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  • Day 3

    More Hikes and Tastings

    March 25, 2019 in the United States ⋅ 🌧 45 °F

    After a light breakfast and coffee, we started off the day with another hike in a nearby state park so we could see the redwoods. We walked for a solid 45 minutes before encountering a crossing point that was effectively washed out by the high waters. We spent a solid 5 minutes evaluating our chances of safely hopping across the rocks before writing it off as a potential vacation-ender. Still, the hike was still great, and we made friends with a little lizard that surprised Laura on the trail.

    Hungry again, we stopped in town on the way back to the hotel for a breakfast sandwich and coffee. We had an 11am fitness class that kicked our butt -- pretty sure I won't be able to lift my arms tomorrow.

    Suitably exercised, we showered and left for lunch at Lovina, a cute little place in Calistoga. Then, we headed to our tasting reservation at Barnett's Vineyard. This time it was Laura's turn to nap through a beautiful drive. We passed on renting Benz, which was too bad because the vineyard is 20 minutes up a winding climb that would have been pretty sweet. Still, it was fun even with the rental. We were a bit early, which worked in our benefit as it led to a pleasant surprise to find that we'd be enjoying a private tasting.

    It was low-key, and a good comparison point to the larger operations that we had seen thus far. It was a cloudy day, so we didn't quite get to experience the stunning vista of looking down into the valley, but the clouds did abate just enough for a short time to take it in and snap some photos. The icing on the cake was that the wines were pretty darn good, definitely the best non-bubbles that we've had on the trip. The guide was a perfect host, answering our many questions, and giving us recommendations of other stuff to try and see while we're in the valley.

    We took him up on one of the recommendations, stopping at Tank, which was a quirky prohibition-style operation running out of an old gas station. The wine was fairly good, but we didn't love the guy serving us / spinning his sales pitch.

    That was a good amount of wine, so it was nap time before dinner. We did elect to grab the cool car for the drive down to the restaurant in Yountville, where we destroyed some yummy pizzas. Quite a full day, with an early fitness class on the agenda in the morning, so we collapsed into bed and slept like rocks.
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