Day Four (already??)

Porter and I seem to have settled into our routine. Up at 7, off to the dog park (at 8:30 this morning, which was so much better traffic-wise than 8am) for at least an hour and then back to the house for work for me and a nap for Porter.
Today, however, the weather was not to be ignored. It was sunny and 80 degrees. That's right. 80 degrees in November, which should be against the law, and I felt compelled to play a bit of hooky this afternoon from my telecommuting duties to take advantage of such great weather.
Porter and I headed north to Bothe-Napa Valley State Park, on Route 29, just five miles north of St. Helena, for what I was hoping was going to be a good hike on the trails in the park. Alston dog park is great, I just needed a bit of a change of scenery. The drive up to the park was great, if you call have a dog drooling in your ear the entire way a fun ride. I think he just feels a bit confined in the back seat of my rental car and has to be a part of the action up front.
We got to the park and imagine my surprise when I read the rules posted at the entrance that stated "no dogs on the trails." What the heck? No where on the park website did I see anything about it not being a "dog friendly" park. And on top of that I was supposed to pay an $8 day use fee. Needless to say, I was a bit miffed. I parked my car in the lot by the Visitor's Center and went over to one of the ranger's who was parked in a truck to verify that in fact, I couldn't take my dog on the trail. She was very nice but stated firmly that I just had to stay on the paved roads and couldn't wander go off onto the trail. I asked about paying the day fee and she asked how long I would be staying and when I responded it was only going to be long enough for Porter to get out and walk a bit and have a potty break she said I didn't have to pay the fee. I was really disappointed because it was such a beautiful park. Then I happened to read the notices posted on the park board about "What to Do if You Encounter A Cougar" and I wasn't quite so disappointed not to be out hiking along the trail. I imagined if we met up with a cougar, Porter would probably just roll over and wait for it to sniff his private parts before the big cat decided to make me his lunch.

After a quick water break, which Porter promptly dumped out of his own little travel doggy water dish, we were back on the road. I still wasn't quite ready to surrender the beautiful weather, so we headed over to the Silverado Trail (the less "touristy" wine trail in the Napa Valley) where, as I was driving a bit aimlessly, came across a sign for Lake Berryessa. Now I have to admit something here that's a bit odd. At one point in time I had a bit of an obsession with the Zodiac killer (or perhaps it was just an obsession with Robert Downey Jr and Jake Gyllenhaal who were in the movie "Zodiac") and read a lot about him and one of the locations where he murdered  a woman-(her boyfriend survived) was Lake Berryessa. Creepy, I know - and a bit weird, but I wanted to go out to Lake Berryessa, just so I could say I had been there. We stopped at a small park on Sage Canyon Road and got out and walked the trail for a little bit. I know we were nowhere near where the Zodiac incident took place, but it still gave me a bit of a chill. Porter was oblivious and was happy to keep picking up big sticks to carry in his mouth.
After the weirdness of Lake Berryessa, I decided to head back to the Silverado Trail and went over to the Plumpjack winery, which I remembered as one of those wineries listed as being "dog friendly." I had a nice wine tasting while Porter lay contentedly at my feet until several pesky people decided to say "hello" to the "cute puppy" which got him all excited again and I almost lost my wine glass from him pulling on the leash. I got a look at a bat autographed by former Red Sox player Johnny Damon (I refuse to acknowledge him as a Yankee) when he stopped by Plumpjack for a wine tasting while on his honeymoon a while back.
Porter fell asleep in the back seat on the way back home - much like the toddler he is - after the day's big excitement.
I think I'm finally getting the hang of this....