So, we did it. Six girls, eight different airports (Burbank, Oakland, Sacramento, Houston, Chicaco, Phoenix, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas), two cars, and a lot of walking. We arrived in Calistoga by storm, stopping only to eat and so that the pregnant lady/trainer we brought with us could pee. We had only a minor emergency when we realized that the hotel office was going to close before we got there, but after a 20 minute marathon of two cell phones being on hold, we finally warned them of our late arrival and were assured the keys would be waiting for us. Luckily, they were. So, Joy, Colleen and I arrived first and went on a nice speed walking tour of downtown Calistoga, dodging the nightlifers wandering the streets (it was quite a scene, us in our walking shoes and sports bras, walking quickly past people in heels and short skirts). Cara, Cindy and Karin arrived a little while later and we spent the night solving the worlds problems and catching up on life.
Saturday morning, my pregnant trainer, Joy, got us up before the sun for a nice 3 miles walk through the vineyards. Luckily, I was on Houston time, so 6:30 am was really 8:30am and I was good to go. However, not so lucky was the fact that my running shoes were in the other hotel room, so I was doing this walk in flip flops. My ankles still have not forgiven me. After the walk (which was just our room, so Joy and Colleen and me) we picked up Cindy, who also jet lagged was reading outside, and we went to the pools. Minerals pools are just like regular pools, only warmer, and you sort of have to question their cleanliness, since there is no chlorine. We hung out there until about 9am, (the others eventually joined us) and then we all got cleaned up and went out for breakfast:
We ate some great food and then decided to check out the local farmer's market (this was really so Cara and I could go on our secret baby shower mission). So, while Cindy, Colleen, Karin and Joy took pictures of weird looking vegetable doing even weirder things, Cara and I went to the grocery store to find some cheese and cake for the happy hour that afternoon. Turns out, happy hour started a lot earlier than 4pm, as we decided to hit up some wineries following the quick shopping trip. So, 6 women pile into a car made for five, with Cindy in the back cage area:
Mondavi was first, which was good because we worked the system enough to get two free tastings, and we were all feeling the affects soon after…
our Napa DD was with us, so Joy took over the wheel and took us to the Sparkling wine place, Mumm Winery.
A few more glasses of sparkling wine and some picture taking, and we moved on to find a smaller more intimate winery. We eventually found one, where we met Rob, who was more than happy to pour us wine and take lots of pictures of us in the winery.
He also gave us free wine tasting coupons for another winery, but that was in the wrong direction, so despite Cindy's best effort from her cage in the trunk of the car, we decided to skip it. We made it back to the hotel a little tipsy and a little tired, and set up a quick baby shower/happy hour on the front porch, complete with Champagne, cheese, fruit, and cheesecake. What more could you want?
Joy got some great personalized onesies from the group, and we all had a good time watching Cindy hit herself, and then Colleen, with the cork from the Champagne bottle.
Good thing no one was seriously hurt, since we were all cracking up over this occurrence. We polished off a nice amount of food and then decided a walk was in order (well, a nap first, then a walk), so we wandered around for a while, sort of looking for a cheap nail place for some people to have their toe nails painted, and finding only very expensive spas instead. Our trainer told us this walk could count for our evening exercise, so we were all excited to not have her cracking the whip on us later that night. We went to the Calistoga Inn for dinner, had an interesting experience with the waiter which ended in Joy discussing life with the manager, and then wandered around for a little while longer before retreating to the hotel. We solved some more of the world's problems and then passed out before midnight, amid fears of the early morning marathon our pregnant trainer had planned. The 6:30am alarm went off around midnight, due to some clock malfunctioning, but I was able to go right back to sleep until about 5:30am, when I just sort of watched the sun rise from my bed, through the thick curtains next to me. 6:30am we embarked on a longer walk, going for nearly two hours through vineyards, past a roller skating race, and below some hot air balloons. Cara educated us about scat, and Joy taught us a song about a car, and we walked happily through some beautiful scenery (this is the best picture I took). I checked it out on Google maps, we walked just over 5 miles during this loop, and it was probably the best part of the weekend, just being outside, watching the sun come up and enjoying some quite time or some fun talks. We finished our walk with another dip in the pool before some of the group went for mud baths and the rest of us got some breakfast. ONce breakfst was over, we had to get on the road. We said good bye to Joy and Colleen, who were heading north, and set out for Oakland. An hour and a half later, we pulled into Berkeley to stop for lunch, where else but Barney's. The Berkeley girls showed Cindy what Barney's was all about, curly fries and all, and then made our way to the airport.
Perhaps the airport was the down point in the weekend, but in more positive terms, it made for an interesting end to a nice weekend. My flight was delayed to Phoenix, which meant I was going to miss my connection to Houston. After explaining this pleasantly to the man at the Southwest counter, it took him five minutes to tell me that I was, in fact, going to miss my connection. After I thanked him for pointing out what I already told him, Cindy and I spent 30 minutes working with him to get me on the next available flight. Only after a supervisor came out and showed him that I could take the LAX flight did he get me on something, but this was not before he was about the have me fly to Burbank and spend the night, and then book a flight on my own the next day. And when he did notice the LAX flight, it was apparenlty my fault that I hadn't mentioned LAX as a possibly layover city. Right. The good people at Southwest need a few bolts tightened, it seems.
Anyway, I eventually made it home, bright and early at 2am on Monday morning. And despite a hiccup at the airport, the weekend was fantastic. I think possibly the best girls weekend yet! And, on another note, there is a Fenton's in the Oakland airport, for those of you who fly through. Gate 28, check it out.
Do I need to threaten people to comment? Just wondering.
