Time Flies

I probably said this the last time I blogged, but time really does fly by! We are loving it here in Bodega Bay and getting into the swing of things. Of course, as busy as it's been over the last 3 months, we are being told by the locals that winter is coming - and they remind us all the time. Lots of storms, wind and no traffic. Bob and I just keep working on all the plans we have to keep the people coming in. And they are! The new signage that Tammi and Steve installed is working nicely. We've been doing some advertising and working on getting some editorial press. We sent out a press release and got a pretty good response from that. All in all, we are happy with sales thus far and looking forward to a busy holiday season.

Living in west county is very interesting...we're getting to know all the locals. It's a really good week if we get to see everyone - some more than once a week! And we've had some visitors, too! Our neighbor Karen Banks from Orlando was in the wine country with some friends and brought them all out to the shop to see us. And of course Mom and Dad were out, too. We think they figured out why we love it here so much. The weather was perfect and we got to visit some really great places. Hopefully, neither of them will ever look at a bottle of wine the same.

We all went to the Iron Horse Winery for a tour of the vineyards. Iron Horse is most well known for their sparkling wine. David Monksguard is the winemaker and he spent the better part of 4 hours explaining the root stock of the vines and how sparkling wine is made. And there were samples - lots of samples! There was also a barrel tasting at Hauck Cellars. Greg and Jennifer Hauck moved out to Sonoma County from Georgia in 2004. They started their own wine label and make fantastic wine. Even though they are Bulldogs, we still sell their wine in the shop ;-)

Bob is starting to play golf a little more. I've got a bad case of tennis elbow and have had to put the sticks down for awhile. We did get a couple of kayaks so we could explore the bay. We went out this morning for the first time and it's a lot more intimidating than it looks. There are harbour seals and sea lions in the channel and they pop up with no warning. They are so cute from far away and so BIG up close!! There's lots of adventures ahead and I hope to get comfortable enough to take the camera out there one day.

Here are a couple of pics...

This is the view on a foggy day from our living room - normally you can see the Bodega Head:


This is my friend Katy and I at the Sonoma County Harvest Fair - so many wines, so little time!!


Steve and Sarah are two of our favorite wine folks. They are with Hook and Ladder Winery, owned by Sarah's grandfather, Cecil DeLoach. They are smiling so wide because their wines won a Gold Medal and a Best in Class!


A foggy day in Bodega Bay...


We rarely have clouds and visibility...


These two pics are of the same bird:

Talk about taking the long way....

It's taken me a whole month to find some time to sit down and update this blog. What a whirlwind! We are still a little crazy and discombobulated, but managing to sell a ton of wine and ship a lot of Sissy Tags! Work is what we do - all the time. We have managed to squeeze in a few fun things that I'll tell you about.

I guess what I need to do first, though, is let everyone know that we are here and loving it!! Bodega Bay is such a great little place and we can't believe how lucky we are to live here. Mo loves it too, and has already become a star around the shop. She has a bit of a fan club and likes it when other dogs come around to say hello.

Bob has become quite a 'wineaux' and really keeps the wine side of the shop filled with amazing wines. We thought we were pretty knowledgable about what was out here till we arrived. There is literally no end to all the wine available. It's so amazing! Every week, winemakers come into the shop to taste us on their products. We've even brought in some local brews for the beer lovers. Which has proved to be handy since the heat kicked in last week.

Typically, Bodega Bay is no warmer than 80 and quite windy. August brought a ton of fog and it stayed cold. The indian summer has really taken off, and we're having a heat wave! Can't imagine how hot it must be in the valleys...

We are totally into the busy season here and the weekends bring a packed deck of locals and travellers. Lots of people are finding Gourmet au Bay for the first time and loving it.

We are still trying to get the apartment set up and all the moving boxes removed. We have our priorities straight, though - Bob ordered the ESPN Gameplan from the cable company so we can watch some real football!! So, and it is very important that no one calls us or texts us to let us know about the results of FSU or GT games as we will be watching them after we close on Saturday nights!!!

