Napa, Yoda & Sausalito

We managed to squeeze a trip to Napa Valley despite the difficulties in finding a rental van. The trip to Napa was very scenic with the rolling hills and valleys. I can only imagine how beautiful it is during the summer months. Fall would be even more breathtaking. Our first stop was to a vineyard called Plumpjack (or Fatjack as I like to call it). I think it was the name that caught our attention. I can't really tell you which one I liked best because honestly, they all tasted the same. What I can tell you is that I prefer white versus red. Our next stop was the Rutherford Grove winery. Again, we tasted about 6 different wines and by the 3rd round a few of us were getting the red face syndrome. It was a lot of fun and if we were to return, we'd do it right and take the Napa wine train. That way, no one has to drive. On our way home we stopped by the outlet mall. It was a small outlet with only 40 stores but it had everything we wanted: Banana Republic, Coach, Benneton, BCBG, Kenneth Cole and Nine West. By the end of the night we were all smiles whether it was the shopping, the drinking or maybe both.

We decided to give our feet a rest and toured James' neighbourhood in the van. Norm decided he wanted to speed down the 45 degree angled hill. Luckily I was sitting directly behind him so I can pull his ear when ever he got overzealous. My poor Aunt and Uncle were yelling from the back seat. Thank goodness for blood pressure medication. We also made a trip to ILM where James and other ILM employees work hard to bring us Pirates of the Carribean, Transformers and Indiana Jones (coming soon). Yoda greeted us at the front door. It's always great to see Yoda but I was hoping to personally meet Mr. George Lucas. Maybe next time.

Sausalito is a little seaside town outside of San Francisco. The best way to experience it is on a bike but we had limited time...and plus, we already paid for a van. So after we explored the marina we parked our car, walked around and took pictures of San Francisco (great view of the city from here). This little town reminded me very much of Nanaimo. It seems like a great place to retire but I'm sure it comes with a price.

After a day with Yoda, Napa and Sausalito we decided to end it with a nice dinner in Japantown (J-town as some call it). It's not really a town. More like a mall. We found a small restaurant that had "home food" or the closest we can find to home food. By now my family was craving rice. Too bad we couldn't locate Jollybee. I wanted to see what the hype was all about. I guess that will have to wait for next time as well.