Sonoma and Napa Valley

We did a circle tour today, down to Fairfield where we toured the Jelly Belly Jelly Bean Factory and then it was off to Sonoma and the Napa Valley. We forget that this area was originally under Spanish, then Mexican rule. These early Mexican settlers overthrew the Spanish government in 1823, and the Mexican government issued a decree that the all church properties be secularized. General Mariano Guadelupe Vallejo was sent from Monterrey to achieve this and here he created the town of Sonoma, with a sedate and shaded Plaza (park) serving as its centerpiece. Early settlers came with the promise of free land but when they were denied and threatened with deportation, they banded together, calling themselves Osos (bears). On June 14, 1846, they arrested Vallejo at his home, proclaimed California a republic, naming this little town Sonoma its capital. They fashioned a bear flag from unbleached muslin, a red petticoat and a crude berry stained picture of a bear and raised it in the Sonoma Plaza. This revolt was short lived as the flag was replaced with the Stars and Stripes in July, however in 1911, the State Legislature adopted the Bear flag as the State flag. Today the City Hall in the center of the plaza flies the 7 flags this town has lived under. The original Soldiers Barrack are on one side of the Plaza and show the sleeping quarters for the men. The town's treasure is the Mission San Francisco Solana de Sonoma. Built in 1823, it is the only California Mission established under Mexican rule. I love Mexican style towns designed around the central plaza. It is beautiful. All the shops around the Plaza are in hundred year old adobe buildings and it is quite delightful. We stopped at the Sebastiano Winery in town and I decided to taste some wine. New rules - you have to pay $10 and then taste 7 wines. I declined - that is too much to sit drinking. The 17 mile long Sonoma Valley was the birthplace of the Californian wine industry with the early vines brought in by the early padres. There are hundreds of acres of rolling vineyards. We drove past the Napa Valley on our circle tour. We came upon Berryessa Lake, one of the largest lakes in Calif, a hydro electric project due to the large dam. As we looked at it, it dawned on us, the small ribbon of concrete below was the bridge that went over the end of our campground. We were 1/2 mile downstream from this massive body of water and Putah Creek was the run off from the dam. If it ever blew, we would end up in the Atlantic.