Twitchhiker Makes It Out of Sonoma County

Did the Twitchhiker manage to make it out of Sonoma County after a two day whirlwind itinerary of decadence in a mind-boggling tour of Irish bars, vineyards and wine country eateries?

The answer, according to girl-on-the-spot, Petaluma Twitterer and tour guide extraordinaire Anastasia, is a resounding "Yes".

It appears that Paul, the globe-trotting freelance journalist raising funds and awareness for alarming water shortages and the drastic need for more wells in Africa, found a timely Twitter donor for a quick flight down to Los Angeles prior to legging it onto an airplane across the Pacific en route to his destination New Zealand.

"Paul’s flying, courtesy of Air New Zealand, to Auckland on Saturday.  The Kiwis are so excited," reports Anastasia, who must have blown the poor bloke away with our Sonoma County hospitality this week.

Anyone who has ever been to Newcastle, will know that the native Twitchhiker has likely never seen the likes of a private, limo tour of the California wine country, with all sorts of local wine celebs in situ for his welcoming committee.

For according to Anastasia, the Twitchhiker entourage was filmed for a Sonoma County tourism video prior to a date at Kunde Winery:  "Where Jeff Kunde took us up the hills of his property with a couple of stops to drink the wine from the vineyard we were standing next to.  The weather and views were stunning!"
 
After a quick pit-stop for a ‘Locals $10 Beer & Burger' – "the best burger I’ve ever had" says Anastasia (where was this, we'd like to know?Sonoma Mission Inn?) the jolly group (including Petaluma's own sommelier to the stars, wine writer and man about wine country Chris Sawyer) went over to the Swiss Hotel in Sonoma where they "had drinks with Jeff Bundschu, Chris Benziger and a few other “wine industry” folk."
 
Back in the limo with more champagne, the Twitchhiker subsequently sat back in style to peruse the Sonoma County sun set ahead of him as he returned 'home' for the night to RP's Twitter-hospitable Hampton Suites.  "He was blown away and wants to come back!" says Anastasia. You bet he does. Though judging from his twitter posts prior to departing the US, his brush with fame and the lovely Liv Tyler may have slightly eclipsed his fond & wine drenched memories of SoCo!

Impressive mobilization of the Sonoma County wine greats in getting Paul the VIP treatment at a day's notice. If only the Petaluma Gap contingency had been just a little further ahead on the local tasting room tour itinerary (it's coming together, believe me!) we could have kept him captive here in P'Town the whole two days.

I have a sneaky feeling that there will be a book in this by the end of Paul's adventures. Still, he's raised a stash of cash for essential new wells and that is the best part of this compelling little travel tale.

Well, that and Paul getting aired on Petaluma-based Leo Laporte's wonderful March 18th web radio show which upped his Twitter followers from a few hundred to eight thousand or more! A flight to New Zealand likely came from the airing of Leo's show to thousands of techno-types across the world.

Comments

[Anastasia Schuster]

Thanks a ton Frances for once again sharing about the twitchhiker. Oh how I wanted to share some GAP wines, but he got an earful from me as I explained all about our valley, the weather so conducive to wine growing, pinots in particular.

When I picked him up in SF, I purposely went West from 101 so he could see the beautiful hillsides of West Marin into our gorgeous town including a pass by McEvoy Olives - which we both were trying to figure it it's a ranch, orchard, farm, ???

I wasn't able to really show him P-Town which was a huge disappointment, but I was already running him ragged.

What I got instead is the promise that he will be back some day and when he does, I'll insist on a real P-Town experience to rival what he had in Sonoma. Wine is of course critical for that to happen, that's where the Petaluma GAP comes in! :-)

[barney]

Not his fault but isn't there something wrong with someone raising about $6k and who's limo rides, star sitings, air fares and other things laid out for him costing about 10? I know that if i was asked to donate to a fundraiser who's costs are more than they raise?? They wouldn't see a dime!

[Frances]

I don't think that he was looking for any of these unexpected side tours & I don't think that he saw much until he arrived in hospitality-crazy California. Most of the flights came via people's airmiles and everything had to be donated by someone using Twitter, so I'd have to support his ethics in trying to keep expenses to a minimum. It is amazing what people will do when a fundraiser is truly original. Having been involved in many fundraisers for worthy causes, I know how challenging it is to peak the public's interest in coughing up some cash. At the end of the day, the wells that will be built due to his ingenious and intrepid action plan will justify any unexpected freebies he received en route. And if he does write a book, then he'll have to give a significant portion of the profits back to the original cause. Still, a good way for a freelance writer to get noticed and do some good in these troubled times.