Napa Day 3...

Today was spa day!  I had booked massages for Lib and I weeks ago at Calistoga Hot Springs and Spa.  When googling around for good places to go this seemed a favorite.  It was of course quite pricy but I am doing my best not to worry about money and splurge.  I never do so it’s ok once in a while!  Anywhoo – We got up and read and I cut us some of the breakfast pastry I bought in Solvang and some apple slices for breakfast!  Such a yummy vacay type of breakfast!

Of we went.  We took the Silverado Trail drive and we could not get over how beautiful the sites were.  This is really where we got to get a good look at the beauty of wine country.  Everything is so green and there are trees everywhere and the vineyards are just so spacious and breathtaking!  We drove and gasped and had such an enjoyable drive up.

We arrived at the Spa and were a bit underwhelmed.  When we checked in they sat us in the lobby and said wait.  Um…where’s our fancy water and lavender smelling goodies?  I was starting to get a bit disappointed.  I mean not to be ungrateful but for the price we paid I was hoping for a little more spoiling than this.  Oh well.  A lovely lady finally arrived and took us back.  We got lockers and were told to strip down to our birthday suits and wait in our sheet.  We had also paid to have Mineral Bath treatment beforehand.  We were brought into this room that at 1^st reminded me of the places you see in Asylums where the patients bathe, but I pushed that thought right out of my head.  Lib and I were drawn two baths right next to each other.  It was very cool because they were deep enough and had jets on that we weren’t sitting there nakkie together but we could still visit.  We finally got out cucumber water, a cold cloth for our eyes and they sprinkled orange and vanilla salts into the tubs.  We relaxed in this for 20 minutes.  They gals were very sweet and tended to us and didn’t make fun of me when I accidently kicked out my stopper and almost lost my bath.  Oops!  We then had a steam room treatment for about 5 minutes then left in a quiet place to cool off and wait for our masseurs.  This wait was a little too long for my taste.  I know we are supposed to be relaxing but this was just a bit too long and seemed kind of odd.  Finally Carol showed up who was my gal and I was taken back for my massage.  She was very nice and a decent masseur but a little too light for my taste.  I encouraged her to be little harder but to no avail.  It was still of course a wonderful massage.  I mean what massage isn’t?  Libby on the other hand raved about her guy.  She opted for a Sports Massage and Efrain worked the shit out of her shoulder.  She’s got a pretty gnarly injury that doctors cannot seem to get healed and this guy rocked.  She came into the locker room showing me how she could finally lift her arm above her head!  I was so happy for her!  I showered off the oils and instead of sticking around we decided to go get lunch. 

Just up the street was downtown Calistoga.  The area was darling, tree lined streets, so pretty!  We ended up at Café Sarafornia.  It was a kitschy little café with Xmas ornaments as décor.

My BLT was excellent and Lib said it was one of the best burgers she ever had.  Win!

We headed out to our next destination – Old Faithful.  Now somewhere along the way I got confused and was thinking it was in a National Park.  I think I was getting confused with Yellowstone which as you all know is in Wyoming.  I don’t know why but I was thinking it was something like that.  Lib and I had packed shoes and were planning on more of a park/hike/nature sort of day.  Nope.  Old Faithful Geyser in Calistoga is just that.  A touristy place that is literally just the geyser.  Oh and some fainting goats.   Lib and I still bought our ticket from the tourist trap man and had actually arrived just in time.  The geyser was getting ready to blow. 

While we were waiting I was reading up on this thing.  It really is so fascinating how geysers work.  There is basically water that’s heated up by lava – 3 miles down mind you! – And then gets too hot, builds pressure and releases!  I was totally cool paying the tourist fee and sitting with the other folks staring at a pile of steaming rocks.  It really was neat!!  I kept voicing my fascination to Libby who kept shrieking thinking it was starting.  After about a 10 min wait you heard a loud gurgling noise and thar she blows!!! 

It was quite cool!!!  It went on for longer that I was expecting and it was also much quieter than I expected.  Sounded like a peaceful water fountain.  It also shot up really high!!! Very neat and I’m so glad I did that.  I can cross that off the list.  Lib and I then wandered over to say hi to the goats and sheep.  Apparently the goats faint, but I wasn’t about to scare them because that seems mean to me.  They were very cute and there was even a mama and baby!  The other interesting thing is these goats eyes are inside out.  Such a trip!

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On our way out we saw the Llama that was hiding in the back.  He gave me his good side.

So we headed back out and since we weren’t hiking and playing in a park we thought were going to be doing a good portion of the day we decided to hit some wineries.  We had seen a ton on the way up.  We drove back down Silverado and hit WH Harrison Winery.  We honestly just stopped here because it was the 1^st one we could turn into without killing ourselves.  The guy was nice and the Pinot Noir was excellent, but when we saw the giant bear and found out the owner had hunted and killed it we moved on. 

The 2^nd winery we hit was Rutherford Ranch.  We asked the guy to give us all whites so Lib could taste some more and he was super cool about it.  I swear he was Alex Dorman’s doppelganger.  He was a very nice knowledgeable guy and gave us 5 good whites.  I’m a red girl but these weren’t bad!  I enjoyed the Chardonnay so much I purchased a bottle.  I figured maybe Lib and I can share that while were here at the condo.  We walked around the grounds since they were gorgeous and took a few shots.

This is a Cork Tree!  They make corks out of it! 

Back on the road again.  We tried to stop at another place but it was an appointment only place but I took a couple of shots.

By this time it was getting close to when they close and I didn’t want to drink too much while driving so we headed back. 

We decided to hit a nicer restaurant for dinner.  We cleaned up and dressed up a bit and after much debating decided on Celadon.  This place was awesome!  I had a lovely Pinot Noir and Lib enjoyed a Sangria.  She ordered a chicken breast with gnocchi and mushroom sauce and raved.  I tasted the chicken and it was quite moist and good.  I got the Wild King Salmon.  It came with this candied like sauce and mashed potatoes and corn.  So so friggin good!!!  I pretty much licked my plate clean.  We ordered another round of drinks then got dessert.  Blackberry sorbet for me and a Chocolate Hazelnut thingie for Lib.  Both – AMAZEBALLS!

Over stuffed and happy we wandered around a bit and took a selfie by the river.

Then just some cool shots in the area:

Back to our condo we came and hit the hot tub for a bit.  There we met a lovely couple who said we have to try Bistro Don Giovanni’s Restaurant which is on my list to try so we’re defiantly hitting it now.  They were from Virginia and very sweet to chat with.

Another lovely day in the books.  We head to the city tomorrow!