Wine country!

What to do with three days between Ash Wednesday and the First Sunday in Lent in Northern California?

Wine tasting, of course. We toured two charming "loops" - Amador County, just north and west of Sacramento, and the Russian River Valley in Sinoma County. Small country roads surrounded by acres and acres of vineyards in the gentle foot-hills of the California mountains. Small unknown vintner after small vintner - all with tasting rooms, eager to get discovered. They love to talk about their grapes, their process, their products and it is truly eye opening. Wine is truly an ancient, living substance which is full of life. The surroundings where they get to live and work: simply stunning. Our favorites were by far the small "never-heard-of-them" places we'd happen upon. We have websites from all of them, and can order from home when we financially recover from these gallops.

What does wine-tasting have to do with sabbatical? Let's leave that answer to the imagination.