February 12th, 2005
What a long day…
4:00 a.m. Wake up, fall into clothes.
4:15 a.m. Drive to friend’s home.
5:00 a.m. Arrive at friend’s home
5:20 a.m. Leave friend’s home
5:45 a.m. Arrive at Sea-Tac International Airport. Drop off friends.
5:50 a.m. ish… race home.
6:20 a.m. Arrive back at home.
6:21-6:55 a.m. Prepare for Red Wine & Chocolate tour on the Olympic Peninsula
7:05 a.m. Art and Kelly arrive.
7:15 a.m. Leave house with friends.
7:35 a.m. Arrive at Edmonds-Kingston ferry terminal.
7:45 a.m. Board ferry on Edmonds-side.
7:50 a.m. - 4:49 p.m. On our way… This is becoming our annual, traditional trip together. I believe we’ve done this 3 times. I’m not too sure. This edition is by far the best to me. I was the trusty wheelman / chauffeur for my passengers. Our first stop was unexpected. It was the Dungeness Wine and Cheese shop in Sequim. Char-Char and I just refer to her as the ‘cheese lady’. We just wanted to stop in for some cheese samples. Our favorite is Fromage A Trois. But in the end, we were already intoxicated with her sampling of wines and a trunk-load of purchases. Wine and cheeses. We continued on with the wineries. Camaderie, was the first and farthest away.

‘Spit or Swallow’
Random quote of the day… the lady serving was speaking with me about wine-tasting etiquette. But on one else was listening, until she said, “I don’t spit.” Of course, everyone went to the lowest common denominator. They thought it was a sexual reference. Oh my!

Black Diamond was the next winery. Nothing unusual there. Here are the tasting notes. However, as we were driving away…

‘I thought I saw’
Kelly was feeling really good. So she spots a black and white animal in a fenced area in front of house. As we whizzed by she exclaimed, ‘What a cute bunny!’ I said, ‘Yes, Cute bunny.’ It ended up being a dog lying down. From that point on, we only said, ‘Look! It’s a bunny!’ Lovely.

Next up was the Olympic Cellars Winery (no notes available) It was the same as usual. It was mid-day and time for lunch. Lunch was provided to us by the Hwy 99 Diner. After more fun talk, we blasted out of there. Our token winery was the Sorensen Cellars. No one ever buys there I suppose it falls under several categories: “Free wine”; “Tradition”; “It’s on the damn tour”. As you can imagine, we didn’t stay long. Art was ‘wined’ out, as it were. Last stop! Fairwinds Winery, the low-tech delight. For the tour, Michael (owner and wine master) pulled out all the stops. Great wine selection to taste, actual food (no snacks) and plenty of elbowroom. We all volunteered to help with bottling if called by him. The girls tasted and lingered longer than the boys wanted – but hey. It’s all for fun.

So.

The winery tour maybe done… but not our fun!!
4:50 p.m. Ferry ride home! Uneventful, thankfully.
5:45 p.m. Arrive back at home. The slow-cooker is done with the chicken, potatoes, and carrots. No waiting, no fuss!
9:30 p.m. Ready for games.
10:00 p.m. Art and Kelly leave for home.
10:05 p.m. – 12 a.m. We sit down to watch the taped NASCAR Busch Series Hershey’s 300.

The 20 hour rally was over and we fell into bed; exhausted. Truly – the longest day.

No Fear,

Carlos & Charlene Bayne
CMB Global