Napa / San Fran, Day 2

We stayed at the beautiful Avia hotel downtown Napa.  The location made it very convenient to walk to dinner at night, which was a huge benefit to Hal. 
Thursday morning Hal had scouted a local place for breakfast, ABC. A wonderful small restaurant with some yummy food.  It's highly recommend that you put food in the belly before all the wine tastings.

What a handsome man and full of joy. 

Chris and Melissa gave us a wine tour on Platypus bus tours.  We highly recommend them.  Great atmosphere, small group of 12 and a delightful tour guide...Rod  We met up with 4 other couples Thursday morning for a day of tasting! 

Our tour guide...Rod .  Like so many people we met in Napa, Rod was a former hi-tech IT guy and gave it up for a more peaceful slower pace lifestyle.

These days all wineries charge for tastings, anywhere from $10 - $70.  Rod lined up several smaller wineries for us to visit which mean you are usually tasting with just your group.  It's a very intimate setting. 

We were greeted at the Ballentine Vineyard with a glass of wine to take with us on our tour....It's 10:30 AM!

 Kim was the Ballentine representative.  Very Knowledgeable, sweet and entertaining.

Our next stop was Lava Vine vineyard.  Joe, the owner gave us his story of how he came about being the  owner of his vineyard.

We had a nice picnic lunch on his patio.  Very relaxing.
Our next stop was the Arger Mattuci vineyard sitting out next to a pool overlooking the vineyards and mountains.

On to our last stop of the day, Hopper Creek.  We have a ton of pics here...so get ready.  Hope you enjoy as much as we did.

Dan was our tour guide.  What a great way to wind up the day!

After our tastings inside, we got to go hang out side on his patio...lovely.

 Now this is living.  No stress here!

Thank you Chris and Melissa for a wonderful day!

Napa / San Fran, Day 1

Chris and I were emailing one day and he mentioned that he and Melissa were planning a trip to Napa Valley.  I said, oh that sounds wonderful....we would love to go.  That began the flood of emails planning OUR trip to Napa and San Francisco.  Hal and I thank them so much for letting the parents tag along on their vacation, we had the best time!  We all meet at the rental car agency Wednesday around noon.  Payless was the name of the agency.  We were all a little skeptical about what our car would be for $168 for a week in CA but it turned out to be fine after Hal refused to take the first car that had no tread on the tires.  And off we go to Sonoma.  Our first winery, Cline Cellars.  We started our rating system for our tastings, 1 = Not So Good to 5 = Very Good.  Funny looking back that Cline received 3 and 5 ratings. 

Our 2nd stop was Ledson.  This vineyard was beautiful and the tastings were much better. 

3rd stop in Sonoma was Chateau St Jean.  We had a difference of opinion in ratings at this winery.  Our driver (Hal) was not tasting as much as the rest of us and was being very critical of the wines at this point.  No purchases here.

It was starting to mist a little so Melissa brought out her headdress. 

Another beautiful vineyard.

Boot Camp Girls

This group of girls got up each morning and met at the gym at 6:00 AM for many years.  I have blogged about this group of girls in the past and how they have touched my life in so many ways.  We have lost parents and loved ones, we have kids that have married and now a baby...Liam. 

Mom, Dad and sweet baby.

I love and miss you girls!

Inasmuch, 2011

For the past five years our church has participated in a community wide volunteer project called Inasmuch.  This is my first year to participate and I had a blast.  I really learned a lot on how food pantry's are organized.  We served at God's Pantry this morning.  Linda was our volunteer coordinator.  She is amazing.  She not only serves those who need God's Pantry she also works with a multitude of volunteers.  I am so impress with her attitude towards us all.  Kathy was our church Project Leader.  What a way to spend your Saturday, serving the community with your friends!
Our first assignment was to remove all bar codes from the packages, count each item and then bag the breads and sweets. Wendy and Kalie where a great mother daughter team.

 Look who is having so much fun

 Our next assignment was to bag 7 boxes of cookie dough.  Each bag had 18 + cookies (don't tell Linda).  After the cookie dough, we were promoted to bagging 60 lbs of flour and 90 lbs of sugar in little bags.  I felt like Lucy in the chocolate assembly line, with sugar, flour and sharpie all over me.  I love you Lord!  Thank you.

 Kalie spent the rest of her morning giving out food to those who came in need.  Can you imagine receiving a donation from this sweet girl?

Happy Birthday Babe

A few of us celebrated Hal's birthday Friday night, the evening was delightful.  Food, drinks and friends...what more could a person ask for for his birthday....Mexican Train!

I love being the blogger and I love you babe....Happy Birthday!