Our Two-Day Getaway

John and I went on a fabulous getaway this week. The stay was complimentary because it was part of an incentive package I received when I purchased a Wyndham Timeshare. We went to Winsor, CA (North of Napa) Monday and Tuesday.

We left the apartment at 10am on Monday and drove up. We couldn't check in to the hotel until 3pm, so we stopped at four wineries: Arista, Alderbrook, Hop Kiln, and La Crema. John bought one bottle of wine from each of the last three wineries.

After getting to the hotel, we soaked in the hot tub before getting ready to meet some friends, Dave and Ellen, in Calistoga for dinner. We ate at the Flat Iron Grill. John and Dave had steak, Ellen chose salmon, and I had a french dip. Of course we shared a bottle of wine. John and I shared a brownie ice cream sandwich for dessert. It was vanilla ice cream in between two chocolate brownie pieces. Dave and Ellen split an ice cream sundae. It was a fantastic dinner to a great day.

We both woke up early on Tuesday because the hotel bed was a brick. We had some not- so-good tasting complimentary breakfast and then headed out. We stopped at the Petrified Forest on the way out of town. The little walkabout took about 15-20 minutes to walk and there were plenty of cool factoids along the trail. In the gift shop, you could purchase different rocks and read about the forest and how they conserved the petrified trees.

Although the trip was short - it was well needed and greatly received. It reminded me that although life is busy, it is very important to take time to just do something fun. I returned back to work rejuvenated and feeling good.

We booked a July trip using my timeshare. We are going to a the Clear Lake Resort in Nice, CA for two nights. Also, one of the incentives I received for purchasing the timeshare was a 7-day vacation to a resort in Mexico, Spain, or Portugal. We have to use it up before June 2009. The stay is free, but we are responsible for the flights. John and I decided to use it to go to Cancun, Mexico in February 2009. We need to get our passports in order now!