Napa, CA

Yesterday was a day that will never happen again...we will never have that day or those experiences again!!! (That's for you Patty)

We took a day trip to the beautiful Napa Valley...about an hour and a half from our Davis hotel. Shannon has friends that work for wineries; V. Sattui and Cain. We stopped at the beautiful V. Sattui first, and had a complimentary wine tasting experience there. The wine here is, needless to say, delicious. We had a lovely lunch outside...I had pesto pasta and broccolli and almond salad (thank goodness for cali food). It was a sunny 80 degrees at least, and I was very happy sitting in the sun for a while while everyone finished their lunch.

Then we all got back in the Ford and headed to Cain...it was 30 minutes up the mountain. A windy and trecherous path for a 15 passenger van full of people, but a very scenic drive as we got higher and higher into the skies of California. When we reached the top, we could overlook the whole valley, and it was glorious. Shannon's friend Stacy works at Cain and she gave us a tour of the property. This included all the equipment that stores grapes, presses grapes, stores the wine, and bottles the wine. They bottle about 23,000 cases a year (a very small amount, Stacy says, in comparison to other large wineries). Then we got a tour of the grounds, including the winemaker's house (well it's really the owners' house but they let the winemaker live there during the year...what a job!) . This estate had a pool overlooking the valley (see above pic). Then we went back to the cellar for a private wine tasting of their $150+ per bottle wines. What a treat. Thank you, Shannon!!!!

On our way back down the mountain we all began smelling some sort of burning/electrical smell (never a good sign!)..so we pulled over and popped the hood. Yep, definitely coming from the hood! So our hour and a half trip back was sans air conditioning, but positive attitudes were maintained (hey, guys, we'll never have another day like this all together like this ever again!...thanks patty... :).

Last night we ate at Remrum Burgers (redrum, redrum) and watched a movie. Today is errands day...nothing too exciting!

Tomorrow...San Fran!