So in the middle of all the hard work, we've also found time to get out to some local events. It's not too hard as they have them every weekend - all shapes and sizes. We've been to a pancake breakfast, "the Big Event", and the Oyster Fog Fest. All three events were fine examples of pure, unadulterated Americana at it's finest. And at the Big Event in Bodega, a llama got loose after the parade - it happened to be the vary llama that won the loveliest llama contest. You can see, with all this excitement how hard it is to find time to blog. People out here really embrace community and enjoy celebrating it!

But I will and I will post photos of the shop. It's coming along and we have lots of plans. It may take us ten years to implement them all...

Till next time! Here is our new contact info:

Shop phone - 707-875-9875
PO Box 604
Bodega Bay, CA 94923

Life in NorCal

Hello All! Well, we made it and we've been working really hard...today was our first day off and we worked all day ;-)

I was going to wait to post until I had a couple of pictures, but haven't had time to get any shots. Will put that on the to do list. We are still waiting for the washer/dryer to be delivered and trying to get settled into the apartment. It's slow going, but we'll get it done eventually. I promise, Mom and Dad, that you will enjoy your upcoming visit and not have to help us with a list of projects. Except that Bob needs help with a couple of electrical things, Dad....

So we took over the shop on Friday and the former owners invited all the locals for a farewell/welcome event. I think there were about 85 people in the shop and it was so nice to meet everyone. A couple of the local ladies invited me to play 9-holes with them on Saturday morning. The local course is a links style course, so I lost a ton of balls. But it was fun and I'm looking forward to going out again - maybe even with Bob!

Today, we got up early and went into town for our weekly grocery/bank/errand run. Now we won't have to get in the car again till next Wednesday. Well, that's not true, we do run to the post office everyday because there is no mail delivery here. There's also not any cell service...so we'll be getting a land line in the apartment soon.

We haven't had a chance to really get around the town yet. On Friday, the new owners of a local restaurant came in to introduce themselves and welcome us to the neighborhood. Andrew and Liya are Culinary Institute of America Hyde Park grads. And Andrew also happens to be a Georgia Tech grad!!! So we went down and had dinner at their place - Terrapin Creek - and it is delicous!! Now, I'm not sure how a Computer Science grad from GT ends up going to the CIA and opening a place named after the University of Maryland mascot, but I'm sure glad about it!

Stay tuned for photos of the shop and some great scenery! It's beautiful here and there are some amazing vistas....

It's early in California

It may not be that early where you are - but in California it's 5:30am and it's our first day here in...what do they call California? Florida is the Sunshine State, Georgia is the Peach State...anyway, it's early!

We made it in late yesterday afternoon and are staying in Santa Rosa for a couple of nights till we can get moved into the apartment in Bodega Bay. The next couple of days are all paperwork - bankers, insurance, driver's licenses, cable, etc. We're driving out to the shop this afternoon to see it, say hello and probably have a glass of wine on the deck!

We had a nice little drive across the US and can't say that we aren't glad that it's over. The planned 23 hour leg from Louisville to Park City, UT didn't happen - no excuses. We were tired of being in the car and wanted out. So did Mo! We stopped in Ogallala, NE for the night. We highly recommend staying at The Days Inn there the next time you happen to be driving across Nebraska. The owner was very nice and very dog friendly!

Anyway, we decided a good nights sleep and sleeping in a little would go a long way. It probably didn't go long enough. The rest of the drive to Park City was a grind. You've already seen the highlights from the last post - the Snowy Mountain Range. On the drive we were listening to the radio and they were talking about the oil guy that wants to put up windmills everywhere for energy. After driving through Wyoming, we totally agree!!! There is nothing out there folks. We only saw one true wind farm:




But we also saw a 18 wheeler whose haul was one arm of a windmill....HUGE!

We got into Park City on Wednesday night and had a nice relaxing 4 day stay. Sissy got some orders pulled and shipped and we worked on all the loose ends. Our friend Mark Clements loaned us the use of his condo there and it's a fun little town with great food and weather! THANK YOU MARK! By the way, great hair in Utah!!

The aspen trees were Sissy's fav...this shot from the lift was not in focus, but still lovely:


View from the town lift:


We got in a short round of golf before we left. Sissy had the drive of her life and a nice trick shot directed by Bob. But apparently, it has something to do with the thin air and can probably never be replicated on a regular basis. Dad, this pic is especially for you:


Several of the towns out here put the initials their town on the mountainside. This is the Park City one from the golf course. This trend is really big in Nevada, where there is apparently nothing to do but arrange giant letters on the sides of mountains.


