it's all about the details: road trip

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First things first - Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for all of your sincere and wonderful birthday messages. My 40th birthday was truly outstanding, and your kind words were all a part of that! Mwuah! Love you all!

In honor of my birthday, Beth and I decided on a road trip to San Francisco - yes, I said ROAD trip. I had been to the City by the Bay only very briefly back in the mid-90's with my friend Wendy (who lived in Lodi, CA, at the time), and Beth had never been, so we thought that San Fran would be a fabulous destination. We studied a map and saw that I-80, which heads west out of Salt Lake City, would take us straight there, but there's a whole lot of Nevada in between. Our parents taught us that getting there is half the fun, and we totally agree, so on Thursday the 17th at about 3 pm MDT, we headed west toward Reno.

I-80 west took us along the southern portion of The Great Salt Lake, and as we neared the Nevada border, we flew through the Bonneville Salt Flats (so amazing - I can't even describe it!). With a speed limit of 75 mph, we were making great time. And away we went across northern NV! With only stops for gas and a Subway supper, we rolled into Reno at about 9:30 PDT. The last leg of the trip as we approached Reno was so fantastic - stars set in the velvet sky to the soundtrack of Hair Nation on XM Radio. Ah, the memories!

In Reno we stayed at the Silver Legacy Hotel and Casino - not bad. The UABC (Bowling) convention was in full swing. More than anything, we just needed a good night's sleep. The next morning we were eager to wend our way to Napa Valley, so we continued our journey west though Truckee and the Sierra Nevadas, north of Lake Tahoe. We decided that we would like to "Become a Fan" of northern California. My history geek self was interested in a stop at the capitol in Sacramento, and we were really glad that we took the time. The grounds were gorgeous and the weather was absolutely glorious. It was nice to stretch our legs as well. Too bad Arnold didn't make an appearance. :)

The real excitement for the day was our trip to Napa Valley. We knew that we wanted to stop in at Trinchero, the vintner for our favorite wine, but we had also gotten some recommendations from one of my former students from Faith Lutheran in Las Vegas. The drive was magnificent, and we arrived to our first destination with the sun roof open and a sense of excitement. Jessica had suggested V. Sattui winery. It was abuzz with people enjoying the wine and the weather. Next we were off to Trinchero. Very intimate and worth the drive! And we loved it that Leann, our host, was impressed with our wine knowledge. We gotta give props to our brother Paul for that! We bought some souvenir wine to savor at home here. Next we headed off to Prager Ports (another suggestion from Jessica). It was very small and eclectic, and port is very different from what we are used to. All the while I was texting Jessica to keep her updated on our tour. And would you believe that we determined that I had actually SEEN her that morning when we were at a Starbucks in Reno near where she lives? After one more stop at a winery, we enjoyed a delicious lunch at Bottega in Yountville and enjoyed a chat with our wine snob brother who wished he could have been with us.