Rob: Coming up on Rob on the Road - Best Road Trips.

Spend the day with goats and hops at Lincoln'’s GoatHouse Brewing Company.

Take a hike in Placer County and find California'’s official State Insect - the rare dogface butterfly!

Go inside the Chew Kee Store Museum.

And we'’ll toast 10 seasons in California'’s wine country.

Rob on the Road - A Decade of Destinations: Best Road Trips starts now!

Annc: And now, Rob on the Road, exploring Northern California.

Rob: Best Road Trips begins at Lincoln, California.

You know it'’s going to be fun if it involves baby goats, a sustainable farm, and a bustling brewery.

Let'’s "“hop"” right into this delightful destination!

Rob: Who wants to do goat yoga?

Yay!

We've got a bunch of babies...

Even the goats are screaming.

Thank you!

Cathy: Yay!

Thank you guys for coming.

Welcome to GoatHouse.

Um, so we are one of the only farm-to-tap breweries in the State of California.

So, we grow our own hops.

Um, we raise goats.

We'’re a sustainable farm and, more importantly, we get to do goat yoga with the baby goats in the spring.

Instructor: Inhale it up, and then exhale, round it down.

And I want you to think about the innocence of the goats.

There'’s no right or wrong to any of the movements we'’re gonna do this morning.

So, just let your body flow.

Now, as we do our Cat-Cows, start to move the hips back and forward, just bringing some healthy, organic, simple movement to the body.

They really like you guys this morning.

Let'’s do two more of these.

Rob: One of the things I want to make sure I get across is that this is not fun and games.

This is really about letting nature in.

This is Randall.

yoga class.

and they come to you.

It'’s oddly peaceful.

Instructor: I want to go around 1 person at a time, and I just want you to say, like, 1 feeling, or emotion, or thought that bubbles up.

Alright?

So, we'll start here in the front row.

Just one... one word.

Class: Playfulness.

Fun.

Fun.

Rob: Gratitude.

Class: Peaceful.

Grounded.

Joy.

Love.

Yoga Instructor: Up, and then exhale, shake it out.

Beautiful.

One more full breath in, and together we bow and say, "“Namaste.

"” Rob: Namaste.

"“Namaste"” right here with you, baby.

What do goats and beer have in common?

Cathy: That'’s a very good question, Rob.

Rob: Fun?

Is it about fun?

Or- Michael: It takes a lot of beer.

Cathy: Well, it... it takes a lot of beer.

I...

I make cheese, um, so, um, the goats do feed our families and, um, work with, um, the hops.

So, they help weed control.

Rob: I see.

Cathy: So, hops need nitrogen.

Rob: Oh!

So, it'’s- I see.

Cathy: Its... it's all a circle.

Rob: It'’s all a part of the cycle.

And then the yoga is just, "“Let'’s Zen it up.

"” Cathy: It's an immersive experience into the farm.

So, um, you know, as we are... we are a working farm.

So, um, you know, we have a cover crop down in the hops, and so, you know, we're growing... we're growing a crop.

And so, it's not very often we can get people into the hop field or in with the goats and so, we do um- Especially in the spring, we do, um, with goat yoga- We have, you know, 9 little, fresh babies, Mamas and babies are doing really well.

It'’s a very, just an immersive experience into, you know, kind of a working sustainable farm that is also a brewery.

Rob: Is it possible to have peaceful goat yoga?

Cathy: I think that's exactly what it is.

Yoga, in itself, is about, you know, finding our center and being, um, you know, just kind of connecting.

Um, but when you're doing it at- in with goats, the goats don't fake anything.

So, they're... they're very authentic.

So, when they choose to rub on you and they choose to sit with you and they choose to be with you, that is... that is a very authentic experience.

And... and, like, when our Donkey, Rory- When he comes over, um, and wants a rub, then, you know, he... he's not gonna fake that.

So, it's... it's, uh, very much, a connecting to nature.

Rob: I love that.

I... I- That- I did not expect that.

I...

I thought it was going to be more... Cathy: Comic relief.

Rob: Right, but I love the authenticity, and the intentional part.

Cathy: It is.

