Wine, wine and more wine...

Yesterday then... One word. WINE!!


Our morning was spent walking around downtown Napa. Which is a delightful old town - As you walk around, you feel as though you're wandering through a film. We watched the Napa Valley Wine Train go past, and stopped off at Ben & Jerry's for Elevenses (two large scoops of ice-cream at 11am isn't easy to eat).


The afternoon was all about the grape.


First up was Beringer. An old, old, old winery - it dates from the 1800s. Initial impressions were more than favourable. A stunning old building (a recreation of the Beringer's family home in Germany), lots of old, tall trees and a fair few vines. 


The tour started well. Our guide Tim - a wirey, grey-haired chap with an astonishing knowledge of the wine-making process - had a little banter with me about my 'NY' cap (only worn becuase it's the only one I had). Then it was into the underground tunnels where the wines are kept at a constant, year-round 16C. We then headed to a tasting room where four tiny glasses of wine were poured. To go with the wines, we had a salty bread stick, some Swiss cheese, and a white chocolate apricot truffle. We were taught how to match wines with food (the red wine/ red meat, white wine/ white meat thing, isn't actually right - it's all about matching the wine to the taste of the food).


After the tour finished, we made a break for the car, and headed to the Mondavi winery.


If you're ever in the position for visit Napa, go to Mondavi. It's much more relaxed, open and generally 'better' than Beringer (nothing to do with me doing a good job of financing the place). 


Our Mondavi guide, Robert, was a genial, funny guy with a knowledge that matched Tim's, but with a better way of expressing it. We were taken around the wine-making facilities (something that didn't happen at Beringer). The scale of the operation is mind-boggling, but without compromising the quality, taste and flavour of the wine. 400+ acres of vines, making a huge array of wines - from the affordable, to the aspirational. We got to taste some of the higher - mid-range wines (around the $50 mark) with a small, freshly baked mossarella ball, to compliment the wines.


Mondavi was by far the better of the two wineries. Not just because of the feel of the place, not because it was better value (although it was), but because they were more open and up-front about their processes. It was more 'fun' too.


We finished the day having a look at the Napa food festival that takes place every so often along the length of Main Street and some of the surrounding roads.


A (large) bottle of Mondavi was bought at a local store, along with some cable ties for the satnav (sitting in the window of the car was causing it to overheat)

Current milage: 112

Waiting...

The trip here wasn't too bad - the flight (on BA) was pleasant enough, a little hot, but otherwise fine. Good choice of films too. I went for Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol - pretty good & Hugo - I got 10 minutes in and realised that a 5 inch, low resolution screen wasn't doing it justice. I stated to watch Sherlock Holmes: Book of Shadows, then I realised that I had a good version of Sherlock (Moffat's) on my tablet, and decided to watch that instead.


Then...


Then came the waiting. 


Waiting at immigration for 45 minutes (due to the thorough, but heavy-handed security measures). Then, and this was baffling and infuriating in equal measure, waiting for 15 minutes for one of three lifts - that's THREE lifts - for everyone that is hiring a car. More waiting for the train to get to the car rental (a fun thing to do, but it really needs two trains - one going in each direction. It took seven stops between arrivals and car pickup!


More waiting for the car (little tip, don't go with Dollar - not because they're bad, but because they're VERY popular). 25 minutes later we were packing our bags into the back of a 2012 Ford Escape.


Then came my biggest fear - that the tech wouldn't work.


...


It did. Perfectly.


If you're after a great satnav app for your phone, go with Sygic. Apart from using the Incredibly. Clipped. British. Accent. That. Pauses. After. Each. Word it was great. We missed a turn, and we were rerouted before I even realised. 


Maybe driving through San Francisco at rush hour wasn't the smartest move either (however, if we could've got through immigration/ car etc more quickly, we would've missed it). It was worth it though. 


The sight of the Golden Gate Bridge in the distance as we crested a hill was more than worth it. 




The drive to Napa was stunning as well. Huge hills and vineyards everywhere.

Pant-wetting excitment - nearly

D: I'd like to point out that I'm writing this at 6.40 in the morning. Damn hayfever alarm clock - wakes me up at 6 whether I want to or not. So if it's rambling, or makes little sense, that's my Get Out Of Jail card.

Anyhoo...

It's exactly two weeks 'til we fly to the States. Time, I think, to start thinking about what to take. Tech-wise, it's easy - lots of chargers. Clothing-wise however, is a totally different problem.

See, we'll have - more-or-less - three seasons of temperature to play with. From the cooler coastal towns of Morro Bay, Monterey and San Francisco, to the hot inland places like Palm Springs, Las Vegas and Death Valley. For me, not a problem... jeans, t-shirt, shorts and a fleece. Done.

For Lindsey though... 'MARE!! Her planning, cleaning and ironing has already begun.

Add to this the impending delivery of flat-pack kitchen units that will be appearing and cluttering up the house for the final few days before we go, then it's a hectic couple of weeks, without much chance to sit back and actually think about the enormity of the holiday ahead.

Still... two weeks to go! Can't complain :)

One month to go... Or thereabouts

D: We're into the final stretch. Just over one month left until we hit the States, everything is in order - ESTA forms sorted. We just need to get the horse ride into the Grand Canyon sorted.

Excited doesn't seem to cover it.

We're using my new phone (an HTC One X) as the Sat-Nav - a Sat-Nav with a 4.7 inch screen! This is really the only thing that's making me a tad nervous... What if it doesn't work? What if the GPS doesn't latch on well enough? What if, what if, what if...

It should be fine though. I'm using the rather brilliant Sygic, which has offline maps (so no data connection will be needed). It also gives us lane guidance, which I'm sure will be a life-saver.

It also has a great looking display - 3D cities, with landmarks all over the place. Fingers crossed, 'n all that.

One other thing: we'll be returning to a brand-new kitchen! Which is very nearly as exciting. Nearly, but not quite.

Tick tock goes the clock...

Time, as is its way, ticks inexorably onwards.

Which can mean only one thing! 54 days to go before the trip!


Pretty much everything is booked (apart from the horse-ride into the Grand Canyon, http://www.apachestables.com/ doesn't have an email address and there's no response when we call - annoying).

For my birthday, we'll be doing a 2 1/2 hour Segway tour around Fisherman's Wharf... and going around Alcatraz.

TG USA

The boys from Top Gear USA have been doing some great challenges recently - up the Pacific coast and through Death Valley to Vegas. Which is exactly what we'll be doing in about five months time.

It looks astonishing. The landscape is otherworldly and hugely impressive.

Getting there, staying there and moving Around

D: The hotel selection is about 80% complete. Which is incredibly gratifying - we only have Monterey & San Francisco to sort out... then it's all done.


Oh wait, no it's not. 


We need a flight and a car. 


We'd really like to go for a massive US muscle car, but we'd be filling it up every five minutes (and the idea of travelling through Death Valley while watching the fuel gauge travel steadily to the 'E' doesn't really appeal).


So we need to get something that isn't terrible and goes for a reasonable distance... and round corners (I realise that might be an ask too far for an American car)


Finding the flights has been a bit of a slog too, however there's a flickering light at the end of the tunnel of Google o's. Birmingham to San Fran and back again for £453 each! Result!