Rutherford, Napa and Yountville

Last Friday we flew into Sacramento, CA because I had training for work on Saturday and Sunday and we thought this might be a perfect chance to see California Wine Country.

From Sacramento International Airport, we rented a little red car and hit the road towards Napa! We wanted to see wine country, but we wanted to do it on a budget, so we decided to make a picnic. Ryan's first suggestion was the "Walmart coming up on the next exit" according to his phone, but something about that statement did not seem to mesh well with the visions I had in my head of Napa. So he did another search and found a co-op in the little college town of Davis.

Davis is absolutely adorable and the co-op was the perfect place for picnic shopping! We were able to get a freshly baked loaf of a multigrain bread with pumpkin and sunflower seeds (yum!), 2 pears, a pint of strawberries, a bar of 70% cacao chocolate, blue cheese from a local dairy, havarti with dill and a very sharp white cheddar...all for $25! Delicious? Yes! In budget? Double yes! While we were sampling cheeses, we also spoke with a very nice woman who informed us that yes, we could take the freeway to Napa which is faster, but it would only take a few minutes longer to drive through the mountains and past the dam at Lake Berryessa and it was a much more beautiful drive and worth the extra minutes. We thanked her profusely and made our way to HWY 128 for one of the most gorgeous drives I have ever been on. Breathtaking only begins to describe it.



Our first stop in wine country was Frog's Leap Winery. I had read about Frog's Leap after doing a search for organic vineyards. Frog's Leap is not only organic, but they also do not use irrigation to grow their grapes, meaning that they rely only on the rain, a rarity in California. They also are completely solar powered and are using many other environmentally friendly and ethical practices in their business, for more information you can read this article.

This was, by far, my favorite stop of the trip. It was so beautiful and peaceful and the people who worked there were so kind and helpful. The tasting is $20/person and it is definitely worth it. In addition to 4-6 wine samples, they also bring out a plate with a delicious aged gouda, dried berries, almonds and breadsticks. You can enjoy your wine on the back porch of the building overlooking the vineyards or walking through the gardens, admiring the fig trees, flowers and chickens :) They also have cornhole, but I suggest setting down your wine glass before you throw the beanbag...not that I spilled any...





We almost didn't want to leave Frog's Leap, but we felt that we'd be doing ourselves a disservice if we didn't explore further! We didn't really have any plans other than: find cool wineries. We drove along a main rode and past names like Hall, BV, Sutter Home and other recognizable wines. (I didn't say good, just recognizable!) We stopped at V. Sattui but after walking about 10 feet from the parking lot towards the entrance, we realized that it was not for us. (Families, kinda crowded and loud, commercial)

We hit the road and I had to pull a U-turn to make it back to the "place where there are rosebushes at the end of each row of vines" aka Heitz Cellar which also happens to be an organic vineyard. It was a very beautiful place and the tasting was free of charge. We bought a bottle of the Sauvignon Blanc for about $20 (to have with dinner later) and then we got back into our little red car and started off again. (Pictures below: flowers and vineyards at Heitz Cellar)


While trying to find Sterling Vineyards, we accidentally stumbled onto Steltzner Vineyards (We were actually going to just turn around in their parking lot but decided to stay when we saw this hobbit door leading to their cellar)
The tasting here was $10 person, which we decided to split since I was driving. The man who poured for us was very nice and informed us that our trip would not be complete without a trip to Yountville. He made a few suggestions and after we finished our tasting, we made our way to Yountville.

Yountville is very quaint and the main street is lined with restaurants and tasting rooms. Our final stop was Hill Family Estate, a tasting room which offers tastings for $10/person. Again, we decided to share one since I was driving and honestly, I was starting to get sick of wine. I'm sure that's blasphemy, but I was over it! Both the owner and his son were on hand to say hello and the staff was kind enough to give us this complimentary plate of cheese, bread and prosciutto. (The cheese was a soft type of mozzarella that spread, I can't remember what it was called but it was really good) This place was cool because they create items that have been stained with red wine. They had a surf board stained with wine and the front wooden doors had also been stained. We got a bottle of Chardonnay for about $30.
Side note: the entire day we wanted to buy more wine as gifts, but we carried on our luggage and were unable to bring wine on the plane :( Even the tiny bottle of grapeseed oil I wanted to buy wouldn't have made it past security...boo

We walked along the main street in Yountville but then decided we were hungry and broke from our day of vino, so we decided to check out this little Mexican place in Napa called Taqueria Rosita that had an amazing vegetarian burrito ($5) and their chips and salsa were really good too :) Originally, we were looking for places that didn't charge a corkage fee so we could drink one of our bottles from the day, but after considering the almost 2 hour drive back to our hotel, I thought that would probably be a terrible idea! (I'm a super lightweight and Ryan had been fully participating all day in the tastings....we would have ended up sleeping in a Toyota Matrix on the side of the road...uncomfortable, probably illegal and all around terrible idea)

So that was our day in Napa! It was beautiful and I'm really glad we were able to do it and not go too far overboard on our budget. My favorite part was the drive out there and Frog's Leap, since it had such a relaxed atmosphere and beautiful gardens.