Another thing we noticed about the west - they really like their tacos (Taco Johns, Jimboy's Tacos, Taco Time, Taco Maker, etc) and they like to have tater tots with them. A little strange, but very tasty!

On Sunday early - seriously early - we got on the road to California. Bob started off in the drivers seat. Here is a shot of the sun coming up over Salt Lake City:


And this is not snow - it's salt!! This is basically what you see for miles on I-80 after Salt Lake City:


Nevada was a little disappointing for two reasons. It's currently under attack from the smoke coming out of California and we got stopped for speeding! After we left the state trooper we wished we had asked him for a photo op for the blog!! He was super nice and just cited us for speeding in a rural zone - no points and a $67 mail in fine. It's that innocent look Bob has...

Anyway, we think that under normal weather conditions, Nevada must be absolutely gorgeous, you just can see it right now. Our route took us through Reno, so we never have to go back!

We got to the California line and the smoke vanished, there wasn't a cloud in the sky - beautiful! We had dinner last night at a local chain called Mary's Pizza Shack. This is the restaurant we loved when we honeymooned here a few years ago - fantastic.

Just because our drive is over, doesn't mean the journey ends - stay tuned for more from Bodega Bay!

Bon Voyage party

A BIG THANK YOU to Mom and Dad for the wonderful backyard BBQ/Bon Voyage party on Saturday. A good portion of the Joiner clan was there and we really enjoyed seeing everyone. There were a few tears on Sunday morning, but fewer from Mom than Bob and I predicted!! I only cried till the end of Greenvalley Road and when we called later in the morning, a yellow jacket had stung Mom on the foot and took her mind off our leaving. We are already looking forward to seeing them in October when they come out for a visit!

Our good friends Betty and Jim Watson also had us over for dinner before we left. And sent us off with a box of cookies for the road - they are almost gone!

We spent a couple of days in Louisville visiting John and Carrie Bachman and little Jack. They took us to a winery just over the Indiana state line and we enjoyed a bottle of wine over lunch. Huber Winery and Farms is pretty cool - they have a large produce selection and you can pick your own peaches, apples, blueberries, blackberries, etc. It was so nice to see them and miss being able to get in a few games of euchre!

We left Louisville and hit the road yesterday morning. This post is being written somewhere in western Wyoming. So here is the list of states we've been through:
Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Georgia, Tennessee (not a typo), Kentucky, Indiana, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming. Utah will added in about 100 miles. There's not much out here...but here are some things we know for sure...

1. They don't call it the Cornhusker state for nothing. You can't imagine all the corn that is grown in Nebraska and that's just what we saw from the highway.
2. It is still possible to drive across the US and keep you gas costs under $4 a gallon - at least this week. We're not sure what caused the price of gas to drop, but are very grateful!
3. The St. Louis Arch is as tall as it is wide. Please see new poll question...
3. Wyoming, after the Snowy Mountain Range, it's all pretty much the same.

There was a major accident on the I-80 outside of Laramie, so we made a U-turn and decided to backroad it over the Snowy Mountain Range. It put us back a couple of hours, but the scenery was beautiful. And it lived up to it's name...there was snow! Mo loved it and promptly climbed right up on a mound of snow and relieved herself - by the way, don't eat yellow snow!

Several pictures follow and we will post some photos of the Snellville party as soon as we can...

There is one story we haven't told from Snellville yet, and we do have pictures now. When you apply for an alcohol license, there is a FBI background check that requires fingerprinting. We had to get this done in Snellville. So we went up to the SPD. They were very happy to accomodate, and we asked if they minded us having a camera to take some photos. The lady said 'sure, come on back to the jail'. The 'jail' was a small room with two rooms off from it (no bars like on Andy Griffith, though). She told us we could also get a mug shot of Bob...GO CrimiNOLES!!


Fingerprinting is not as messy as it used to be - it's all electronic and really neat:


The lady also wanted to but Bob in the back of a cruiser to make another picture for the blog...thankfully, they were all out cruising Snellville and none were available for a photo shoot.

Okay, here are some photos from our drive over the past couple of days...

