Napa Day 1...

The day had arrived!

I have been planning this vacation for pretty much a year now and over the last few months getting more and more excited to have a week away in a place I know I will love.  6am I was at my best friend Libby’s place and we were loading up the car.  Since my truck is about to die and Libby’s Rav needs some repair, we were cavorting around in my gramma’s Chevy HHR.  We of course took a start of vacay selfie!

We hit the road and immediately fell into ease chatting and laughing.  The time flew by and before we knew it we were noticing our stomachs getting a bit rumbly and happen to be nearing Solvang.  We had opted for the 101 route this time and it was just right off the freeway.  Off we went.

We parked around the same area we had found ourselves in a few years ago and chose Greenhouse Cafe for our breakfast.  Lib had bacon and eggs with a side of course of Abelskevers and I had a breakfast sandwich.  So yummy!

We didn’t walk around too much since we both seemed kind of more into getting up to Napa rather than site seeing and taking too much time like we did before.  We hit up the bakery we hit up last time and purchased some goodies.

Off we went again.

This time around, time seemed to be moving pretty quickly and we just chatted along.  We stopped somewhere around King City at a rest stop and I got a bit freaked out by hearing someone shooting guns off in the distance.  I think it was just shooting targets or something but still it was a little weird.

Around the time we hit San Jose my body was starting to ache and I was regretting even more going to boot camp the day before.  We pulled off and grabbed some Subway.  After some text exchanges with The Sievekes we decided to swing by and say hey.  They lived in Foster City and were just off the freeway.

Um hello cute!

We didn’t stay too long, maybe just under an hour but got to meet baby Teddy and meet their friends and their precious little 18 month old who entertained us the entire time we were there.  I was glad we stopped because they broke the news to us that they are moving to Singapore!

Off we were again.  After a few missed turns and frustrating yells at “Betsy” our GPS we finally found our way on the right track.  We hit our 1^st bridge – The San Mateo bridge.  I have never had bridge anxiety but lemme tell ya – all of a sudden driving straight up into the air over nothing but water was a little unnerving.  We made it over safe and sound and realized my phone gave us better directions so we followed it.  We did end up paying a $5 toll on another bridge (mental note to strategically plan our route to avoid bridges) and we were so close.

We finally arrived at our destination around 5:30 and sleepily walked in to check in.  The gal was very spunky and sweet and told us there was a free wine tasting at 6pm.  Um dope.  We got our key and drove to our pad. 

We’re staying at the timeshare Riverpointe Napa Valley – so cute!!!!!  The places are pretty small and we have to share our patio with our neighbor but I love them!  It’s in a woodsy nature area alongside a stream.  Just beautiful!  Here are some photos of our place:

We danced around the idea of lounging or going back out.  We did need groceries so we rallied and of course hit the wine tasting 1^st.  It was about 6:15 and we trounced in thinking it was just a normal tasting.  Oh no.  There were tables and a wine dude up front talking about his wine and the wife was running around filling glasses.  We stopped, feeling like asshole kids coming to class late, and Marilyn (The events gal here I have come to find out) walked up to us, swung her arm to the room and said “Make Friends!”.  We grabbed a table with an old man and quickly sat down.   Glasses were promptly brought to us and we were just into the 1^st taste.  Fab.

It was Quercus Winery.  A hubs and wife owned boutique winery.  They are actually a Virtual Vineyard and rent space from larger wineries that have spots to lease out.  We tried a 2011 Chardonnay which was actually quite good!  I ended up purchasing a bottle to give to Keri.  I normally can’t stand Chardonnay but this was really enjoyable.  Next up was a 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve.  It’s a blend of Cab, Merlot and Petit.  It was a bit too fruity for me which surprised me for a Cab but he explained that a lot of the Bordeaux’s out here in America are called Cabs since it’s more of a user friendly name.  No wonder.  I’m finding I’m not a huge Boudreaux fan.  Next up was the 2009 Cab Reserve.  This was another blend but more of a Cab.  I enjoyed this one but wasn’t blown away.  Lastly he called up a friend of his who has another hubs and wife owned small winery and we tasted his 2011 Notte di Vino.  His winery is called Saladin Cellars.  I really enjoyed this one.  Much more smokey and I also thought it was pretty cool that their son designed the label but it was a bit too pricy to purchase. 
We enjoyed ourselves quite much and I loved that fact that as tired and worn out from driving all day as we were, there we are at a wine tasting right off the bat.  Sadly there was a rude table next to us that were loud and talking through the whole thing that I actually thought Libby might deck, but other than that – rad.

We headed off to the grocery store and shopped hungry.  Never a good idea, but I think we are set for the week.  We grabbed a cooked chicken and some Hawaiian Rolls and of course a couple bottles of wine for dinner and headed back.  We hurriedly unpacked the food and plopped out on the patio for a perfect night of wine and food.

We then grabbed our glasses and took a little walk to explore the grounds a bit before the sun totally set and found our perfect place for some walks and snapped a couple of pics.

Back to our mobile home where we unpacked, got settled and am now about to pass out.  A great start to our vacation!!!  I am so looking forward to this week!