For our first outing in the wine region (since most of the vineyards did not open until 10am) we headed out to see Old Faithful which was about 5 minutes from our hotel in Calistoga. When we got there we were told that the geiser would be erupting in a few minutes. I guess in geiser talk, a few mintues means half an hour, but none the less we got to see the wonderful sight of a big stream of water shooting out of the earth.
I personally enjoyed when all of the people other than the smart ones (the Waglers and Cressmans) got wet by the spray and fled for cover. We were wise enough to notice where the ground was wet from the last display and obviously stood where it wasn't.
Visiting a wonder of nature always makes me want to see some goats as well. Just my luck, this place also had some random goats. So, much to Jesse's dismay because he thought they smelled, I paid a quarter and fed them, and then rubbed my hands in his face.
A little more interesting than the run of the mill goats which really had nothing to do with geisers, there was a little pen with fainting goats. Supposedly when startled, these goats stiffen up and fall over. Now I'm sure if this were my dad's blog he would have said something along the lines of, "well they must be broken because they didn't faint when they saw mom." But I am not going to make that comment. I will say that I did try startling the goats and nothing happened. I also paid another quarter and fed these goats as well, and again I rubbed my hands in Jesse's face.
Our first wine stop was at a winery that I don't remember the name of. Maybe my parents will look on the bottle of wine that they bought and let me know. We didn't stay long, just tasted a bit of wine and that was it. The views of the surrounding vineyard were much more interesting.
The next stop on our journey was the Grove Street Winery which was located in Healdsburg. We chose this winery because in our free winery tour book it said that the tastings were free. This winery was a little different from the last. It was pretty much just a big warehouse within the town. The guy running it was very nice though and there were snacks offered along with the wine.
I personally enjoyed when all of the people other than the smart ones (the Waglers and Cressmans) got wet by the spray and fled for cover. We were wise enough to notice where the ground was wet from the last display and obviously stood where it wasn't.
Visiting a wonder of nature always makes me want to see some goats as well. Just my luck, this place also had some random goats. So, much to Jesse's dismay because he thought they smelled, I paid a quarter and fed them, and then rubbed my hands in his face.
A little more interesting than the run of the mill goats which really had nothing to do with geisers, there was a little pen with fainting goats. Supposedly when startled, these goats stiffen up and fall over. Now I'm sure if this were my dad's blog he would have said something along the lines of, "well they must be broken because they didn't faint when they saw mom." But I am not going to make that comment. I will say that I did try startling the goats and nothing happened. I also paid another quarter and fed these goats as well, and again I rubbed my hands in Jesse's face.
Our first wine stop was at a winery that I don't remember the name of. Maybe my parents will look on the bottle of wine that they bought and let me know. We didn't stay long, just tasted a bit of wine and that was it. The views of the surrounding vineyard were much more interesting.
The next stop on our journey was the Grove Street Winery which was located in Healdsburg. We chose this winery because in our free winery tour book it said that the tastings were free. This winery was a little different from the last. It was pretty much just a big warehouse within the town. The guy running it was very nice though and there were snacks offered along with the wine. Lucky for us, well lucky for Ed, we came to the area on the weekend of the Olive Festival so next on our list of things to do was to visit an Olive press that was having an open house. We were a little disappointed about the open house. The tour was just a chance to look through a window at the press, and the rest was pretty much a way to get us to buy the expensive olive oil. I think there were tastings but we passed.
After the Olive Press we headed back to Calistoga. We took a really cool winding road through the hills that separated the two valleys. Upon seeing this sign Ed just didn't understand why the roads would be "icky".
After the Olive Press we headed back to Calistoga. We took a really cool winding road through the hills that separated the two valleys. Upon seeing this sign Ed just didn't understand why the roads would be "icky".
This was a statue that we saw in front of a little restaurant on our travels.
Our final stop for the day was a visit to Mumm Napa Vineyards. The place was a little fancy for our likings and the tasting was expensive so we just looked around.
Back in Calistoga the annual Christmas Tractor parade was happening that night. So of course we had to stand out and watch. Sorry about the quality of the pictures, I haven't figured out how to take shots of christmas lights in the dark that are on tractors that are moving. Maybe next time.
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