From: linda@wendy.net.com (Linda Hill)
Subject: Weekend in Russian River area of California
Organization: Network Equipment Technologies, Inc.
Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1993 18:30:30 GMT

This is an account of our weekend in Sonoma County.

We received a gift certificate for a bed and breakfast called The
Raford House located near Healdsburg, California.  Since we were
celebrating our anniversary, we made reservations last November for
two nights in the Bridal Suite.  Hearing reports of the Russian
River flooding, I called Thursday to make sure the inn hadn't
sustained any damage.  The main access road had flooded, so I was
given alternate directions for reaching the inn.

We had arranged to have Friday off from work and drove up to the
area from Alameda (about an hour and 45 minute drive).  We first
drove by to see the flooded road and, sure enough, the vineyard
in front of the inn (which is on a hill), and the road running
through it, were now buried under three to four feet of water.

We drove on to Jenner which is on the coast (Highway 1) to see the
spot where the Russian River flows into the Pacific Ocean.  This was
still quite a boiling mass of muddy water and the ocean surf was very
high due to the storm.  Mud from the river extended far out into
the ocean.

We made our way back to the inn where we found ourselves in a lovely old
"farm" house.  It was built in the 1880's and was originally on 15,000
acres.  It now sits on 5 acres.  The Bridal Suite was a large room with
a canopy bed and private bath.  It had a porch which you could use as
your own private entrance.  This was a lovely place to spend the afternoon
watching the sun set behind the hills while sipping a glass of the sherry 
provided (if you like sherry, which I don't!).  There was a fireplace to
take the chill off the winter evenings.

The breakfasts were beyond expectations.  The guests congregated at one
table in the dining room upstairs (our room was on the ground floor) for
coffee, juice and various warm breads.  Then your plate was brought
out to you with, morning #1: fruit compote, warm croissant and a curry
scrambled egg concoction with cream cheese on an english muffin half,
and morning #2: grapefruit surprise (half a sectioned grapefruit with
apricot jam and grand marnier on top, warmed under the broiler I think),
warm croissant, bacon, and a slice of spinach fritatta (sp?) with salsa.

As lovely as it was, this is an ideal location for anyone interested
in wine tasting in that area.  (Our interest is really geared more towards
spending time at the ocean, and so my first choice for a special weekend
is still St. Orres near Gualala, which is north of Sea Ranch on
Highway 1).  But if you want to go wine tasting, this was the weekend to
do it.  Unbeknownst to us when we made the reservation, the area is
instituting an event called "Winter Wineland" for a weekend in January
(this year it was January 23 and 24).  Wineries, inns and restaurants
participate by offering discounts and other special promotions.
This year the cost was $10.00 per person.  Even though we weren't interested
in the wineries it was actually cheaper for us to buy the passes to get
the discount on our room rate, and we ate at one of the participating
restaurants as well (10% discount on the meal).  After speaking to one
of the guests at breakfast we learned that he preferred the Sonoma area 
to Napa for wine tasting because of the more personal (less tourist
oriented) contact at the wineries.

The flooded road had cleared by Saturday morning and our entire stay was
sunny and beautiful (the third year in a row that "our" weekend has been
blessed with gorgeous weather!).  We spent most of Saturday walking and
picnicking at Goat Rock Beach just south of Jenner.

Please feel free to email me for more information regarding The Raford
House, the Winter Wineland event or St. Orres.

-- 
Linda V. Hill                           "Nakia", Hans Christian 33
Network Equipment Technologies          Email: linda@net.com
800 Saginaw Drive, 23.2.3               Phone: (415) 780-5785
Redwood City, CA 94063 			Fax:   (415) 780-5001
Newsgroups: rec.travel