Dave & Bill’s Excellent Picnic Adventure
If you like hiking and you’re living in or planning to visit Sonoma County, you should consider hooking up with Dave & Bill. This coming Sunday, in particular, is the day in which Dave & Bill host their annual picnic at Spring Lake Regional Park near Santa Rosa, California. Naturally there’s a hike involved. That is, after the bratwurst is consumed!
I chanced to join the “Bill half” of Dave & Bill last Saturday at Kunde Winery. It’s not often that visiting a winery will result in a four-hour hike, but that’s the time it took to circumnavigate Kunde’s 1800 acres of fifth-generation family estate-owned vineyards. With the gentle, good-natured guidance of local docent, Bill Myers, about 20 of us learned a few things about the Kunde family, its winery and vineyard operation, some local lore, and the names of a few Sonoma Valley landmarks. And, being that it was a fairly warm day, we were all understandably ready for a post-hike tasting of Kunde wines in their cool and inviting tasting room, which Bill led us safely back to.
I wrote to thank Bill for putting such a pleasant event together, and was delighted by his response:
Russ, it was a pleasure meeting you. If I can ever be of assistance to you up here in Sonoma Valley, please don’t hesitate to ask. You have a creative business idea and I wish you the best. I perused your website yesterday and was amazed at the effort that went into it.
Kinda makes me want to give Bill a call from time to time. Maybe do a little partnering!
Many of Dave & Bill’s hikes are sponsored by the Valley of the Moon History Association, the California State Parks, and the Sonoma County Regional Parks. Together, Dave and Bill organize and lead monthly hikes, typically on Saturday mornings. In fact, their remaining 2007 hike dates are 9/15, 10/27, 11/17, and 12/15, and may have you cavorting over the finest trails at Sugarloaf Ridge, Jack London, Annadel, Hood Mountain, Shiloh Ranch, and Spring Lake parks.
These are certainly some of the winehiker’s favorite places to earn a fabulous wine-tasting reward.
If you’d like to attend Dave & Bill’s annual picnic, just send Bill Myers an email at fmi@sonic.net. For more information about the picnic and their program, check out Dave & Bill’s website. Then grab your pack and lace your boots!
