Day 3: Up, Up and No Way!

A 6am wake up call that went off like an air raid siren had us up, dressed and waiting at Charles M. Schultz When-I-Grow-Up-I-Want-To-Be-An-Airport Airport within an hour this morning. Two other couples and us stood together in the early morning not-quite-light awaiting word from Mike, The Hot Air Balloon Boss as to whether the low fog was going to lift enough for us to go up. By 7:30 it was evident (as in, "clear") that the fog was getting thicker, not thinner. To everyone's dismay, Mike scrubbed the mission but we agreed to give it another shot tomorrow. Fortunately, Mike suggested that we meet an hour later...


We shifted to Plan B and headed off toward Napa Valley for the day. Our first stop today was Cline Vineyard - whose Red Truck is a long-time favorite of Linette's. We were both so taken in by the Jacuzzi mansion, we failed to notice the entrance to Cline - directly across the street! When the road ended 10 miles further down, we figured out our mistake and turned around. Turns out the Clines are related to the Jacuzzi's...which probably explains why wine and hot tubs go so well together (yes, that Jacuzzi family) and also why their properties are located across the street from each other. Getting lost wasn't problem however...we still managed to get there 20 minutes before they opened. Which gave us time to explore the grounds - complete with numerous water features, out-buildings, burro's and THE RED TRUCK!!! It was like seeing Mickey Mouse at Disneyland!


The proprietors were as generous as the pours at this tasty tasting. Not only were the tastings free - our half-Canadian pour-er threw in a discount and a free wine transport box. Who says Manitoba's not a good place to be "from"? :o)


In sharp contrast, our next stop was barely one step up from a drive-thru tasting...and $15. After sipping and spitting our way through four nasty (er, I mean "very dry") samples, we rewarded ourselves with a nip into Mumm Napa, where we enjoyed a stroll thru their Ansel Adams gallery and a flight of two white and one beautiful ruby red, sparkling wines in the sunshine out on the patio.


The whites were great. Those with an affinity for mouldy grape skins might have enjoyed the red a little better than we did!


Frog's Leap, a lovely organic estate was next. Here we (finally!!!) enjoyed some delightful local treats along with our flight of wines. Although the wines were great, the scenery really outshone them all. Such a beautiful property and such warm and welcoming hosts!
















It was well past lunchtime at this point so we headed into St. Helena for lunch. Those of you who've seen the movie, Bottle Shock will recognize that name. Another superb meal and then we were back on the road, headed down to Francis Ford Coppola's Rubicon Estate.


Rubicon is another gorgeous estate - something literally right out of the movies. (Nicholas Cage is FF Coppola's nephew).

Well beyond being interested in any more wine tasting for a while, we headed back into St. Helena to top up Mark's chocolate stash and then sped north of town to catch the last few minutes daylight at Castello di Amorosa. Mark was so taken by this place, it would likely have been the only stop of the day if we had come here first.













Calistoga and dinner beckoned. We responded. This main street had more exceptional restaurants per square foot than the town had people!

After dinner we made our way back to Santa Rosa via another long, narrow and windy road (seems to be the only kind they build out here).

We're keeping our fingers crossed that the fog won't interfere with our hot air balloon plans for tomorrow!