Goodbye Toby!

This was going to be a post about our trip to Napa last week, but before I get to that, I want to say goodbye to our furkid, Whirlewind Tobias Stud Mahler. He was a the most unusual, multidimensional animal that I have ever encountered. He had a medical condition called "mega esophagus" which caused him to throw up...all day...every day. When Ryan and I first started dating, I couldn't believe that this dog went through this much suffering and still managed to be so full of joy...that was 3.5 years ago and I still can't believe he maintained such a spirit under the circumstances. I also couldn't believe how big Ryan's heart was that he willingly took on this special dog, but now, I understand that it wasn't Toby who received the most benefit, it was Ryan and (when I came into the picture) it was also me.

This was a dog who maybe had some wires crossed in his brain and there were certain things that would make him (literally) crazy. If he was in the car or if he was on the other side of a babygate, he would try to bite you and would bark and growl and look like a homicidal maniac. The second he got out of the car or you crossed the babygate...it was as if his previous behavior had never occurred! He would rub up against your legs and give you all the love in the world, which was really his specialty...not the crazy part. You got the feeling that he felt slightly embarrassed after one of his episodes and he would walk around making a noise that sounded somewhat like muttering... justifying why he had to act the way he did. (If you haven't already noticed, we attributed a LOT of human emotions to our little Tobe-ster, but as any pet parent will tell you, it's almost impossible not to!)

In addition to his occasional crazed actions and his fits of puking...he was the most loving and sweet dog. He didn't care about food or toys like our other dog Romeo. He would come straight to us for some love and only after he was certain we didn't have any strength left in our arms to scratch his back, he would make his way over to his step stool, from which he would eat his blended food at an elevated position. It always seemed like such a shame to us that he threw up all the time and therefore, was unable to cuddle with us on the couch or sleep with us at night. Toby wanted so very badly to be a cuddler, but there were very few people who were willing to cuddle with him...nobody likes a lap full of partially digested dog food. I am so very thankful for all of the times I was able to cuddle him and hold him and tell him he was a good boy. I'm so grateful that he let me hold him when he was having one of his bad days and was barely able to stand up because he was so weak. I thank God that he was with his Grandma and his aunts when he died, so that he felt loved even though Ryan and I were not there.

I guess the point of this post is to say goodbye and that we will miss you Toby. Our house isn't the same without you and we will never forget you :)

We finally got her in the water!

It has taken us forever but we finally got "Insert Name Here" into the water! I cannot put the new name here yet because we have not yet done the renaming ceremony...this is very important. If we tick off the gods of the sea and the wind, we are in BIG trouble :)
On Saturday, we will break out the champagne with our family and rename our boat! It will go a little something like this:

"Oh mighty and great ruler of the seas and oceans, to whom all ships and we who venture upon your vast domain are required to pay homage, implore you in your graciousness to take unto your records and recollection this worthy vessel hereafter and for all time known as (Here insert the new name you have chosen), guarding her with your mighty arm and trident and ensuring her of safe and rapid passage throughout her journeys within your realm.

In appreciation of your munificence, dispensation and in honor of your greatness, we offer these libations to your majesty and your court. (At this point, one bottle of Champagne, less one glass for the master and one glass for the mate are poured into the sea from West to East.)

For the full renaming ceremony, you can visit this website.

It's all in good fun :)

After we rename our sailboat, we still have work to do! We have to take off ALL of the hardware on the boat...yay...and repaint the baby blue to a nice tan color. Then, we have to redo the cabin! Ryan says that we can put in bamboo on the floor and the walls...I think it would look really pretty, but we'll see if we can actually make it happen :) We also need to get a cushion for the bed area. We have cushions on the two bench type things in the galley area, and you could sleep two people there, but we still need one in the bow. Finally, when we have the boat exactly as we want it...it will be time to upgrade to a bigger boat! haha Well, we'll just enjoy it for now and learn how to be better "sailspeople".