It was Bob's first time to see the St. Louis Arch!






They also grow alot of hay in Nebraska. This is just west of Sidney, NE where the Cabela's World HQ is.


When we got off the highway in Wyoming, this was the scenery:


We are standing on a pile of snow at the top of the Snowy Mountain Range just outside Laramie, WY...the same pile of snow that is now partially yellow...




Couldn't resist this pic - they are both so cute!

Sorry for the delay

We really did have every intention of writing in the blog every day - one can dream. Anyway, we have been super busy over the last week. Sissy had market for 5 days in Atlanta and had a great show. Now the rush is on to get all the orders out the door. Which means Mom and Dad are busily finishing orders, too!

Both of us spent a lot of time down at the mart placing orders for the shop in Bodega Bay. Which reminds us that we didn't exactly explain to everyone why we are making this move...we can't remember who we've seen and told about all this. We are purchasing a wine retail shop in Bodega Bay in Sonoma County. Bob is going to be the head wine taster and merchant. Sissy will be down in the store room making tag orders and will be helping Bob out in the shop with the gift retail side of the business.

Your first question may be "what do you all know about wine?" Well, while we may not be experts, we do enjoy the process of wine and how it comes to be and the culture of food and wine. And Bob found this wonderful opportunity, so we decided to take a chance. We are so happy we did!!

Okay, now that everyone is up to speed, back to what's been going on...

As promised, the Christmas in July photo from John and Joy's house. Please pay no attention to the bathing suit John is wearing!!


Here is the other family photo we took - can Uncle Harry please photoshop Alex into the picture??


Our holiday toast!


John and Joy, Bob and Sissy at Outback:


This photo pretty much sums up how we feel about this move!


Mom made a cake for Bob - a coconut cake. Yes, it was yummmmmmy!


Bob's been reading up on wine stuff and getting into the groove of buying for the shop. If you ever want to know who it is that keeps the U.S. economy running, just take a stroll through the buildings of AmericasMart in Atlanta during market...wall to wall women buying stuff - lots of it! Sissy has a new appreciation for her clients and how they come to choose what to buy and resale. And feels humbled that they find her and those little Sissy Tags among all the other stuff! And very, very thankful that they come back time and time again!!

We will be here with Mom and Dad till Sunday morning. And there's a lot of stuff going on between now and then. So, we promise to write more, soon!

If you live in Florida, do you feel the void?

For everyone in Florida: If you woke up this morning and felt like something was just off a little bit, like there was something missing...it's because Bob and Sissy are driving north, leaving the state!!

Last night we all watched The Birds - strange movie. Thankfully, Bodega Bay is nothing like the movie! Most of the buildings are no longer there and the current bird population is in check!

We are on our way to Snellville, GA via Vidalia (yes, where the onions come from). We'll be spending some time this afternoon with Grandma before arriving at Mom and Dad's house tonight.

Here's Alex - Sissy's nephew. He's 2 1/2 and has the vocabulary of a 8th grader - no really, he can identify a trapezoid?!?!


Coming over the Sunshine Skyway bridge is always amazing, but this time there was a storm system sitting right over the mouth of the bay and I couldn't help but take this photo - so cool!


Now, I've saved the best for last in this blog...Saturday night we went to a fabulous dinner party at our friends John and Mavis' place in Belleair Bluffs near Clearwater. If you think dinner parties are an art - Mavis and John are master artists! The presenation, the conversation, the ambience...all amazing. We met Martin and Jules. Martin is the general manager of the Belleview Biltmore (which is about to undergo a total renovation). And the food - cantaloupe with prosciutto, melt in your mouth salmon, fresh haricot verts, buccatini pasta, a wonderful cheese course and homemade sorbet for dessert. All perfectly paired with sparkling, white and red wines. MMMMMMMM!! Thank you John and Mavis for a memorable evening - we can't wait to see you this fall in California!

On the road again...

We said goodbye to Boni and Woodie in Jensen...


and drove across Florida to Parrish - let me tell ya - there is nothing in the middle of Florida...nothing. After making it to John and Joy's (Sissy's brother and sister-in-law), we settled in for a few days.

