Retirees' Update, December 5, 2008 edition
Bay cruise wining and dining
Jane (Mechanical Engineering, 1993) and Gus (Electronics Engineering, 1993) Olson took a west wine country cruise in early October. They boarded the vessel at about 4 p.m. on a Friday and cruised across the Bay, docking during the night on the Napa River. The cruise started with a "wine expert" giving a talk in the lounge before dinner on how to taste wine, with red and white wines served to participants. The following morning they were bussed to Alpha Omega Winery for a two-hour tour and tasting. Lunch was at the Culinary Institute of America in Calistoga — two hours long and absolutely delicious. They then visited the Merryvale Winery for a two-hour tour and tasting. Back on board the vessel that evening they had another wine talk with wine tasting and dinner while sailing the Bay.
The next morning after the vessel docked, they were bussed to the Benziger Family Winery for a very special tour of the vineyards via a tractor-pulled tram. It is located in an absolutely beautiful valley with contoured hills of vineyards. Lunch was back on the vessel followed by a bus trip to Domaine Carneros, a beautiful winery specializing in sparkling wines. It was the "classiest" tour of them all with a commemorative champaign glass. The ship captain’s dinner was that evening, and then the ship sailed around the Bay during the night. They woke up at the dock in Redwood City and were bussed back to the hotel. It was a marvelous four days spent totally away from the news of the day. They highly recommend it.
Current events
There is no retiree luncheon in December. Luncheons will resume Jan. 21, 2009, at the Elk’s Lodge, 940 Larkspur Drive, Livermore. Reservations must be made by Friday, Jan. 16, 2009, at the LLNL Retirees Website .
Frank Russo, principal associate director of Operations & Business at LLNL, sent a letter to retirees announcing additional health care meetings for Medicare-eligible retirees. The meetings were held Wednesday in the Robert Livermore Community Center. Because of previous delays, Extend Health has extended the Open Enrollment period to Dec. 31. Continuing Kaiser members need not do anything.
The Retirees's Corner needs more travel input, so please send any items to Gus and Jane Olson. E-Mail: AugustO [at] aol.com ( AugustO[at]aol[dot]com ) or JaneRubert [at] aol.com ( JaneRubert[at]aol[dot]com ) . Snail mail address: 493 Joyce St., Livermore, CA 94550.
