Napa & the Ocean
After crossing the furnace known as Nevada, the Napa valley in California arrives a sudden & lush paradise, overwhelming the senses.
Rolling hills & variegated corduroy vineyards flow past, the vibe is easy like a good merlot, and a brief tune up skate on the roads for tomorrow’s marathon feels great.
This is Uel Archuetta, hauling through terrain typical for this region.
Its too bad money doesn’t grow on trees, or speedskates in vineyards.
Heck, with the amount of genetic engineering & scientific creativity this country focuses on problems- lets get someone to grow skates! Or at least grow affordable wheels!
After our tune-up skate, we drove the hour+ from Napa to pay homage to the pacific ocean. Warmth & rolling green replaced by a sharp cold, mist, jagged rocks & happy surf dogs, enjoying themselves more than their frozen bipedal keepers
And plentiful marine life, somewhat larger than dogs, or humans, watching with great interest from the waves, almost calling out to us-
“come on in, the water’s fine!”
on a misty, freezing northern California beach (it’s july!!) staring for a split second into the liquid eyes of a mammal bigger than me -
It’s just another speedskating road trip full of things I might never have seen if I hadn’t laced up skates.
Filed under: on the road
dude, you’re in our neck of the woods and didn’t let us know?
the cold misty July beaches are one of my favorite things about this part of the country.
Man,
I wish I would pay more attention to the events schedule. I’ve got a relative in Cloverdale and the idea of a visit paired with the Napa Valley Skate would’ve been great!
I recall a July 4th week Mel and I drove from Oakland up to Cloverdale, rolled down the window and quickly realized that was a horrible mistake–it was 108 degrees! We found the day of July 4th just as hot. We made reservations to go horseback riding out by Ft. Bragg and found it was a shockingly damp, misty, and sometimes foggy 62 degrees on the coast. Driving through the Redwoods was probably the biggest highlight, as the temperatures were tolerable, and Mel had her fill of drifting the rental Ford Explorer Sport we rented from Oakland.
I sure hope it wasn’t too hot down in that valley. Would you call it the “Wrath of Grapes?” Anyway, this last week in Seattle would’ve been a good “warmup” for Napa, as it topped 98F at the SeaTac Airport.
Hope you had a blast and tell us more about the big event when you have a chance!
Are you two going to be at the Draper days 5k?
frame — nice frame (in the tree) i wouldn’t mind to get a closer look. did you drink enough?
keep them rolling
mazzel
jules
Never been to Napa for skating but I heard it’s really nice. How are the SSboots holding up to inlining and Ice?
Hey Andrew- congrats on your results in Napa- http://www.cora.org/Napa2007Results.htm
You perma- rock!
Bri,
SS boots ROCK for inlining… A modern long track boot is really similar to an inline boot..
Mine fit me so well, and I have so much control, that they are wonderful for either… I tried one of my old pairs of “real inline” boots a while ago, and dang! I went right back to my SS..
they are definately uglier & dirtier now, than when I used them as “just ice boots”. but things are supposed to be used, not kept carefully in closets..
Jules,
frames are 3-110mm 1 90mm wheels, from an obscure korean company… Inlinebus.. I like the ride quite a bit… click on the picture of the skates in the tree, and you will get a closer look…