Lake County

We arrived in Kelseyville, California this evening.  The weather has been stellar and the scenery is beautiful.  It is very much like the Okanagan in that there are vineyards, fruit orchards and vegetable crops, and the terrain is hilly and arid.  Unlike the Okanagan, however, lemons and limes will grow in this region.  I'm not sure what the difference is, but it probably has something to do with milder winters in California.

The view from my aunt & uncle's driveway.

My aunt, uncle and cousin showed us superb hospitality and, no sooner had we arrived, than we were enjoying fresh peaches and grapes from their back yard!  On Wednesday, they drove us around Clear Lake (the largest lake in California), and we visited two wineries.  The Ceago winery is absolutely beautiful with its location right on the lake shore and its field of lavender behind (unfortunately, the lavender had all been harvested for the season so we did not get to see its full glory).  We did our first wine tasting and ended up with a bottle of Syrah to take home (no surprise).

We then ventured to the Brassfield winery which I thought was even more impressive than Ceago.  This was a beautiful, Spanish-style building located up a steep and winding road.  Inside, we did a tasting and admired the amazing chandelier which was rescued from the Bank of America in Chicago during a demolition.