And it'’s very much- I mean, you are out- You know, we'’re out on our farm.

You know, there'’s birds and clouds and, you know, there'’s- You are surrounded by nature.

There'’s very little concrete.

Um, plants are growing.

Birds are singing.

We'’ve got, you know, geese being born, baby goats all around, um, just, you know, no electronics, just- We have no Wi-Fi.

Just relax and connect back to nature.

♪♪ (Baby goat bleeting) ♪♪ Rob: We're hiking along the Shutamul Bear River Preserve just outside of Auburn.

This land is home to something incredibly rare.

It only happens once a year, the hatching of the California state insect, the Dogface butterfly.

♪♪ Rob: We're in the middle of what feels like paradise out here with the Land Manager for the Placer Land Trust Justin Wages.

Good to see you bud.

Justin: Great to be here.

Thank you for coming.

Rob: It's so beautiful.

Look!

Justin: This is an amazing place.

40 acres of paradise along the Bear River.

Rob: Unbelievable.

This is preserved and on this preserve is a treasure for California, the state insect.

Justin: Yes, the state butterfly, the California Dogface butterfly, it is only found in California and it's quite rare.

Most people never get to see it.

It's a high and fast flyer.

The famous quote is 1 in 10,000 Californians ever get to see this thing.

I think it's actually a greater ratio than that.

Rob: Once we see them, we catch them so that we can show them to you because they just zoom zoom zoom zoom zoom.

Justin: Oh, they're so fast.

Rob: Oh look!

Justin: Oh, it's not camera shy.

Can you see the poodle head?

Rob: Come here baby.

Don't go away, don't don't.

Justin: Perfect.

Look at that.

Can you see the poodle shaped face on there?

Rob: These are all over the place out here specifically.

Why here?

Justin: You know we don't know.

The geography of the area, the soil types.

There's something that we just call it magical about the place.

We don't know for certain why, but there's a huge population of amorpha californica or false indigo.

Rob: That's the plant that they eat off of.

Justin: Yeah, that's the sole food source for the larval stage of this butterfly much like milkweed is for a monarch.

Rob: Bob Gilliom you've been with the Placer Land Trust for more than fifteen years.

You actually helped buy this land for the Placer Land Trust.

Bob: We did.

The preserves about a half mile of the Bear River and then later on we've got this special treat of discovering that the Dogface butterfly was more plentiful here than anywhere else in California.

Rob: Wow.

I guess that's one of the neat things about putting land in preservation is that who knows what it's going to unfold.

Bob: That's right.

I think if you protect the most important habitat, you're going to eventually be protecting the most important species in the area.

Rob: Ooh I like that.

Rob: Remember I mentioned the California state Driver's License?

Alright, look below the picture on the license, then the signature, and at the very bottom on the left hand corner, you will see the California state insect the Dogface butterfly.

Rob: On the road today in Fiddletown, Amador County, and just feet off of the road is one of the rarest things I have found in all of my travels in California, the Chew Kee Store Museum.

And inside are artifacts that date back to the 1850s.

Let's go.

♪♪ Rob: These beautiful artifacts are original to this store and they are spectacular.

This Elaine Zorbas.

She is the historian with the Fiddletown Preservation Society.

Good to see you.

Elaine Zorbas: Nice to meet you.

Rob: Wow.

All I can is wow.

Elaine: That's what most people say when the come to the store.

It's a time capsule of Chinese life in the New World from 1855 until 1965 when the last Chinese person in Fiddletown passed away.

His name was Fong Chow Yow, otherwise known as Jimmy Chow and he lived in the store and passed away in 1965.

It's something unique to California because most of the Chinatowns were destroyed and most of the buildings were destroyed, sometimes with arson, but this particular building, which is rare in its construction, it's rammed earth, packing mud and dirt between forms.

Rob: Everywhere I look, I see something to me that is stunningly beautiful.

Just from the teapots to the beautiful pieces of Chinese tapestry to the baskets and mainly the medicine.

Elaine: Well, it's also, there were three different succession of tenants who lived in this building.

The first tenant was an herb doctor.

