickets purchased for the ferry rides.

Parking area lined with palm trees

Unique building in the background is the Vallejo Ferry Terminal

After visiting Vallejo we headed up to the Napa Valley again to hit a few other vineyards and wine tasting.  When we checked in to Travis Air Force base and were investigating what there is to do in the area they provided a comprehensive list of winery's that are "military-friendly".  Many offer free wine tasting for active and retired military.  

The first one we stopped at was the Black Stallion Winery.  

The Black Stallion Winery used to be a 32 acre Silverado Horseman's Center, an equestrian center where horses were trained and shown, hence the name "Black Stallion".  Although we could not tour the area, we were able to enter the tasting room and sample various wines they produce.  It is a relative newcomer to the Napa wine industry, opening it's doors in 2007.

Kumquats on the vine

Some of their grape vines behind our pickup.

We then headed to Mumm Napa Winery.  

 They had an inside and outside tasting area, but the inside tables were full so we ended up outside.  Temps exceeded 100 degrees so the wine was welcome!

We each got three glasses and shared so we tries six different wines.

The coasters had the names of the wines on there.  That was helpful!

Doreen bought a bottle of Brut Rose'.  Very good.

We called it and headed back to the RV.  Traffic was nasty and it took us quite a while to get back.  Tomorrow we head down to Dublin CA to board Liberty in the Petsmart doggie daycare while we go to the Oakland A's baseball game vs the New York Yankees.  We will leave the RAM in the Petsmart parking lot and take the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) to the Coliseum for the game.