Perfect Timing

Everyone got off ok this morning.  Each set going at a different time and a different direction.  Steve and Jennifer left first, heading off to Sacramento airport.  Then Debbie and Joe left to the Santa Rosa airport.  Their flight was delayed like Sharon's had been the night before.  We had breakfast with Jamie, Pam and Linda before they left to go to San Francisco Airport.  Nathan went with them since he was flying out of SFO.  We were the last ones.  We checked out at 1130 am.  Just before checking out we heated up some left-overs for our lunch.

We were being very leisurely.  We thought our flight was at 1:50 pm so we got on the road before noon.  As we were driving a long I checked the ticket and realized that the time had been changed.  It was at 1:15 pm.  Argh.  Can't really speed up on those windy roads.  Luckily Santa Rosa is very small.  We turned in the car, went through security (the one big question they asked us is if we had any wine).  We had time to sit about 10 minutes before they started boarding.  Whew.  Then once we got to Portland, we scurried to the MAX and caught one just before it left.  Giselle met us.  I had time once we got home, to go on a walk with Giselle.  So we lucked out with each of our connections.  

All in all it was a very nice get together.

Gosh, another hot day!!

We tried a different coffee shop this morning.  It was more expensive and the coffee was not anything special.  So instead of having breakfast there Debbie, Joe and I decided on Sam' Social Club for breakfast.  It was one we had unsuccessfully tried to make a dinner reservation.

I had an egg, corn barrata (cheese) dish that was quite good. 

There was a labyrinth close that we walked.  That was fun.

Then we divided up.  Some people went to rent bikes to cycle out to the Old Faithful Geyser of Calistoga.  Steve, Jennifer, Joe, Debbie and I drove out to the Old Faithful Geyser.  

cute baby goat - only 5 days old

Where the geyser is

Note, the evil eyes, Joyce this picture is for you.

here it goes

quite a sight.  

seen one geyser, seen them all

the Chateau Montelane was close so we went so that I could take some pictures.  It was a beautiful place

after everyone got back to the hotel we picked a place for lunch.  Brannan's 

quite the sandwich

quite the mouthful 

after lunch we went back and did our afternoon swim.  Then Jamie and Pam had to take Sharon to the Santa Rosa airport to send her off.

While they were gone we went to one of the wine tasting places, Romeo's.  We tasted enough to each pick a wine we wanted to drink and then we sat outside and relaxed.  Very nice ambiance.

Fun place to hang out

My attempts at an arty shot

Nathan gave me a hard time by taking his picture.  Then we headed to dinner.  

French Creole cuisine.  

heirloom tomatoes, grilled green tomatoes and mozzarella cheese. very good.

steak frites for me.

It is waxing towards a full moon.

Some of us did not have the ice cream after dinner.  Then we went back to Jamie and Pam's and relaxed.  We are not likely to see Steve and Jennifer in the morning.  They will head off to Sacramento airport.  Debbie and Joe will leave around 7 pm to go to Santa Rosa airport.  Hard to believe that our time together is winding down.  Indian, Italian, Californian, American and French foods.  A lot of local wines.  Some tours.  A lot of relaxing by the pool.  Trying to stay cool during the afternoons especially.  Ice cream, ice cream and more ice cream. Hiking, biking ans swimming.  I think we actually did quite a bit.  

Calistoga

A few comments about Calistoga. This is a very small town.  Santa Rosa is the best airport to use.  But during the summer it is very hot.  There are some things to do around here that we are not doing because of the heat or the expense.  One downtown street. Everything is easy walking within a couple of blocks.  About 10 wine tasting places - we have only done 2, hardly any churches.  A lot of places to hike, A lot of restaurants, but some do not handle large groups.  I could not believe the number of vineyards that we passed driving here, one right after another.  Gorgeous area. A lot of hot spring stuff that we have not taken advantage of.  A lot to do here, but I am not sure that I would rush out to try to come here again.  

Another Sunny Day!

/Debbie, Joe and I met for our first cup of coffee at the Calistoga Roastery and then we moved to an organic coffee place for our second cup.  I had decaf, but it was good.  Then we went back to the Roastery to join everyone for breakfast.

The plan this morning was to go to the Robert Lewis Stevenson State Park and hike.  We found a place that was a little too hard for me but I survived it.  We did end at a gorgeous view point.

the siblings

Madrone tree, interesting bark

fun rocks to climb on and a great view

Jamie taking a selfie ... no wait it was a panorama picture

Going down was oh, so much easier.  We got back to the hotel in time to go for lunch at a close deli.  Debbie and I shared a sandwich.  

Then Debbie, Joe and I went for beer tasting.  Only to find that they did not have beer tasting.  I had a hard cider and Joe had a beer at the Hydro Grill.

While we were doing that some people came back to the pool. 

2:30 pm we met back in Jamie and Pam's room to get ready for our Costello di Amorosa (castle of Love) for our wine tour.  http://www.castellodiamorosa.com/ Cool place.  We had a 3:10 tour, which included a bunch of tastings.  It was fun. 

Dario built this castle in 1994-2007 approximately.  He wanted to recreate the feel of an authentic Tuscan Castle within the rules of construction in USA today.  We had a tour of the whole castle, ending in the dungeon for wine tasting. 

great hall

sitting in the hot seat in the torture chamber

some people did the chocolate wine pairing

It was chilly so they had some cloaks for people

what a fun time

very nice live music during dinner

I had a ruby tini (ruby grapefruit martini)

and a vegetarian gnocchi - yummy

And then we had to go for ice cream at our favorite spot, the sugar train. 

We went on a short walk and then to Jamie and Pam's room to visit.  We brought wine, cheese, chocolate and olives.  Quite a feast.  You would think that we had never seen food before.  All in all a great day (other than the heat)