dog gone it! so sorry there were several typos in the last "unfinished " post. My big ole paws hit publish before I had a chance to edit or finish. I'll try to do better.
Well, where were we....ahhh let me try to pick up the scent.....oh yeah toothbrush, bad breath....Good Boy!
Turning off I-5, we took the road to the Napa Valley and what a wild ride it turned out to be!!!!!!!!!!!We started the climb up the beautiful mountain, with it's sheer cliffs and roadways cutting a swath into solid rock....THEN, oh boy..the roller coaster ride begin with the cries of mommy telling daddy (A.J. Foyt Jr) to slow down, mainly because she didn't have a bottle of wine at the ready when we started our descent down into Calistoga. Every turn was 45 degree downward angles, with squealing wheels, er...maybe that was mommy, anyhoo...around every turn, just like the car commercials where they show the tire turning sharply on steep hills and canyons....actually this, according to our friend Mitch in SF, is where they film and shoot the footage. Every open space down the mt was better than the one before, giving us glimpses of vineyards and wide fields framed by the towering pines that hugged the road that guided us downward into the NAPA VALLEY.
We rolled into the quaint, folksy town of Calistoga, cruised it a bit, parked and we all walked around checking out the stores and numerous B & Bs that dotted the town.
Mom had her heart set on getting a mud bath so we made appointments for the next am.
Now all we had to do was get something to eat and find a place to sleep that night...the sun was setting fast folks.....food won out, of course, as dad had HIS heart set on going to Taylor's Automatic Refresher. He's been going on about it since he saw it featured on "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives", a Food Network Show. The anticipation was thick as we drove up and saw the crowd of hungry, growling, people clustered around this cute little drive-in with bikes of all shapes and sizes on top of the place. Picnic tables surrounded the joint and mom and dad rushed up to get in line, mouths watering, and ordered 1)an ahi burger, piled high with Asian Slaw, ginger wasabi mayo, seared rare on a toasted egg bun 2)Fish Tacos, which were Mahi Mahi in a spicy taco marinade, Mexican slaw, salsa, and jalapeno-cilantro sour cream 3) sweet potato fries, dusted in chili spice and a half bottle of wine.
An hour later, totally sated and ready to collapse we had to find a place to stay, its hard to find a dog friendly place in this little corner of the world. But the travel Gods were on our side as we rolled into a little motel called El Bonita, just down the road from the drive-in. Dad walked in a found out that the only room they had left was the Honeymoon Suite........usually priced at $259.00 a night, for us, $100.00.....with a catch,natch....no a/c. Did I tell you yet that the temperature was about 92 degrees? We were desperate, so we took it, lugged 50 suitcases up to the 3rd floor and opened all the windows, jumped in the pool, cooled off and congratulated ourselves on our great find. It soon cooled off and was a perfect ending to a great 10 hour driving trip.
We got up and departed for Calistoga for the mud bath experience at Dr. Wilkenson's Mudd Baths. Here's what happens, for all you novices out there. You get totally naked and you lower yourself into a rectangular shaped pit, brimming with black, stinking mud. Then the attendant pushes more mud on your chest as you lie back and rest your head back on a little pillow, while cucumber slices are placed over your eyes and a facial goop is smeared on your face. At least that smells nice. Then you just lie there suspended in MUD...for about 30 minutes,its very blissful in a way if you can get past the smell and the pressure of a lot of weight sitting on you and its a little claustrophobic as well. You also get a cold wet towel plopped on your forehead. Next comes a shower, followed by a soaking bath with jets for another 30 minutes, then an interlude in the steam bath...until you can't stand it any longer, 15 minutes tops for most.After, you're led to a booth to lie down wrapped in towels waiting for your 30 minute massage....of course you're jelly at this point, but its over and all is well with the world. Except..........you're starved, so we headed back to Taylor's Automatic Refresher and had the ahi burger again and Chinese Chicken Salad and a blueberry shake and a white pistachio shake....dad loves that place!!!!!! as you have guessed by now.
Now the wine tasting begins, so I got locked up in the room and by the way the a/c got fixed. The adults then hit the Clos du Val winery and the Silverado Winery...tasted, tasted, tasted and bought a slew of wines in various colors. It was fun but hot again, (94 degrees) so mom wanted to see the city of Napa so they headed down the road and traversed through Napa, Oakville, Yountville, and finally walked through St. Helena and visited several quaint shops.
Arriving back at the El Bonita, we walked a bit and hit the pool...now its time for bed and Project Runway!
Love to all, next stop, San Francisco to see Uncle Mitch, Zuni Cafe, Muir Woods and god knows what else.
Barclay J&J
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