Well it is has been a bit interesting today. We had an early breakfast in a diner – scrambled eggs with bits in – then we popped into the supermarket for a few nibbles on our journey, before being collected by the shuttle bus to take us to the airport to collect our car. Everything was going according to plan until we got to the airport.
Firstly, we couldn’t find where to pick up the hire car. It transpires that we had to take the air train to a specially designated part of the airport. Then we joined a huge queue. Then we went off to collect the Chrysler 200 only to be told that all the convertibles were still out and hadn’t been returned yet. We could wait to get a convertible which would be least an hour as there were 4 other people in the queue before us, or we could have something else. We ended up with a jeep Cherokee , in white, which is probably a more sensible thing to drive in a national park. We had a sun roof but of course it’s not a convertible. But it is a wonderful car to drive. We piled in, decided on a course of action to avoid going through San Francisco as i was pooping my knickers at the thought of driving through downtown SF in a car I wasn’t used to.
To cut a very long story short, I had a number of arguments with the sodding satnav, and it took a very long time to drive through SF, over the Golden Gate Bridge and on thru huge traffic jams to napa. When we finally made it, hours later, the girly on the reception desk said we had a basic room with king size bed. Sorry, said I, I have booked and paid for a superior room with two beds. By that time, I was very hot, bad tempered, and not going to be fobbed off with the reply that it was a booking error on our travel agent’s part, especially when I has the booking voucher saying superior room, twin occupancy! The girly retired hurt, but came back with the right answer and we have a lovely room with HUGE beds,all canopied and lovely. I tried to upload a photo, not sure if it’s come out or not.
We trotted out on a trip to see what was what, and stumbled across a wine tasting room. So, as it would be rude not to, we tasted a few wines, before going off to napa town centre for supper, which was a successful, if expensive change. The wine in the restaurants starts at around $40! Whilst there, Liz got chatting to a New Zealand chap who was bumming cigarettes from her, and he later brought his wife over to chat with us and we had a good evening.
The hotel is enormous, and full of beautiful Californian people! It has its own vineyard, and there was, thank heavens, a complimentary bottle of the absolutely gorgeous house red in the room which was opened PDQ. They run a shuttle into Napa in the afternoons, so I don’t have to drive and park up, which is very handy indeed.
Not sure what we will do on Saturday, but we got talked into sitting through a timeshare chat in the morning so we can have a free breakfast and vouchers to give us money off at the resort! What are we letting ourselves in for? There is so much traffic here. There have been traffic jams all the way, so here’s hoping that it doesn’t last all the way to Yosemite and beyond. More tomorrow everybody. Xx
Well done for giving the hotel a kick up the butt. Two problems on one day when you’ve gone out of your way to book everything correctly is just not on. The room looked lovely and what an amazing bit of luck coming across a wine tasting room!!!! It’s like fate!!
Love you lots moo. Glad you’re having fun xxx
Be aware of the fire near to the Yosemite National Park if you’re around there. Liz you wanted a new car will the hire car influence your choice? Glad you’re having such a fab time, looking forward to seeing your photos. xx