Day 6: St. Helena

20 miles + mud bath. We woke up early, a benefit of traveling West, but had to rush to get to our mud bath appointments in Calistoga, 10 miles up the road. Calistoga is famous for these baths. Nancy, Aunt Chris, and mom had all been before (just once), but I had never done one. 

Well, we don't need to go again. Something about the smell of sulphur, wondering who else had been in the mud, and washing it out of your behind was incredibly unappealing. It was also very gimmicky and un-spa like.

So we rode back to St. Helena and Jay treated me to a luxurious lunch at the International Culinary Institute.

What you may not realize in these photos is that I'm wearing my pajama dress with a purple snake skin bikini under it, and keen sandals. It was laundry day.

But the real culinary treat was Jay's cooking that night. In the limited amount of space in our panniers, Jay brought 15 spices. We wanted to treat Nancy and Gary for dinner in their lovely outdoor dining space. He made curry chicken and potatoes, stuffed eggplant, and rice, I made a local-organic heirloom tomato salad, Nancy made a fruit plate and vegetarian gluten free dairy free nut free chocolate cake (a huge success! secret ingredient: mayonnaise!), and Gary opened some late-harvest local wine. These are the kind of people you want to have a dinner party with!

We stayed up until 10:45pm sharing stories, histories, and wisdom. They were celebrating their 26th (!) anniversary, and us our 2 year. They met in St. Helena, but neither is from here. Gary says he got here on an airplane and 2 year all-expense paid trip: what he means is that he grew up in Minnesota and was drafted. After serving in Vietnam, he and some young comrades like himself traveled (and partied) across the world since there were no jobs for them when they returned. But once unemployment checks ended, he came back to the US and made it to Berkeley, where he found home. The community supported his liberal writings against the war and US imperialism, and his love for rock and roll. He vowed to make less than $3000/yr so none of his income would be taxed and used for war efforts. From the way he speaks, it seems his passion against war and for justice seems just as strong today as it was then.

But the best story of the night was the last one. I was curious about the gold ring Nancy wears on her index finger, below the first knuckle. She laughs "We'll, it's kind of gross." When Gary's dad died, someone thought to keep (remove?) his gold tooth. They have an artist friend who saw the tooth and said he could make it into a small ring. He hammered the tooth into a gold toe ring for Nancy and Gary's daughter Julia. Meanwhile, Nancy wore the wedding band of her father, but it disappeared a month ago. However she was cleaning Julia's room and found this toe ring, and decided to wear it as a replacement, on her index finger below the first knuckle, as a family hand-me-down.

That's just how Nancy and Gary are -- spirited, spiritual, and ready for a good time. I see how mom and her were best friends.