San Jose to Calistoga, CA

Day 55

For certain reasons relating to our trip, we made it out of San Jose by 5:30AM and took breakfast at a small café in Sausalito. Fog was still covering San Francisco, but from our side of the Bay it was a very beautiful morning.

We continued north to the top of Napa Valley, rolling into Bothe Napa Valley State Park in Calistoga around 8:30 and awaiting a free site. The ranger told us everything was filled, but our luck stayed true and we managed to take site #12 before lunch. Making camp, we settled in for a nap to fill in some of last night’s missed sleep before hitting the wine tours.

Our first stop was August Briggs Winery, a very small family owned place with complimentary wine tasting. The cousin of the owner filled us in on the details of grape selection and geography while we slowly consumed very expensive (and free) glasses of wine. Thankfully, our favorite wine happened to also be the cheapest and we purchased a bottle to bring to Kennicott.

Next up was Sterling, a larger, more corporate outfit a few miles down the Silverado Highway with a Greek Isles feel to the buildings. Our $20.00 tickets gave us a gondola ride to the top of the winery and an informative self-guided tour of the winery along with 5 glasses of various wines. The wine wasn’t as enjoyable as at August Briggs, but a dessert wine from their Cellar Collection was excellent enough to warrant purchase and travel. By the end of the tour, we had worked up a good buzz and spent a while getting back to a driving state of mind.

In Calistoga, we refilled our food cache, getting extra vittles for tomorrow’s flight and walked the picturesque main street. Wealthy tourists in shiny cars filled the place, and some of them were lucky enough to drive back to town drunk, getting free visits by the Calistoga Police Department, along with a night’s lodging. Calistoga is a very nice town and seems to be far enough up Napa Valley to not be completely inundated by the wine crowds. Additionally, the wealthy agrarian lifestyle of the grape growers is odd, yet romantically compelling.

We combined dinner and lunch to save the funds and walked some trails near the tent. I reluctantly headed out for a seemingly five mile run through the vineyards, but misjudged the route and returned well after dark and a few miles over budget. It turned out to be a very enjoyable and scenic run.