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!

Auto Timer Pic

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!

Napa Day 2...

Monday morning woke up to the soft music on the alarm I happily figured out this morning, hopped in the shower and Lib and I were ready for the Riverpointe informational breakfast they offer here.  Marilyn is our activities director and she is this hilarious, boisterous older woman that had me in stiches.  She’s feisty, funny and fun.  Perfect for an activities director.  We had a buffet style breakfast (pretty amazing bacon fyi) and we sat down and listened to her spiel.  A couple of older Asian women joined us at our table, Grace and Maggie.  Lovely women who filled us in on the Napa timeshare.  They were original owners and here for the annual meeting.

Marilyn went on to talk about unfortunately the wine tastings that we were going to miss and a lot of tours that I can’t take due to my motion sickies.  Blergh.  But we did get some helpful info and when the Jelly Belly Factory was mentioned, Libby’s eyes lit up like Christmas tree.  I knew that was a stop we were going to have to make.  Back at our condo Lib and I sat down and tried to somewhat plan out the week.  We didn’t really want to plan too much but we also didn’t want to end up driving back and forth when we didn’t have to.  The Jelly Belly factory was south of us so we decided to do that then hit downtown Napa and Oxbow Market for today.

Off we went.  The Jelly Belly Factory was just how you probably imagine.  Lots of kids, lots of Jelly Belly themed crap and very loud.  I took this shot with the caption of “We are in wine country but this is the 1^st place Libby wants to hit”.  Tee Hee!

We got right in line for the factory tour and after not too long of a wait we were handed funny paper hats we had to wear and the tour started.  Here’s a few shots before we weren’t allowed to take pics:

This was made of all jelly beans!

All Jelly Beans!!!

Our tour group

The Jelly Belly Queen herself

The tour was pretty cool, but we wish it was shorter and a lot of the tour was “watch the screen and listened to the story of blah blah”.  I kind of wish it was more of an actual tour but it was pretty neat to see how jelly beans are created.  We got to sample a few different ones while walking through.  They took a touristy photo that Lib bought so here’s the snapshot:

We strolled the store and Lib got a few things for her daughter, I bought mom a package of Jordan Almonds and we both filled up a little bag of our favorite jelly bean flavors and off we went.

I’d also like to mention here that on our way to the factory we got a bit caught in a side of the freeway fire.  I’ve never been that close to flames and smoke before while driving and it was a little scary!  We were going to call 911 but a police paddy wagon was pulling right up behind us.  Yikes!

Back in Napa.  We parked at the Oxbow Public Market and immediately looked for food.  We landed at a great little Italian Restaurant called CA Momi.  Lib ordered a Peach Bellini and I a Pinot Noir from the absolutely darling waiter.  Seriously – so fucking cute.  I blushed every time he came over.  We split some amazing Bruschetta and chatted about our day.  Our meal was sooooooooooooooooooooo friggin good!  I ordered the Spaghetti de la something.  I was looking for a nondairy option and this was spaghetti noodles with garlic, caviar flavor and oil.  Seriously - AMAZING!  Lib ordered the Gnudi which was a spinach gnocchi.  So fresh and so good and fell off your fork!!  Ridiculous!!!    Our little cutie came back and we passed on dessert ordering another round of drinks instead.  He came back with drinks then surprised us with complimentary pastry puffs.  One was Cappuccino and one was Honey Milk.  OH. MY. GOD!  Sooooooo good!!!  The boy got a fat tip and we headed out.

Best Bruschetta I have ever had!!!

We wandered around the Market and it really reminded me of the SOCO district back home.  Very hipster, very foodie, very unique and overpriced.  Lib bought some yummy chocolates from a chocolatier (She got me a sea salt carmel dark chocolate thing – WoW!) Then we headed across the way to the downtown Napa area.  This was very reminiscent of downtown San Diego to me.  Super cool architecture and a lot of fun artwork.  Here’s some pics:

This is called Cat Bathing.  Can you see the cat?

There was a very moving tribute to 911 that had Lib and I a bit quiet and sad.  There were pieces of the towers that the Port Authority has sent all over the world for folks that wanted to make a memorial.  Very beautiful and very sad.

We took a faboo self-portrait on a bridge overlooking the river:

We did a lot of these finding places to post my camera and use the auto timer!

We wandered around more taking in the beautiful buildings and sites.

Even the parking structure was neat architecture!

Lib was always so willing to pose wherever I put her!

And back to our condo.  We decided to just take it easy tonight, I mean as much as I want to be constantly on the go all the time this is an actual vacation so relax time is just as important as site seeing time.  We got back, threw on our suits and after a very lengthy battle of trying to get the awfully huge dead alien bug thing out of the hot tub we enjoyed some Jacuzzi time.  Back to our condo where Libby BBQ’d some amazing Filet Mignon steaks and I attempted to make some steamed veggies and rice.  We enjoyed the wonderful dinner out on our patio where we did finally meet our neighbors – 2 shy ladies that seemed very nice and then a cat.  Yup – a little orange cat hopped up after our dinner to say hello.  Very friendly, very pretty.  I brought him out a little bit a chicken and a bowl of water which he enjoyed and we visited a bit. 

