Wine Tasting and Rafting, Aug 3, 2017, Ray M

Wine tasting at Cooper Vinyards

Wine Tasting and Rafting

Inbound from Tuxtla Gutiérrez Mexico, Day 4 of 8, Aug 3, 2017
By:  Ray M

We practiced age discrimination today. The adults went to Cooper Vinyards for wine tasting and a picnic lunch, while the kids and young adults went river rafting on the lower American River.

Rafting on the American River

We carried the raft from the rental company to the water.

Vicky Summers and Rob Kubick brought their 2 man kayak to act as the "rescue crew" if needed.  Chris and Julie Smith joined the 7 youngsters on the raft.  After a quick lesson on how to paddle, six of them took over and we were no longer in control.  They spun the raft in circles and paddled hard to attack Vicky and Rob with the "water canons" that Chris had made.  Vicky was not shy and was often attacking back with her own water canon as Rob moved her in and out of the line of fire.  Needless to say with all the water flying we didn't get any photos of that!

After a bit of rafting we took a break.

 Most of the trip was very a smooth float down the river.  

 There is one set of rapids where Cintia got tossed out.  Everyone had life vests on so no worries and she was laughing throughout.  In fact they enjoyed it so much we pushed the raft up and went through again.

Pushing the raft up river.

 One more time through the San Juan Rapids

 We played in the water next to the shore, floating down using the life vests as support.  The water was cold but enjoyable on a hot day.  Later we took off floating again and looked for a place to pull over to eat.  We found some shade and snacked as we fed the Canada Geese.  It turns out they like watermelon!

Cintia feeds the geese

Simon got one to eat out of his hand

Cristian, Ana, Luis Zuniga, Luis Camacho, Mauricio

 The float down the river took about 4 hours.  We ended at River Bend Park where we dropped off the raft.  The bus ride back comes on the hour so we played in the water and lay in the shade for about 40 minutes as we waited for the bus.  After returning to the rental company we drove to PJ and Ray Missman's home to wait for the adults to come back from wine tasting. The kids hadn't had enough water so they played until dinner.

The end of a fun day.

Wine Tasting

Cooper Vinyards is one of the leaders in Amador Valley wine making. Dick Cooper has been making wine here for decades, has won many many awards, and they sell grapes to other vintners. They generously hosted 20 of us from FF Tuxtla and FF Sacramento for wine tasting.

Amin, Adri and PJ at the Cooper Vintage entry gate

The Cooper Vinyards foreman spoke Spanish so he kindly came in to tell our Tuxtla guests about wine making. It's not often that we get to talk to the people that actually make the wine.

Learning about wine making directly from the foreman

Lots of generous pours!

One must taste and evaluate each wine carefully. A lot of work!

Mavi, Jesus, Damicela, Adri, Amin, Silvia, Simon

After wine tasting, we all gathered under the trees out front for a picnic overlooking the rows and rows of grapes.

Picnic in the vinyard

Friendship Force is all about sharing and cooperation.

Mavi and Joe

The hit of the day - a BIG limousine pulled up and was waiting outside while its passengers were wine tasting.  The driver was happy to show it off and let some of our Tuxtla guests sit inside.

Wine tasting in style

The tasting room was surrounded by the vinyards, and the grapes are almost ready to be harvested to make this year's vintage.

The grapes are nearly ready to harvest (Maribel & Damicela)

Enrique and Mavi check the grapes

The grapes!

After a day of wine tasting and rafting, it was time to relax.

Cooking up the "Tacos California" while Simon shows us a drink with tequila & beer (salt and chili pepper on the rim)

 Meanwhile, the young adults waited patiently outside by the pool....

Patiently waiting for tacos

In Friendship and Peace