Lagunitas Brewing Company Skunk Train Trip

My wife Kel recently won a trip to go to CA to visit with Lagunitas Brewing Company and join them for a weekend of camping fun and a ride on the Skunk Train. The trip was a lot of fun, and here are the pictures, and the tale, from the trip.

: Arriving at Dulles airport at just after 6am to catch our flight.

: We prefer flying direct, and BWI had no direct flights.

: So we hopped on the plane from IAD to SFO.

: The SFO Airport.

: We landed and had some time to kill before we were going to meet with the group, so we had a beer.

: We met up with the group outside…

: And we all headed over to the chartered bus.

: And let the real fun begin!!

: There was beer on the bus…

: And we made sure to get ours.

: Time to resupply.

: Nothing like beer to make a long drive better.

: We made new friends along the way.

: Leaving San Francisco, and we went by Alcatraz…

: And across the Golden Gate Bridge.

: A few hours later we arrived in Petaluma…

: The home of Lagunitas Brewing Company.

: There was food for us in the Laguminiamphitheaterette (yes, that is the name).

: It was a good spread…

: And Kel and I enjoyed our plates.

: Lagunitas runs a 24×7 operation, and that is very large.

: Leaving the brewery it was time to head to the campground.

: Of course, there was more beer to be enjoyed on the ride.

: Kel took a little nap while I continued to drink.

: Arriving at the Willits KOA campground and we got our wristband…

: And had to sign a waiver.

: Bernie was there to greet us…

: And he took us to our tent for the weekend.

: Lots of treats for us, including some homemade cookies!!!

: Looks like we are in for a wild weekend.

: Here is the schedule for the weekend.

: Seeing it was dinner time, we headed to the red barn. There was beer to be had everywhere.

: Live music could always be heard somewhere.

: The eating area was really nice…

: And it was a great night out for star gazing.

: It had been a long day, so Kel and I had one last beer before calling it a night.

: The next morning it was Skunk Train time.

: The band was already playing as the train rolled into the campground.

: There was only one roofless car, and it filled up fast.

: It was a lot of fun riding in an open train.

: The scenery was great.

: We decided to enjoy the second half of the ride sitting inside.

: Almost 2 hours later we arrived at our destination in Northspur (the train only traveled at about 13Mph/20Kph).

: The stop was in the middle of a great redwood forest.

: Again, there was plenty of food.

: Northspur was a quaint little daytime destination.

: We roamed around and had a look at the area.

: It seemed the area could hold a lot more people than the size of our group.

: Find Kel.

: A different band, The Highway Poets, were playing when we arrived.

: They were a really fun bluegrass band.

: There was a very steep hill on the other side of the train tracks and Kel, Bernie, and I decided to climb up.

: The view from the top.

: Some of the trees were scorched from a fire, and Kel is showing her dirty hands.

: Group shot before heading down. (also the last shot of my sunglasses before I lost them 15 minutes later)

: This is where I think I lost my sunglasses. I was skipping stones with everyone, and I think they fell in the water.

: The time had come to head back to the campground.

: A little reading for you about the Skunk Train.

: The band that played on the way out, played on the way back, too.

: We stood outside for a little longer on the way back.

: When we got back to the campground there were plenty of activities to enjoy.

: Beer drinking (of course that activity was always happening).

: Volleyball.

: Disk Golf.

: I walked to the camp store to see what they had for sale, and was not impressed with their beer selection (I’m guessing the Lagunitas was only in there for the event).