Road Trip Seattle to San Francisco - Day 12 – Geyser, Napa Valley, Wine Tasting and Napa

[anji]

Road Trip Seattle to San Francisco - Day 12 – Geyser, Napa Valley, Wine Tasting and Napa

From -2 in Crater Lake 2 days ago, we were now in brilliant sunshine and +33!

We picked up our breakfast from the reception area – coffee, fruit and pastries – and had another walk around Williams. We stopped into Granzella’s gift shop which was jam packed with the most amazing stuff, most of which I wouldn’t give house room to!

Across the street the Granzella’s Deli was doing a roaring trade with people buying their breakfasts, sandwiches and coffees. They have a great range of beers as well as their wine room.

We checked out of the Traveller’s Inn and set off again on Highway 9 towards Clearlake and then to Napa. Bear Creek Vista point was lovely.

We stopped for a break in Hidden Valley and got some coffees at the Hidden Valley Food Mart. This again had a gas station attached and was popular.

I then took over the driving (we fight over who drives as we both love it!) and drove towards Robert Louis Stevenson State Park. This road skirts Mount St Helena and consisted of around 40 hairpin bends, up and down. Luckily there were no steep drops so it was fun to do.

We then turned right into Tubbs Lane, Calistoga. This is where the Old Faithful Geyser is – not to be confused with the Old Faithful in Yellowstone Park! I’d been looking forward to seeing it as we’d seen the geysers in Iceland last year and I imagined it to be like that!

We went to the desk and the lady said that the geyser wasn’t doing it’s thing today. It was only erupting about 3 feet every 10 minutes instead of 80 feet every 40 minutes! She said this was really rare as it never does this and the last time it changed the pattern there was an earthquake 4 days later – thank you lady! She was genuinely worried and said she would be the first one over the fence if something happened. She also offered us a free ticket to come back anytime this year when it had started to behave again!

The area was well laid out with chairs and cabanas for people to view the geyser and have picnics. We watched the geyser have a few splutters.

There’s also a petting area with Tennessee Fainting Goats! We bought some goat food and fed them. I love how soft their mouths are when they feed. No fainting today though and I wasn’t about to scare them into it. Check out fainting goats on YouTube if you’ve not heard of them.

The geyser was still just gurgling so we left it to it. Heading towards San Francisco with ‘earthquake in 4 days’ in my head …..

Our next stop was Sterling Winery. I’d looked at loads of options for a visit and tasting but settled on Sterling, mainly because you take a cable car to get there! It was $29 for 5 different wines and a self-guided tour, plus souvenir glass. The gondolas on the cable car held 4 people each and climbed up to the top in about 5 minutes. We had some wonderful views on the way.

The tour was great and so all of the wines! In total you probably get a whole glass of wine but you could have gone back for topups if you’d wanted to. We sat in the sun on the terraces and admired the valley below us.

The machinery wasn’t in use while we were there as it was out of wine-making season but was all very impressive, especially the barrells!

The cable car came down on a different route, which was a good idea.

We continued down the valley and stopped in St Helena. We visited Dean & DeLuca, an upmarket food store. There were so many free samples here too! We bought some delicious cookies and another coffee (Will needs his fix!).

Our hotel in Napa was The Three Palms Napa Valley Hotel & Suites. I was shocked at the prices of hotels in Napa and this was actually the most expensive night of the whole trip at $164. It was one of the cheapest yet was perfectly placed in the centre of town, near the river and also had a pool and free parking – result!

Will had a swim in the pool before we went out for the evening. We had a long walk around the town and really liked the place. We had dinner at a restaurant on the Waterfront called The Pear Southern Bistro. Everywhere was very busy, probably as it was a Saturday night.

We did more walking and then had drinks in a busy bar called Ca’Momi Osteria, where we sat up at the bar.

Back to the hotel and had a great sleep before our journey tomorrow to San Francisco, earthquakes permitting!

Index -
http://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/show...4#post11770434

[parisdisneyfan]

Wow, when the locals are worried I would worry. Will look forward to hearing more, but didn't hear anything on the news while you were away so guess it stayed quiet!

Really enjoying your report and making note, thank you for sharing

[anji]

Hi Julia - glad you're enjoying the reports. Just wait and see!

[Melbatb]

Eek - that must have been a bit worrying! Sounds like it was a lovely day otherwise!

[Disney Wishing]

Sterling Winery is beautiful. We loved our visit there. That last dessert they give you was delicious.