What else is there to do at 4am when the wineries in Napa
Valley don’t open until 10?? BLOG!!
So here is the long and short of my adventure to California
with my daughter thus far….
Arrive at airport at 6am Thursday, only to find that our
8:35 am to Denver has been delayed until 10am.
That would mean we would miss our Noon connecting flight to San Jose—Not
good. I remained calm knowing they
would fix it, and invoked the power of “Easy World” . (Thanks to Julia Rogers
Hamrick who wrote this magnificent book, making the statement, “I choose to
live in easy world where everything is easy” is now a regular part of my vocab!
Beautiful! The United
Airlines rep was so amazing and helpful, she booked us on Air Canada for a 9:10
flight which would leave us plenty of time to catch our connector! YEAH! J We even were provided a free lunch on the
plane, (very pleasantly unexpected—Nice…) I am guessing because of our
inconvenience. However...
The New flight crew were late in arriving. (Come on...Really?) The plane was cold. We waited, and had to be taxied out to be de-iced,
and didn’t leave ground until 10:15.
SOOO… touch down Denver 11:35, dart of the plane, still living in easy
world—breathing and trying to relax!
Step off the escalator to a door that opens for us in perfect timing, to
ground train to the B section of the airport. Dash to B-25 Gate and were
boarding by 11:40! Plane doors close at
11:50! Whew! A little too close for comfort, but we made
it! But did our luggage…?
Uh uh…and it is raining in San Jose! The forecast showed partly sunny when I
looked a few days ago!! Lol (Now I can laugh)
The good news is our bags were on the next flight out and
would arrive in 4 hours, but we decided to do without, and carry on to Napa Valley,
and our bags will be delivered to our hotel in San Jose the next day. So we picked up a few things and headed out
in the rain( got a nice free upgrade on our rental! J YEAH! but WITHOUT my GPS cause it is in the
suitcase! Do you know what it is like
trying to read a map and follow the signs and roads after relying on a GPS for
so long! I always put my makeup, GPS,
and a few necessities in the carry on but was keeping a light load this time
cause I was carrying my laptop.. Oh well… Choose a better feeling thought…it
looks like the sky is getting brighter…. Yes it is! The rain is stopping and I actually see some
blue sky!! J
We managed! We
thought we missed an exit, and veered off the hwy, so I could have a two minute
panic stricken almost melt down—Thank
goodness for my lovely daughter, who is so practical and calm, and is happy to
figure out the map lol. We realized we
were on the right road after all, and merged back onto the Hwy, arriving in
pretty darn good time to beautiful Napa Valley, and it is warm!
Our room, that I booked the night before, is so lovely! as
is the woman who owns the Chardonnay Lodge, who was a gem to help us plan our
stay around the area, and so generously upgraded us to the “Lavender”
room. This is the most adorable Lodge! Women will love it—men—not so much…
Madi and I ventured out to the beautiful downtown area, on
this warm balmy night, and had a lovely dinner at TUSCANY, a rustic wonderful
restaurant with amazing food, and ambiance that made you feel like you are in
Europe.
Now it is 7am—3 more hours to wait til the wineries open…oh…
did I mention I have no hair product?!
