Western Wine, Food, & Dog Adventures: Napa

This morning we began with an early morning fire and watched the sun rise over the ocean while we enjoyed our energy bars and coffee. Then we took Sparta for a walk in the Vandamme Park next door to our inn, The Little River Inn.

After packing we set off for Napa via highway 20 . . . a total nightmare of 33 miles, 27 of them hard right followed by hard left over and over and over . . . .etc. . . . Sparta and I were miserable the entire way . . . happily we recovered when we reached state highway 101.

We had lunch in Calistoga and then proceeded to Dutch Henry Winery where Sparta could meet Sadie, the Airedale wine dog. We had read about Sadie and looked forward to Sparta getting to romp with her. As it turned out the owners now have a younger Airedale named Maddie as well as Sadie . . . Maddie took an immediate dislike to Sparta, but eventually Sparta and Sadie managed to have a play time in the tasting room. What a fun place for Sparta. We didn't think the wines were all that terrific, but that was not why we went there.

Folie a Deux was our last wine stop . . .they are combined with Napa Cellars . . . very good wines at a reasonable prices. . . we drank a bottle of Napa Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon with our sushi tonight.

After Folie a Deux we drove to our new home for the next 3 nights . . .it is the bottom floor of a house . . .no real kitchen but does have a fridge and some appliances, an outdoor grill we can use, a hot tub, and internet access. It also includes some free wine tastings . . . it will work for us. The owner provided us with a book of trails, restaurant recommendations, grocery stores, etc. so we took Sparta for a hike on an off leash trail she recommended. While we were hiking Sparta made friends with a little Jack Russell and older mixed breed dog. Their human was chatting on the phone . . . fate smiled on us because we were searching for a sushi place to pick up our dinner. When Gia, the dogs' human, ended her phone conversation I asked her if she knew a sushi place. She did . . .and it was great. Turns out she is in the food service business and has her own food truck that serves healthy wraps. We are planning to lunch at her truck on Monday . . .very nice young woman who gave good directions.

My son, Tommy, just finished helping me solve a technical problem with the computer. Jon and I enjoyed our chat with him as well as his computer savvy. Thanks Tommy.