California Re-Do, part 3

Friday, May 14th was our last full day in the San Francisco area. We got up earlyish and attempted to find Mark a hat to block the sun. Despite visiting a dedicated hat store and a drug store, we weren't successful due to his giant head, LOL. So we were hoping to find a Target before our vineyard trip, but we got stuck in traffic and had to nix that idea. So, around Petaluma we got off the freeway, got some Subway (so much better than Florida!!) and drove through some small towns on our way to Napa.

More after the jump!

I picked Robert Mondavi for our tour, as it had really good reviews online. We got there pretty early, and found Mark a hat in the gift shop, so that crisis was averted! We were the youngest people in our group, but we had a really good time. We aren't "wine people", but definitely learned a lot and it was a great experience.

Giant tanks for wine

Barrels of wine - matured in these after the big tanks

After the tour, we finally got to taste some different wines!

After our tour and tasting, we drove through Napa a bit, and then headed toward Walnut Creek. This is essentially the area we would like to live if we were able to afford it. It took a while to get there due to traffic, of course. But once we were there, we loved it. We stopped at Target, went to Barnes and Noble, and then went out to dinner at a tapas restaurant called Va de Vi. After dinner, we made the beautiful drive back to San Francisco. I couldn't believe it only took about 20-25 minutes! It really solidified our desire to live there. Unfortunately, it won't be possible for a very long time, if ever. :(

On our drive back, we decided that we would just take the exorbitant charge the hotel charged for parking in order to facilitate leaving in the morning. We drove past the valet area, saw no signs or parking attendants, and then headed into the garage. As we were on the ramp, we knew it was wrong. Apparently the garage was valet only! There was only one ramp in and out, and it was one lane, and it spiraled blindly. There were giant SUVs parked all down the ramp. We got down into the parking area, and cars were double and triple parked all over. It was dark and scary knowing we shouldn't be down there! We were afraid to attempt to go back up the ramp in case someone else was coming down. So, we squeezed the car into the only space we could find and walked back out. We got to the top of the ramp and there was a big metal gate down, locking us in!! Luckily, the parking attendant wasn't too far away so we shouted a bit and he came to rescue us. We then had to explain our embarrassing story - the gate was up, there was no one there, there were no signs, we thought we could self-park. We gladly handed over the keys and assured him that we didn't hit any cars when he asked (he seemed surprised!). We went back to our room very embarrassed, but relieved to be out of that garage!!!