Leaving Gualala on a sunny Saturday morning with the coastal mist embracing the coastline was a awesome way to begin our day. This part of California is not what we expected. The closer we got to San Francisco the more cattle ranches we went through. It just seems so rural. The peace really got to us which in no way prepared us for the onslought of the Napa Valley on a sunny February weekend. Arghhhhh!!!   We arrived in Napa just before noon.... found tourist information where they convinced us we would just love Yountville. It was still early so we decided that would be the place to book in for a couple of nights. Nope! We got (possibly) the last room in town. It was OK but not worth the price we paid. Seems when the sun shines (in February) everyone wants to go wine tasting. Starving we decided to head towards the V. Sattui Winery where we could buy good food for a picnic. Hmmmm.... really good idea but it took us over an hour to get from the line up to the till. Arghhhhh   Anyway, we did have an amazing meal but passed on the wine tasting there because they were lined up 3 deep. Did a little drive around and did a wine tasting at Castle Winery. Not impressed with the wine but we had to dive in somewhere. With all the stretch limos and mini buses going in and out of the wineries we decided to make this a sight seeing day and save the tasting for Sunday. Really (REALLY) good idea.
Sunday, Superbowl Sunday, is next to dead at wineries. We had an awesome day. Began by making reservations in Napa City at the Ben Abri French Country Inn. With a nice place to sleep guaranteed we headed north to do some tasting, both wine and food. The sun shine added such a nice touch to the day. We took our time going up and down the valley ending up at Napa city around 4PM. Checked in to our lovely room and walked downtown for some exercise. There are a number of empty store fronts here as well. Wandered around a bit... did some shopping... ate a little in a tavern while watching the first half of the game then wandered back to our room for the evening.
Tomorrow we head to Monterey for a couple of nights. I guess the crowds here are a good way to get geared up for the more populous south. We really are country people at heart.   Love the hype here in Napa but long for those lonely stretches of crashing waves and craggy cliffs.
On to the next adventure.



`