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Don’t worry, we’re not stuck in Oregon. We made it to California and back home again safely. We just decided that wine tasting and our CA accommodations were too enjoyable to bother with photos and blogging, and then last week was a bit of a whirlwind back to reality.

After braving Hwy 1 and enjoying a great dinner at the brew-pub we continued to Calistoga. It turns out that mud baths are good therapy for poison oak, so we went ahead with our spa plans. Brian booked a couples mud bath and massage at Golden Haven. He warned me that we would emerge, glowing, a few hours later, and he was right! I think I nearly melted on the sidewalk in Calistoga. We enjoyed a mud bath, mineral water shower and hot tub, warm wrap, then an hour massage. Even though my masseuse clearly didn’t spend a lot of time on my blistered legs, it was gloriously relaxing and I felt like warm relaxed putty by the end of the session. Brian is brilliant. We continued into town to eat lunch, a fresh deli in the train station downtown, then on to Napa to check in at our Inn.

Did I mention that Brian is brilliant? We stayed in a garden suite in the Incantment room. Our hosts Jim and Jamie were awesome. A hummingbird visited us on our patio. We were invited to a wine tasting at the Inn on Wednesday afternoon, and given excellent recommendations for dinner at Zuzu for tapas. We had a nice conversation with the couple at our neighboring table who were also vacationing in Napa.

Thursday we had booked a private wine tour, and boy was it worth it. No worries about driving, take advantage of a local’s insights and connections to small family wineries, and enjoy beautiful scenery all day. Our driver was Gary from Beau Wine Tours. We started at Ceja family winery for an introduction to the Carneros area. It was a nearly private tasting, a beautiful venue, and a friendly host. I learned why roses are planted at the end of the rows, and saw the bocce courts where Gary often plays with the owners. We then traveled to the picturesque Domaine Carneros for champagne. In the future, I think it would be a nice place to spend a mid-afternoon for tasting and snacks, overlooking the vineyards, but this time it was a good chance to acclimate ourselves to the area. We continued on to Robinson Family Vineyards, which stole my heart. Anyone who starts making wine in garbage cans in their driveway with a bunch of friends resonates with me. The fact that this concrete contractor poured his own wine cellar was just gravy. The wine was interesting and the stories were incredible. I was inspired that he gave his daughters a stake in the winemaking business to help pay for their college educations. We got to ask lots of questions, we heard about the family wine collection, and we were sad to have to move on. Our next stop was Saddleback Cellars for lunch. A variety of events aligned to make this a sub-standard stop on our trip, but I will chalk it up to poor circumstances and give them another chance if I have the opportunity. (Note to self – few wines are made to drink with a ham sandwich. Next time go for a more wine-friendly menu selection.) Not to be deterred, we continued on to Jessup Cellars. This was easily the highlight of the day. We had a private tasting, enjoyed beautiful artwork, and the accompanying snacks highlighted the wine. We later heard that Bob (Clark) is *the* guy to see at Jessup, and we could not agree more. While the other associates were friendly and knowledgeable, Bob had a passion for wine and such an unpretentious manner, we felt that he could not possibly steer us wrong, and we enjoyed each story and impression he shared. I know we have special affinity for vertical tastings, but this tasting was everything we enjoy all put together, a wonderful way to end our tour.

After another delicious dinner in Napa, a tasty breakfast at the Inn and a short tour around town, it was time to head to San Francisco to see Marnie, Jed, Zoe and Josie. I’d like to take this opportunity to point out that Jed loves North Coast Brewing Company, which we found quite quickly in our drive through Fort Bragg. Great minds (who enjoy beer) think alike. We enjoyed chatting with Jed and Marnie, Josie was really cute (even though she didn’t feel well) and Zoe appeared in her birthday splendor in time to meet us before her big party. A huge thank you to the Davidows for letting us crash there on short notice.

What adventure is complete without Mary Obelnicki? We met up with Mary on Saturday morning, checked out her apartment, played a cutthroat game of Burn Rate, and walked around her neighborhood in Oakland. We picked up lunch at Bake Sale Betty’s, a hopping spot with delicious Fried Chicken sandwiches (with cole slaw!) and yummy cookies. Although sitting at an ironing board table was tempting, we took our lunches back to Mary’s place and learned about broasting. Finally it was time to move on to our last vacation stop – how does two weeks go so fast? The Pitchers hosted us for our last day, in fine style. We enjoyed Wayne‘s grilling and Santina’s pancakes, yum! Jonah is growing fast, but still managed to spend some quality time with Brian, mostly playing Sorry rather than playing dinosaur this time. They headed off for vacation to Nantucket, while we headed back to Newburyport to reflect on a wonderful vacation and get back to our normal activities.