His name was Yee Fung Cheung, otherwise known as Dr. Yee.

There are descendants of his that still live in Sacramento, but he was the first in America.

With the herb doctor, people would come in with a malady and so he would examine them, not like we examine.

Most of the examination was done by looking at the person, looking at their tongue.

Rob: Touch.

Elaine: And touch, right, pulsology.

They are various pulse points.

It's 5,000 years old, Chinese medicine.

Rob: It is, and there are pieces on the other side here that show all of the various medicines that were used here.

That's why I said this was one of the rarest things I found.

It's because you've not gone out and collected these to bring them here, they've been here.

Elaine: Yes.

Rob: Wow.

Elaine: Well the last person in the store was Jimmy Chow and he was adopted by Chew Kee.

Jimmy became part of the community.

He lived in, he grew up in the store, he learned Chinese in the store, I imagine he helped Chew Kee.

These are pictures of him.

When he was a young boy, he wore his hair back from his head with a long braid in back called a queue and this was required by the emperor of China.

We're so lucky.

It's so rare, there's nothing like this in California.

Everything in here is original to the store.

Rob: It's got to be saved.

Elaine: In the little town of Fiddletown.

Well that's what we're working.

We're working very hard to raise money to save the store.

Rob: We're here with Karen Yee who has a personal connection to this phenomenal place.

Hey there.

Karen Yee: Hello.

Rob: Good to see you.

Karen: Well nice to see you too.

Rob: I love your Chinese robe.

Karen: Well thank you so much.

Rob: Why must this be saved?

Why must the culture and the history be saved for the future?

Is their story there?

Karen: I definitely think so.

People need to look to the past to preserve what has gone on and learn from it so that they don't make mistakes in the future.

Rob: If you could say something to Jimmy today, if he were sitting right here, what would you say to him?

Karen: Certainly thank you.

Rob: For?

Karen: For preserving and keeping this place alive.

♪♪ Karen: He was loved by the community.

Rob: And today the same community is hoping to restore what that love did here.

Elaine: Yes, yes.

Rob: I wish you all the luck with that.

Elaine: Thank you so much, Rob.

Rob: I have full faith you can do it.

Elaine: (laughs) Rob: At the Chew Kee Store Museum in Fiddletown, Amador County.

Fascinating location.

Rob: Still ahead- We toast 10 seasons of Rob on the Road with road trips to Calaveras and Amador County wineries.

But first, a trip to San Joaquin County for a first-place prize that'’ll tempt your tastebuds!

♪♪ Rob: I heard the best barbecue on the planet is in Stockton and, boom, thank you, there it is.

We had to come check it out today.

It's ... (altogether) Rob and Rob on the Road!

(cheering) ♪♪ Rob: You have created the world's best barbecue sauce.

Okay, what in the world?

Rob Ryan: It is my recipe.

It's my intellectual rights.

Rob: That is your, it's your taste buds too.

Rob Ryan: That's mine.

Rob: And your wife's.

Rob Ryan: Absolutely, absolutely.

Rob: I'm going to grab it because this is legit.

This says the American Royal World Series of Barbecue, Best Sauce on the Planet, 2017.

You also won 2018, first person ever in 31 years of the competition to take the globe twice.

You also took on a lot of people that work for the Food Network and blew them out of the water too.

Rob Ryan: I'm just there to do my thing but there are some big names in barbecue that had put their barbecue sauce in the competition and I just smoked them.

Rob: What will take it to the next level for you?

Rob Ryan: I want it to be something that I work for and I take it to the top.

We're working on it right now to take it nationwide.

Rob: I got to do this if this is the winner.

Okay, that's delicious.

Rob: Why Frog Sauce?

If it's for barbecue, why is it called Frog Sauce?

Rob Ryan: Everybody knows that when you put your rub on your meet, you rub it, rub it.

Rob: Oh, like frog, ribbet, ribbet.

This is your wife right over here, right?

Come on in.

Whitney, hi.

(laughs) Putting you on the spot here.

Whitney Ryan: Yes you are.

Rob: Because you are part of the secret to success here.

Whitney: Sweet and Tangy.

