Visiting Wine World

 Zou and I decided to drive the Silverado Trail, a road frequented by wine-lovers and sports cars.  And we saw too many of each kind, it, unfortunately, being a Sunday...

A neat B&B (Hope Merrill House, circa 1870) building in Geyserville, where we got onto the Silverado Trail. 

 Just an old gate?  Or a portal into the days of old...  I like the idea of the latter.

This name isn't familiar to me (Soda Rock), but I'm not a big wine connoiseur.  More of a Two Buck ($2.49 now, actually) Chuck (Charles Shaw) type myself.  So, Zou and I didn't waste any time on these foo-foo wine-tasting rooms...!

 You know you're in Wine World, when...

But the best thing on this drive wasn't a thing!  It was a horse!  This guy was a bit of a hog, not letting the other horses near, but he was really sweet with me and Zou.  When I first spotted him and his cohorts, they were on the far side of the field.  I wanted to get a picture but decided they were just too far away.  So I gave up and went back and let Zou out to go pee.  Looking back, I saw the horses had all come over - to say Hi to Zouey!!  Horses seem to have a special affinity for dogs (given the right personalities, of course).  So I grabbed my camera, and Zou and I went back across the street to talk to the horses... 

 Such a sweet boy.  He not only put up with me and my fondness for horse noses (they're so soft), but he put up with my little Zou's fascination and enthusiasm (maybe it was mutual?).

 Zou's favorite is actually cows, but you have to admit, it's pretty darned exciting to get close to any tall, half-ton fellow critter!

 Especially one that LETS you get close!

Especially THIS close!!!  This Mr. Horse was so trusting, so calm, and so patient!

 It was hard to say good-bye.  This guy shot to the top of our Friends List for this trip!!!  My hands were happily horsey-dirty  :)    (and maybe Zou's nose was too?)

The scenes of vineyards in the foreground, and green foothills and cloud-covered mountains in the back, are hard to tire of. 

 I don't recognize most of the vineyard names, but then again, I'm not likely to!  But even I know Clos du Bois!

 I like this winery's signage.

 One of my favorite vineyard scenes.  The vines just go on and on forever!  Sprinkled with oaks... 

 But these beautiful hills, shrouded with the ever-present (and location-appropriate!) clouds, are strong contenders for scenery awards too!

Aaaahh, and here we come to Zou's favorites - the bovine beauties!  But they were too uncertain of us to come over.  A lot of curious interest.  But, as it turned out, they were mostly cowardly cows.  Just not used to dangerous dogs and fearsome photographers, I guess.

 Just GORGEOUS!!!

Another familiar brand.

 Probably the stretch between Geyserville and Calistoga was my favorite.  I actually could have passed on the rest.  So that's why there are almost no pictures after Calistoga...!  But I liked this drive-by.

 And here's the Napa River, at what's pretty much the southern end of the Silverado Trail (in Napa, of course).

I thought there was another, faster route back, but then Google Maps and my smarty phone couldn't help me out on that, and told me "Just go back the way you came!"  So we did.  And here's the parting shot, out of the window on the way back.  I was trying to hurry back in time to make us all some dinner, but wanted to grab a pic of some sun on the vines...