Wine Country - Days 36 to 42

Artesa Vineyard (we think...)
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Ahhh wine country, finally!  It was great to set up camp and not have to worry about that for a while.  I also got to try my hand at lots of new campfire cooking...although between my breakfasts and dining out, I think Josh and I both gained 10lbs.  No seriously, I think we did lol.  Ah well, we'll hike it off in the desert in the next couple of weeks I imagine ;o)

Napa was fantastic.  Waaaay more money than I thought, but a ton of fun.  Each winery charged between $10 and $40 for a tasting.  Some were worth it, some werent'.  For example, the $25 sample of ONE wine at Opus One was fantastic, but not worth the money.  Then again, the Mumm fights were reasonably priced and you had options so you could spend anywhere from $11 to $25 to taste 3 half flutes.

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Sonoma was way cheaper, most were free, but it was harder to know which were good and which to go to.  The big names were in Napa, so we did concentrate there, but we certainly found gems in both places.

And boy did we drink.  Er, taste I mean, taste.  Yeah, taste.  I'd say we visited between 4 and 6 wineries a day...usually we'd find one or two we loved and spend a good amount of time there, and then a few where we'd just pop in and then out cause we werent' feeling it.

Luna
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Oh and did we eat!  We didn't get into The French Laundry, but we did have an amazing meal at La Toque.  And we ate tons of tri-tip beef which was fabulous, and I tried my hand at lamb and grilled turkey - everything was awesome and it was fun to pair the wine we bought each day with foods.

On Sunday we went to see my cousins Steve and Sauna - I don't think I've seen them in over 10 years!  It was great to catch up, and to see their kids Nate and Jason too.  We spent the afternoon together and then went for sushi.  They gave us some great recommendations for both visiting San Francisco and hopefully for living there in the future :o)

Mumm
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Monday we spent the morning at the Golden Haven Hot Spring for a couples mud bath.  So basically you're in these concrete tubs filled with mud made with hot spring water.  And its HOT.  You roll on top and then kinda wiggle down and plop the mud over you, and then the guy comes in and smooths it all out and puts a clay mask on your face and a cold wet towel cause its REALLY hot in there.  Then you get out, shower off, and hop in a hot springs hot tub together.  It was lots of fun and really relaxing especially after several days of wine tasting.

Gotta love the plastic cups...
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So...yeah, we love Napa.  But we both agree that we were ready to move on to San Fran!