Wine Country

Hey Everyone!

Sorry about the delay in recent posting, we took a trip back to the 90's 

(AKA Riverpointe Vacation Club) 

where wi-fi wasn't rampant and easily accessible. 

Our recent travels allowed us to spend the past week in Napa Valley

and we both absolutely LOVED it.

Theresa & Nadia
5/6/12
Sterling Vineyard

The first day in Napa we spent with Nadia Gilbert & Grant Dobson

at Sterling Vineyard & Grgich Vineyard doing tastings and tours.

We're not sure if it is our beautiful smiles or fabulous disposition, but the kind sir at Grgich was nice enough not to charge the 5 of us for a tasting.

Gotta love free wine not to mention 85 degree weather!

Rose's outside of Sterling

A cool little fun fact we learned in our travels is that many vineyards grow roses along their grapes as a way of telling how healthy the crops are.

It is similar to a canary in a mine shaft.

If the roses aren't doing well most likely neither are the grapes.

Not only an intriguing way of maintaing grape health but also makes for a beautiful landscaping.

Riverpointe Vacation Club
our "street"

 Our home away from home was quite an interesting stay. These lovely trailers do come equipped, however, with Comcast TV, dishwasher, oven/microwave all in one and are fully furnished. They also had a fantastic concierge service, which helped us map out our week.

It was nice to spend a week on the road away from home 

living life with all the amenities of being home!

We even took turns making home cooked dinners and did our laundry.

Ehlers Estate
(a personal favorite of both of ours)

 While in Napa we visited many wonderful wineries recommended to us by friends,

one of which was Ehlers Estate.

We both absolutely loved this particular winery.

Not only does the wine taste wonderful but 100% of the profit goes to cardiovascular research!

100%!!

It is truly something special to see such a beautiful estate donating all of their funds to a great cause.

Their Cabernet is even called 120/80.

Definitely hit a sweet spot with us two recently graduated doctors!

Schweiger's Grape fields

 Another cool thing we have really enjoyed about spending these last 3 weeks covering the Northern West Coast is the amount of dog friendly areas there are!

Every where from outdoor restaurants, coffee shops and clothing stores in WA & OR to wineries that have pets roaming the grounds in CA!

Being dog lover's, we found this a huge plus.

We are also proud to say we not only drank our way through Napa, 

but we did partake in a 20 mile bike ride!

(& we have the sun burn to prove it)

So Mom & Dad,

we're not totally letting ourselves go ;)

We did treat ourselves in Yountville at the Bouchon Bakery, where we split a sandwich and their specialty, a homemade ho-ho!

The last leg of the bike ride did get a bit dramatic, when Theresa, who is deathly afraid of snakes, ran over an innocent Gopher snake, sunning himself on the bike path. Sorry lil' guy! 

Far Niente

Special Welcome's at Far Niente

Theresa & Callista
Far Niente's cellar
5/9/12

Far Niente
Chardonnay and Cabernet barrels

 We spent the last day in Napa the best way we knew how! 

Blowing some money on a full tour and tasting at Far Niente.

The tour was wonderful and our guide was kind enough to take pictures of us all along the way. 

We also got to enjoy a sit down tasting and cheese pairing.

The time in Napa Valley ended with a wonderful home cooked dinner thanks to Theresa! 

Kyle Pischel & Grant Dobson joined us for dinner and wine.

Being on the road for so long really makes you appreciate spending time with friends 

over a home cooked meal.

Traveling, while a complete and total blessing, really can take its toll on you

so we were very grateful to have friends to spend quality time with!

Trains in the Mojave Desert
driving to Las Vegas
5/10/12

Bill' Gamblin' Hall, Las Vegas Blvd
(this ones for you Becky Thomas!)

We are now all settled in at the Imperial Palace in Las Vegas, spending time with 

(also recent fellow graduate) 

Megha Patel

It's Theresa's first time here and we are determined to show her a good time!!

After calculating the grand total of states traveled through, we have now reached 11 and the grand total of miles is roughly 4,000!

This time next week we will be home again and look forward to seeing all of our friends and family

much love,

C&T