Are we there yet? Day 12

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Before we began our Napa Valley exploration, we met up with our friends Amy and Ken Mayer. We spent some time with their kids, then we went to a lovely restaurant in downtown Walnut Creek for brunch.

There are several things that can be said about Napa Valley overall. Of course it is very beautiful and scenic. There are over 450 wineries there, many of the wineries lease parts of some of the other wineries' grapes (they can claim the products as their own as long as they control the growing, and processing of the grapes, even if they are not grown on their own property), and the wines are very expensive. Also, the valley is actually a collection of a handful of towns, like St. Helena, Oakville, Calistoga, and others including the city of Napa Valley. There are two arteries through the valley, route 29, and the Silverado Trail. We took the more scenic Silverado Trail.

We looked up a couple of wineries recommended to us, but their websites indicated tastings were available by appointment only. So we stopped in one that looked interesting owned by the Reynolds's family. They allowed us to taste their wines (for a $20 fee of course) but told us we should have made a reservation. We purchased a couple of bottles and moved on to another winery near the end of the valley.

We made an appointment and toured the Castello Di Amoroso, a real tourist trap. It is quite impressive. The castle includes a moat and drawbridge, a chapel, torture chamber, and a wine cellar of course, among 107 other rooms. It was modeled after a 13th century Tuscan castle-winery. We purchased 3 bottles of wine. The wine available at both of the wineries we visited could only be purchased at the winery

We had dinner in the nearby quaint town of Calistoga, and talked with another couple touring the valley. We told them what we were doing, and they suggested touring the Oregon coastline. They were the second couple to make that suggestion, so we decided to give it serious consideration, We spent the evening in Cloverdale so we were positioned to tour U.S. 1 the next day.

We had toured Napa Valley before when Al had a conference in San Francisco a number of years ago. We both agree a structured tour with a tour guide and driver was the better way to experience Napa Valley.

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Comments

[Candy]

?California
It must be warm as Linda keeps showing up in short sleeves.

[Pineyapple]

Weather
The weather has been absolutely beautiful. No rain since St Louis. It was windy and chilly in the mountains, but great otherwise.