Rob: Sweet and Tangy, Sweet and Tangy right here.

So this is the one that won in 2018.

Whitney: Yeah.

Rob: And it came from your taste buds and your desires.

Whitney: Yes, because I believe in his passion and I believe in what he's doing but I couldn't handle the pepper in the Frog Sauce, so I just am grateful that he has one that I can use every night on the dinner table.

Rob: Grab your favorite piece of meat here and let's take us out.

♪♪ Rob: We want you to savor in this wonderful sweet success story.

Rob, I'm so happy for you.

Rob Ryan: Thank you.

Whitney: Thank you.

Rob: Rob Ryan, Whitney Ryan, with the world's best barbecue sauce, voted at the Kansas City competition.

Good to see you.

I love it.

Love it, love it, love it.

♪♪ Well welcome to beautiful Ironstone Vineyards!

And entertainment complex and winery, and you name it!

With the creators of this beautiful place, Gail and John Kautz.

Good to see you both!

John and Gail: Thank you, great to have you here.

Great to have you for sure!

Rob: How the heck did you pull this off?

John: A lot of hard work.

And a lot of great people working with us.

Rob: In not that long of a time, since 1989.

John and Gail: Since 1989 BUT we started with beautiful country.

Rob: Yes, but you also created quite a draw!

What do you have here?

Rob: Everything!

We have everything that anyone would want to see, different venues for different actions, food, wine, music, art.

Rob: The wine is a big draw.

John: Excellent wine.

It's very well received, we ship into 50 countries.

Gail: We wanted to bring people up to the county to see and enjoy it.

And we figured that we needed to have a draw for them, we have great wines, but there are many wineries that have great wines too.

So we wanted to have something special and that's what we've done.

Rob: Gold!

Gail: A little bit of gold.

John: A little bit!

Gail: This is gold country!

John: This is our history.

Gail: So we have the world's largest crystalline gold nugget on display.

Rob: Wow!

John: This is our pride and joy in what we have been so fortunate to preserve.

Rob: Where in the world did you get this?

John: This came from 9 airmiles.

Rob: Gold.

John: From where it sits today at Sonora Mining, the Crystalline Mine.

Rob: The amphitheater is right through there.

My gosh, what place to hear music!

Gail: And we do hear a lot of it.

John: Yes we do.

Rob: This is the stage and all the people that fill the lawns here.

You say you do it for smiles and joy.

John: Yes!

Definitely a music lover.

Rob: This terraced amphitheater is also the setting for a yearly gathering and a dream realized for John and Gail.

One of their goals was to create a casual and welcoming Gold Country event for thousands of visitors to enjoy, the Ironstone Vineyards Concours d'Elegance.

Where hundreds of classic cars, trucks, race cars, even motorcycles and trailers are on display.

But this is about much more than just automotive classics.

From the start, the Kautz's dedicated this event to helping the next generation of young Californians achieve their dreams of careers in agriculture.

Since the Concours began more than 20 years ago, it's raised more than 500-thousand dollars for ag youth programs like Future Farmers of America and 4-H.

It's one of our favorite events because we get to come out to the public and talk to them.

It's really cool to come out here and realize that they're here to support FFA and 4-H rather than just look at the cars to benefit somebody else.

They're doing it for a cause.

Kevin: You know, we could cars like this alongside comparable achievements in the arts and architecture, and motion pictures, and they hold their own.

Rob: The late Kevin Starr, renowned historian and former state librarian, said it best.

The Ironstone Concours provides not just vivid chapters in a living book of automotive history, but captured moments in the very evolution of the California Dream.

Kevin: We certainly would not have California today unless we had the automobile culture, the automobile contribution.

So it doesn't surprise me that California design and the automobile have created such marvelous examples over the years.

I think automobiles are remarkable art forms or remarkable sociological activators, uh, remarkable instances of the elegance and poetry of the particular decade that produced them.

(Car Engine) Rob: The Concours draws more than three hundred entries from all over California and beyond.

You may spot a 1905 Studebaker electric car, right alongside John's own authentic Studebaker wheelbarrow.

