Well, no sooner did I complain about being back on the chain gang and working hard than we took off for a few days in Napa. The main reason for the trip: the Napa to Sonoma Half Marathon, 13.1 miles through the rolling hills of wine country. It’s a beautiful course that we ran for the first time last year. My only complaint is the weather which at this time of year tends to be pretty warm. This year it topped off (during the race, anyway) at around 85 degrees, down from last year’s 90+ degrees. Chuck’s sister and brother-in-law came out from Colorado to run it with us, and some of our friends came up, too, so it was a real running party! We didn’t place, but we did finish. Our friend Mary came in third in her age group, our friend Kyra came in second in hers, and our friend Dave came in second in his.

After the race, we all went wine tasting in a limo (and that included the puppy that our friends Dave and Sylvia are currently training to be an assisted living dog – and no, the dog did not drink). We went with Private Limousine Service again, the folks we had such a great time with last year. Unfortunately the wonderful Ed didn’t drive us as he doesn’t do the stretch limos. this year we had Herman, and he was a great guy, and very adept at driving and parking a looong limo. We went to (I think) four wineries in about four hours. I lost count towards the end.

I should mention where we are staying. We booked our stay late and all of the hotels in the Sonoma and Napa area were full. Luckily Chuck’s sister remembered that you can also use the phone book and call to find places to stay and located a b&b about half a mile from the end of the race that had no website and no advertising (and so still had rooms). So we stayed there for the two nights of our trip. It was an okay place, but pretty pricey for just an average sort of house. The big find was A Captain’s House, which I found while surfing the web for vacation rentals in the Sonoma area. It’s a four bedroom two bath house located on the Larson Family Winery property. We have the run of the place, including its well-stocked gourmet kitchen and propane grill. It also has a vegetable garden that we have raided every night, and blackberries growing wild all over that we have been picking in the morning and evening. There’s an old Lab named Sunny on the property who loves to play catch and a gravel road that goes on for quite a way that makes for great running. All in all, this has been a delightful place to stay.

Monday we did more wine tasting with new folks. Our friends Carole and Sally drove up from Berkeley and joined us in Herman’s limo for a marathon wine tour. We hit five wineries (again, an approximate count). The favorite that stands out in my mind because they had the best labels was Imagery. Award for most cheeseball winery goes hands down to Castello di Amarosa, a Disneyland theme ride disguised as a winery. They charge you, get this, an admission fee of ten dollars to get in (it includes wine tasting). The faux castle is pretty cool, though, I have to confess. Our last stop of the day turned out to be the highlight: Vincent Arroyo. We had an appointment, and along with the regular tasting, got to do a barrel tasting AND meet the winemaker/owner himself! There was a winery dog there, an old chocolate Lab, who would jump up on top of a bunch of barrels and catch balls thrown by Vincent. What a hoot!

Yesterday was our official day of rest, and we caught our collective breath at the Sonoma Spa. Today we visited a few very cool boutique wineries: Martinelli, Porter Creek, and Dutcher Crossing.

Tonight is our last night here, so we are going out for a celebratory meal at The Girl and the Fig, a highly recommended Sonoma restaurant. We are driving home tomorrow where I expect to find waiting for me my very own Jesus Phone!! We also need to start planning our second annual Good Shit Wine Party, and deplete our now semi-vast stores of Napa Valley wines.

Here are some of our pics. These are from the little Canon. Still to come are the Olympus shots of the race and the big Canon’s images.