I Need a Napa

We went to Napa this weekend.

And now I need a nap-a.

See what I did there?

😉

Last week, I had a birthday, and so did Steve.

Steve rented an RV for his birthday.

Then he drove me to Napa in it for my birthday.

And Murphie came, too!

This is the RV outside of our house.

Right?

When he pulled up in it, I burst out laughing.

Go big or just go to Napa is what I always say.

Steve is an amazing driver because he only scared me twice on the entire trip!  Ha!

We left late Thursday, drove to Ventura, and spent the night at an RV park.  I loved waking up in the morning, taking Murphie on a walk, and having breakfast courtesy of Steve outside at a little picnic table.

From there, we drove to Paso Robles to visit family.

You can read a little more about it on my Five for Fraturday post {HERE} — just scroll to number five at the bottom.

Next, we drove to an RV park just outside of Salinas.  It was a really really really nice RV park.  It had a pool and a country club and outdoor seating with a fireplace, etc.  It also had a dog park with its own dog washing station.

This is us just outside of Salinas.  I told Steve I wanted a picture in front of the RV with Murphie (we were on a walk) and he said we would do it when we got back.

We didn’t.

That night was very fun and chill.  We had eaten a late dinner with his family so we just snacked a bit and then we watched Footloose on DVD because that’s what you do when you have no cable and it’s your birthday and you get to pick the DVD.

Footloose is my all time favorite movie ever and I can quote it, as well as act out several of the scenes.  I can make Kerry laugh so hard by pretending to be Ren in the scene where he is mad so he drives to the warehouse (in his VW bug), cracks open a beer, smokes a cigarette, bangs on the steering wheel, and THEN DANCES UNTIL ALL OF HIS MAD COMES OUT.  Because that’s what all high school boys do, am I right? Steve says I’m wrong, but what does he know?

On Saturday, we drove the rest of the way to Calistoga to stay at another RV park.

My niece, Ashley, met us there.

And then things started to fall apart.

Which is why I need a nap-a.

To be more precise, the RV started to fall apart.

It broke.

Or things on it broke.

I don’t know.

Something about the inverter and the generator and no power and no air conditioning and no hot water and no this or that.  All I was thinking was let’s just get to a winery, it won’t matter once we get to a winery but Steve was stressed.  STRESSED.  He was afraid I would never ever want to do an RV trip again and this was his dream.

We have different dreams.

Because my dream is to wine taste while in Napa.  I don’t care how we get there.  RV, car, plane, a bicycle, just get me to Napa.

So anyways, Steve, Ashley, Murphie, and I took a short walk to town and ate at the Calistoga Inn for dinner because they have a patio and are dog friendly.

We ordered Murphie a plain burger and she loved it.

I ordered gnocchi and oh my word.  Little pillows of deliciousness.

While at dinner, we started talking to the couple next to us (who also had a dog and so we talked dogs for a bit) and one thing led to another and wouldn’t you know this couple was staying at the RV park!  So he (Tom) said he would come over and see what’s what with the RV problems.

And he did.

He came over and some other guy came over and another guy came over.  Everyone was willing to help.  It was awfully sweet.

Nothing worked, though.

I think we gave up around midnight.

Tom brought over three fans for us to use which was so so so nice.  It cools way down at night and we didn’t even need the fans, but still.  People are nice.  I like nice people.

I don’t like mean people, FYI.

Sunday was kind of crazy in the morning because Steve was trying to fix the RV again, and we weren’t sure what to do with Murphie because we had a 10:30 wine tasting appointment (nothing like breakfast wine!).  We had originally planned on having Murphie stay in the air conditioned RV but plans change, don’t ya know.

Ashley and I found a doggie day care in Santa Rosa which just happened to be on a vineyard.  Which just happened not to believe in kennels and wholeheartedly in letting dogs run and play and visit the farm nearby.

We had copies of Murphie’s shots just in case the RV parks wanted to see them so we were able to provide the doggie day care place with everything they needed.  And since Murphie goes to a similar doggie day care, she just walked right in like it was home.

They were so so so nice there!  They sent me pictures of Murphie playing, too!

We made it to our wine tasting appointment just a few minutes late.

We went to Chateau Montelena which supposedly put Napa on the map.  There is a movie about it called Bottleshock.  It’s kind of cheesy, but the storyline is really good.

We got to have our tasting in the “residence” and go on a tour.  It was awesome!

This is as good as it gets when you don’t have hot water.

We drove to St. Helena for lunch and ate at Farmstead.  The food was amazing.  I had meatballs.  SO YUMMY!

Then we drove around looking for some sort of battery charger that Steve thought he needed to get the RV back up and running.

Don’t be jealous, but I got to go to Walmart while in Napa!  I KNOW!  Lucky me!

I found a turquoise rug that I had to have for my classroom so it wasn’t completely wasted.

We picked up Murphie, went back to the RV park, and watched Steve work on the RV some more.  Ashley and I sat outside and threw the frisbee for Murphie . . . and then we decided it was time to leave.  Steve couldn’t get the RV to do what he wanted.

So we left.

We drove through the night, met up with his friend at one in the morning who happens to own an RV and was traveling home from Sacramento, and spent a few hours sleeping at a rest stop.

I’ve never slept at a rest stop.

I know that’s what they’re for . . . but I’ve only ever used them for the bathroom.

I felt a little bit scared that we were sleeping at a rest stop.  I’m pretty sure every 20/20 or 48 Hours I’ve watched has been about a murder at a rest stop.  But I had Steve and my Murphie girl so I was able to fall asleep.

We *finally* arrived home on Monday and now here we are.

It was a whirlwind trip and not what we expected, but we got to spend time with family and that’s really all the matters.  Plus the arriving home safely part.

We talked last night and feel like we need a do-over.  I mean, who goes to Napa and only visits one winery? So we are planning a trip for just the two of us (IN A CAR) at the end of July or beginning of August for our anniversary.

Now I need a nap-a.

🙂