Yes, that's what the Studebaker brothers first manufactured when they came to California during the Gold Rush!

Of course, there are many other perfectly preserved and restored vehicles from the beginning of the 20TH century.

From the 1930's and 40s, there are gorgeous Duesenberg and Packards.

Pierce Arrows and Lincoln Continentals.

Favor the 50's and 60's?

There's plenty of gorgeous Thunderbirds, Corvettes and other beauties from that era.

Even race car aficionados will find their hearts accelerating!

Some vehicles are truly one of a kind like this 1938 Phantom Corsair designed and built by an heir to the Heinz Ketchup fortune.

Or this Italian beauty, the 1955 Nardi Lancia Blue Ray One.

Others are equal parts rare and just plain fun, like this 1936 Brooks Stevens House Car.

How about a 1946 Pontiac Streamliner police car?

A 1962 Dodge truck once owned by California State Parks?

And, you may discover some American classics with names you've never heard of before.

Lee Webb's brought his 1932 Franklin Club Sedan all the way from Bakersfield.

This is a 1932 Club Sedan.

It's a fairly rare car.

There are probably eight or ten left in the world.

Rob: The Ironstone Concours takes place each September.

If you love classic vehicles of all different kinds it's definitely worth attending.

Did you ever think you'd be that?

John and Gail: No, I don't think so, I don't thing we every thought about it.

We hoped it would happen.

We didn't build it for that in mind, it was just part of the show.

Rob: And now that it's happened, what's next for y'all.

John: Oh there's no stopping.

Carry on!

Rob: I know, I've watched.

Gail: You'll never stop this guy!

John: Oh no, we've got big plans in the future.

Rob: Share them.

John: No no.

Rob: Give us a little bit.

Gail: Ok - MORE.

John: More!

♪♪ Welcome to Amador County this is Iron Hub Winery!

This is the iron hub, and this region is getting state-wide attention!

The Shenandoah Valley, on Rob on the Road!

♪♪ I have traveled this state and seen so many beautiful places but wow, this is definitely right there.

This is the Shenandoah Valley and Beth and Tom Jones are here with Iron Hub Winery good to see you both.

Tom: Excellent to see you!

Rob: What a beautiful place!

Tom: Well thank you, we looked all over California and this was the best place we could find for a new winery.

Rob: Really?

Tom: Yes!

Rog: Why the spot?

Beth: Tom is a long-time winemaker, wonderful experience, and this area provides the community, the wine knowledge, the wine enthusiasm, the culture and the wonderful soils and vinyards here so Tom is really enjoying the comradery and all of the welcome we've had.

Rob: So this region is getting so much attention.

You here Amador wines, Amador wines.

What in the world is it?

Tom: Oh it's the soil, it is wonderful granitic soil, gives enough moisture to keep the crop happy but not too much that you get huge canopy.

Beth: Season-wide, in this part of Shenandoah Valley, it has a gorgeous breeze that pulls up through the Sierras.

Grapes love it, we love it, the patio loves it.

Rob: This tasting room, you can see completely all the way around the valley.

Beth: We can see the neighbors which was a vineyard planted when Abraham Lincoln was in the White House, all the way to the quilt of the vineyards up to the Crystal range of the Sierras.

Rob: Shenandoah Valley, why is it called that?

Beth: This is the Shenandoah Valley I understand because of the immigrants that came here in the 1850s Rob: And it looks like home.

Beth: And the area now is often referred to as the Tuscany of California because of its picturesque views.

Tom: We've been working at this for 30 years and so to be able to express it in this venue is really fortunate.

Rob: Are you happy?

Beth: Oh we're so happy.

I love having customers come in to be able to share our story about Tom's wine, to have our children involved, it's just a dream come true, is the California dream it really is!

Rob: I am so happy for you guys, thank you for having us here today, beautiful Shenandoah Valley!

And we can see the fruits of your labor, both the wine and the kids!

Cheers, check us out online at robontheroad.org for all of our stories.

Thanks y'all, thank you!

Rob: What fun!

I'’m Rob Stewart.

Thank you for joining us as we celebrate 10 seasons of Rob on the Road.

♪♪