Now we’ll probably make it an early night.  I’m perfectly ok with this and I’m so friggin stoked that this is only day 2 of our vacation!!!!

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!

Human Contact...

I don’t mean to be a downer here, but this blog may come off as one.  I just felt the need to jot this down as I do find it interesting.

So last night I had a dream.  It was a mixed dream.  A combination of being very nostalgic and very sad.  The dream was also very very real.  It was one of those dreams where I may go through life and think back to the dream and not be quite sure if it happened or if I dreamed it.

The nostalgic part was interesting – I was at my best friend’s old house and her family was all there.  It looked just as I remember and we were going through old photos and the photos contained many people from my past.  Some actual photos I’ve seen or have others of people I know but not photos I think actually exist.  It was kind of a trip.

The sad part was this:  A male friend and I were looking out my mom’s front door.  I don’t know what we were watching because the memory is of the feeling not what we were looking at.  He’s taller than me and I was standing to the side of him.  He had one arm around my shoulder and I had my hands wrapped around his mid-section.  This wasn’t something sexual at all.  It was that contact.  I know I miss having contact with a man in my life but it really hit me at this point.  What was even weirder, is somewhere in my conscious (or unconscious I suppose) I knew this wasn’t real.  He turned to hug me and we hugged for so long.  I started crying into his shoulder because I miss this so much.  I woke up so sad.

Here’s the thing.  I think people don’t realize how important human contact is until it’s gone.  I used to be part of a thriving theatre community.  We were all like family.   Always touching each other, hugging each other, sitting in each other’s laps, etc.  Yes of course there were the flirty playfulness portions but honestly most of it was not sexual at all.  It was just that contact.  Non-theatre friends would make comments about how close we all are and I would just laugh it off.  Now it’s gone.  It’s been gone for quite a few years now but it’s slowly been setting in how much I miss that.  What’s even harder for me to swallow is how much I miss having a boyfriend/husband/regular man in my life that I can get that from.

I notice subtle things more as well.  I was at a ballgame recently and two sets of couples were sitting next to me.  They were so affectionate to each other.  Not obnoxiously but subtly.  When one gal stood up and was waiting for her other friend to get up so they could go get beer or something, her boyfriend or husband gently just rubbed her lower back.  It was a complete subconscious move.  And so sweet.

Whenever I see my besties little girl I touch her head and pull her into me.  I don’t know why, but she goes with it and leans into me when I do.  It’s like our little affectionate move.

You always think you want a significant other for so many other reasons – sex, love, family, best friend, etc.  But I don’t think people in a relationship realize that you may be taking for granted the one simple thing of touch.  When I dated a boy for a few months I remember how much I loved when he would hold my hand, or throw his arm around me, or when we were in bed I would just lay with my head on his chest and cuddle into that little nook.  That.  That right there is what I miss so much.

That contact I had in my dream made me so sad.  It’s really been a while since the loneliness gripped my heart this hard.  I hate that.

This of course then put me in a funky mood which I proceed to battle throughout the morning.  I then found myself crying again realizing how much I missed my Papa and how he used to hug me.  He was such a strong burly man and his hugs were the kind that should be listed in the dictionary under bear hugs.  He passed just this last November but I hadn’t been able to really hug him since he became bed ridden which was early 2012.  My heart broke again and I wished I would have hugged him so much more.

I know you can’t dwell on these sorts of thing and I don’t expect any of you to come and give me a big ol bear hug anytime soon.  It’s cool and it would probably be weird.  I mean I hug my friends and family on a regular basis.  It’s how I usually say hello and goodbye to people.  In fact sometimes I find myself not sure if I should hug on someone I don’t know very well or work with or something but hug is usually the first place I go.  I’m not hug deprived.

But.

Those of you who are huggers – hug a little tighter.  Relish those hugs a little more.  Those of you in relationships – relish the hand holding.  The touching.  Holding each other.  You honestly will not know how much you need these things until they have been gone for a long period of time.  I’ve reached that long period of time and it hurts.  It hurts a lot. 

I hate to admit that here because it shows my vulnerability but I’ve gotten over that and want to share this to anyone else going through something similar. 

I honestly believe what hasn’t sent me into more of a spiral of sadness is the tremendous amounts of human contact I do have in my life.  Like I said – I’m a hugger!  I'm also a really happy person most of the time.  It's these annoying little moments that creep up on you unexpected. 

Again, I don’t mean for this post to be a downer but I find it so very interesting how the act of human contact really does affect your psyche.  Ya, there are articles all over the place talking about exactly this but here it is from a real girl. 

I shook my mood and feel perfectly content now so I figured I’d go ahead and post this.  Hold your significant others a little more my friends.  Cherish those moments.

Here's some adorable hug memes to lighten the mood!