So it seems I promised a blog post on my trip to Napa from this past weekend so here goes…I’ll forego my usual narrative to instead pluck out bits and pieces. Let’s see how this goes.
The trip there and back was surprisingly traffic free. Apparently I went on the right weekend. With the weird exception of hitting some clogs on highway 29 (that takes you trough Napa), I just breezed on both ways. It was really helpful (and I was very thankful) that I was prepared with something like 14-15 hours of podcasts to pass the time because…well because the 5 is about the most boring drive invented by man. I also found it odd that I happened (and I really mean “happened”) to stop off at the 5 and 46 interchange to fuel up and grab some Arby’s without going west afterwards. It’s weird I still have these associations.
Saturday’s winery trip and Sunday’s winery trip were totally different. By design, Dawn (my sister) took me to primarily ones right off the highway in Napa on Saturday and then we went up to the Spring Mountain ones on Sunday. Things on Saturday started off well and we went to Ceja, where Dawn and Joel are wine club members and know a few of the people who run it so it was more personal than your average wine tasting. That was apparent as we heard stories about dogs running away and they pulled out future building plans. Hess was great, and I’ve been there before, and I love all the modern art so it was a good time. Then in the afternoon (shoot, I have turned it narrative…oh well) we picked up Shaina (my friend who I haven’t seen in four years) and we went out to BV and, eventually, Monticello. The “eventually” bit is because we had a run of getting shot down by wineries that were no longer doing the “Napa neighbors” program (i.e. free tasting for Napa residents and guests) which was just as well because they seemed to be ones that were fairly impersonal, crowded, and the lot so it was just as well. Sunday was a different story as we made reservations with Terra Valentine and Schweiger and I felt we were treated much more personally. This was especially true at Schweiger as we were the only people they were set to see that day and we were even the first people served by their new employee who this guy would have asked for a number if he had more of a spine but oh well. Oh and I came away with a nice $50 bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon that I decided will either be split with the next love of my life or I’m getting buried with it. I certainly hope it’s the former. Anyway, we ended things by going over to Gwilliams with the employees from Schweiger to end things. Anyway, you can go here to see the few photos I got from the various wineries.
Of course the best part was being able to see people from my life. I usually end up seeing Dawn and family at least once a year but it was good to double that amount at least this year. I like seeing how my nephew is a liiiiiitle more like Uncle Josh than I’m comfortable with. I will venture to guess that his #1 strength from the StrengthFinders would be Input as well because the kid’s recall is amazing. Now I also went up when I did because I knew Shaina was going to be up there so we coordinated things about a month ago and I’m glad it all worked out. In addition to taking in a few wineries together we also had a good evening up in Sonoma getting dinner and hanging out so it was well worth it. We’ll see if I’ll make it out to Funcie at some point.
Anyway, it was a fairly relaxing weekend of wine, friends, family, and podcasts. I’m glad it worked out well and I would like to make it out again sooner to Napa as well as figure a way for it not take four years between friends if mine. Good times everybody and I’ll see you when I see you (code for I’ll see you on Facebook).
We were glad to have you here. And, yes, Matthew does have the "Input gene."
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