John, Joy, Bob and Sissy left Alex with Pop and Dee Dee and headed to Outback for date night:


Thursday, we went up to St. Pete to run errands and couldn't help but stop and have lunch at El Cap. If you are ever in the St. Pete area, they have the BEST BURGERS!!


Mom and Joy put together a fantastic Christmas dinner for Thursday night. It was delicious and we all ate too much. Then we all put on scarves, coats, hats and gloves for a family photo that is still on Joy's camera. We'll post that later.

July 4th was very relaxing. Sissy tried to learn how to download movies via the internet. There are so many issues with this. Not the least of which was the dude at Big Kmart. Aside from being a total geek and trying to get us to hire him to fix our computer (which isn't broken), he basically followed Sissy around the electronics section until Bob had to ask him to stop flirting with her. Well, that's not exactly what happened. Sure wish we had taken a photo of him.

We wanted to download the Alfred Hitchcock classic The Birds. It was filmed in Bodega Bay where we are moving. The downloading didn't really go as planned, so we're just going to rent it before we leave. I thought I was so smart, but I think there are still some kinks. If anyone has any advice, I've got a 25 pack of DVD-Rs that I need to use...

Right now we are chilling in a hotel room in Clearwater. Tonight we are having dinner at our friends Mavis and Johns' - looking forward to a really great night!

Thanks for voting on the poll - be sure to check out the new question...

Takin 'er eazzzy...

We arrived in Jensen Beach, FL on Monday. We are visiting with Bob's mom Boni and her husband Woodie. They treated us to a seafood dinner and then last night Boni made Shrimp Scampi and we enjoyed some great wine and wonderful conversation. It's very relaxing here and we've been taking advantage of laying around and catching up on reading. Mostly about northern CA and the wine country. I've got my "studio" in the car and have been pulling orders for Sissy Made It customers.

We are nomads for the time being - kind of nice, actually! There's definitely something to be said for simple living. I just hope that we don't get too used to all the free time we have at the moment. There's a lot of long days and hard work in front of us!!

Currently, the pics we are posting are being taken with my Canon Rebel - a real camera that uses real film - remember that stuff? I love not knowing what the pics are going to look like till they are developed, but concede that the time and money it takes for that to happen is inconvenient. What's great these days is that you don't have to get prints - everything comes on a cd, already organized and doesn't eat up the space on your hard drive!! Of course, I'm going to have to switch over to taking digital photos if I'm going to keep this blog timely and interesting. Now I just need to figure out how to keep the batteries for the digital camera charged...it's always something, right?

Our visit with Boni and Woodie has been too short and we hope they will visit us soon! On Wednesday, we are headed to Bradenton to for a visit with my brother and his family - and Christmas in July!!

Here are a few photos for today:

The inside of the POD before we closed it. Okay, this is for Mike, Tim and Scott. I admit that it doesn't look any different than before Bob and I unloaded and reloaded it...but as Bob puts it...you can't fit 10 pounds of s%$& in a 5 pound bag!!!


We were doing a little shopping at the CVS and they had a lovely collection of shirts - Bob really liked this one, but couldn't find it in his size.


Here we are on Jensen Beach.


I love this photo - I took it before I saw what was over the hill under the umbrella. Trust me, it wasn't as glamourous as you want it to be!!!


Mo just wanted to know what we did with her couch!

Hitting the Road!

Welcome to our Blogumentary!! After months of anticipating this incredible change, Bob and I have finally hit the road on our way to Bodega Bay, California! We want to keep everyone updated on our progress west. So come back everyday for reports on where we are and what's going on. Please post comments and questions!!

We had a great final week in Orlando - dinners with family and friends, a party on Saturday at Alfonso's and on Sunday, three special friends lended their muscles to help us get all the stuff in the POD. For those of you we didn't get a chance to see, don't worry, we'll be back!

We are so excited about moving to the west coast and look forward to everyone visiting soon!

Here are some photos of the party at Alfonso's:


Bob and his older brother Scott


With our neighbors Christina and Brian


Chris' Angels!! Rosie, myself and Leigh


The Kennedys and The Blanchards


Drew, Bob and Mike

These are pics of the POD being delivered. If you've seen a POD in someone's driveway and never seen them being dropped off or picked up, it's something to see. The gazillionaire who came up with this is brilliant!