We just got back from our trip up north late last night. We flew up on Saturday morning and Victor and Susie picked us up. We got to stay at their new apartment this weekend, which is pretty cool and right by the water! They have a view of the bay and the Coke bottle at PacBell Park. Since the wedding in Napa wasn’t going to start until 5:30, we went for a 5-mile run along Embarcadero. Susie, Vyl, and Bang joined us and it was really fun! We all started in front the the apartment and Jes and I ran all the way to the end of Fisherman’s Wharf (2.5 miles) and turned around. Susie, Vyl, and Bang turned around at the beginning of Fisherman’s Wharf and completed 4 miles total.

The wedding was for Albert, one of Jes’ old co-workers, who was marrying a girl he met in Business School last year. I always wondered what a Napa wedding would be like and it was cool. The wedding took place at Nicholson Ranch in Sonoma. We were about 90 mins late due to traffic all over the place. Apparently there was a NASCAR event also in Sonoma that weekend. The funny part is that we didn’t miss much since the ceremony lasted for a whoppin’ 10 minutes!! Jes got to hang out with his old buddies from his dot-com days and it was funny seeing him interact with them again. Unlike his quiet, laid-back self, he was the leader of the pack –instigating all the hijinx and being the center of attention.

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On Sunday, we went back up to Napa for a day of wine tasting. Vyl planned a whole itinerary of events for us…it was sweet. First stop was Nickel & Nickel where we had to have an appointment. It was like going to someone’s house, sitting in their dining room, and tasting wine with a bunch of friends. There were 7 of us: Vyl, Bang, Susie, Victor, Michelle, Jes, and me. There was also one other couple from Florida and of course, the hostess. We tasted 5 different single vineyard wines and they were all good. It was a really fun tasting…very different from past experiences. We had a good time laughing as we swirled our glasses. In fact, we were such a fun crowd that morning that they actually comped us the $30/person tasting!! The next stop was Rombauer where we tried to buy a really yummy Chardonnay but they sold out. Lunch was a picnic at V. Sattui and then we were off to Cakebread. The wines there weren’t very impressive and most of them, as Vyl likes to say, “taste[d] like feet”. I think all the yummy stuff we tasted this morning at Nickel & Nickel really set some high expectations for all of us and set us up for disappointment for the rest of the day. We actually ended up back at N&N to buy some of their wine. The day and weekend ended with some outlet shopping and a flight back to LA.