NAPA

We had an absolutely relaxing and wonderful time in Napa! Here are some pics from around the town, at a small winery, and at a large winery.

When I booked the rental car, I saw an option called "Wild Card" that guaranteed a manager's choice upgrade for $1 more per week. I thought, what the heck - let's do it! Livin on the edge. When we went to pick up our rental car, we were informed that the manager's choice for us was.....a CHRYSLER MINI-VAN! Talk about a W-I-L-D card! Way to go us -- in our 20's, no kids, and driving a mini-van on our vacation! Rock on, Red Stallion, Rock on.

Wine Train

We boarded the wine train and headed off for a tour of Napa Valley. Let me tell you - that's the way to go! Good food, A/C and a great view. I seriously felt like I was on the train version of the Titanic. All velvety and old timey. It is also fun to be on the other side of the tracks every now and then (meaning the cars had to stop for us instead of the other way around)! My favorite pic from our entire trip is the one of Matt leaning out the side of the train smiling :)

Castle

One of the vineyards we visited had constructed a castle to host their tasting room! Of course, the castle is also used for weddings and other events, but it was a great atmosphere for wine tasting! In the "knights" room, the ceiling forms perfect domes and creates amazing amplification audible only to whoever is standing in the center of the dome. Very cool. The signs above us say something like The Baron and The Baroness in Italian.

B&B

We stayed in a gorgeous B&B, McClelland Priest, in Napa. It was named after it's only two owners before the current owner: the McClellands and the Priests. The new owner, Celeste, paid great attention to detail and had the place looking spectacular. It was like time travel staying there - from the gilded molding to the lack of television (much to Matt's dissapointment)! It was actually really nice to relax and read instead of watching TV or being on the internet, although Blogger, you did not hear my say that! :)

Napa Valley Balloon Ride

One of our favorite experiences in Napa was our balloon ride! We showed up at 5:30am and headed out on a bus to watch the balloons inflate. Once our balloon was ready, we hopped in a basket with 14 other people and our pilot, Harrison Ford (seriously, I think it was him)! We then sailed above the valley staying afloat using state-of-the-art technology such as the pilot spitting over the edge of the basket to determine which way the wind was blowing! Actually, he was really skilled and knew which layers of the "atmosphere" were blowing which direction and was able to steer us right to where he wanted to land. When it came time for landing we snagged a vineyard pole which made for quite the adventure. Apparently, if a balloon pilot damages a vine, he has to pay the vineyard owner $1500 per vine! That could add up quick! We landed and our basket almost tumped over!! Matt was given the honors of deflating our balloon, so that's what he's doing in the pic of him holding a rope. After the ride we hopped back on the bus and they took us to a champagne breakfast. Amazing experience -- we highly recommend it!

Alcatraz

We took the ferry from San Francisco over to Alcatraz Island to take a tour. The tour was really neat because they give you an MP3 player and set you free to listen to your own headset and do the tour at your own pace. Alcatraz is a national park - who woulda thunk? Anyway, it was FREEZING, which was a complete shockerooni since it was AUGUST in CALIFORNIA! We weren't quite prepared for the weather, but we really enjoyed the tour. Matt asked a park ranger whether or not one of the crumbling buildings had been a chapel and that sparked a whole private tour for the two of us! Way to go hubby! We got to see the real chapel and the gun galley, which are not open to the public.

San Francisco

After Napa we headed over to San Francisco where we saw the Golden Gate Bridge, the Full House Houses (Mercy!), Ghiradelli Square (Free Samples, but that's about the coolest part), and all the steep roads! We also ate on the pier at Bubba Gump's Shrimp Co, which was super-cheese and right up our alley. We were also told to eat at Ruth's Chris steak house in SF because it was the original one. So we did. Only to find out it is NOT the original one :) Oh well, the steak was the best we've ever had.

Summer Mummers

The second weekend I ever met Matt, he took me to Summer Mummers '02 in Midland, TX. Here we are, 5 years later at Summer Mummers '07! Summer Mummers is a crazy production put on by the Midland Community Theater. Yes, that is POPCORN all over the floor! You are allowed (encouraged may be a better word) to throw popcorn at the villain or in celebration during the play. After the melodrama is over, Olio is the second act. Basically everyone sings and throws more popcorn! Fun times! This is a tradition Dean started long before my time and we're all glad to carry this one on!

Glynn & Cristin's Wedding

For the last leg of our vacation we headed out to MN for Glynn and Cristin's wedding. It was perfect weather and a beautiful wedding. The reception was a ton of fun. Props to whoever picked the tunes! Matt, Glynn, and Annie (cousins) were all born around the same time. There are pictures of them in bellies all the way to now! We wish we could have made Matt's other cousin, Cheri's, wedding but we had to head back to NM!

Mom's Visit

Mom hopped on a plane after 30 years of being a land-lubber and came out to Hobbs! We had a lot of fun, ate a ton, made some curtains, did some crafts, re-stuffed my couch, and shopped. Here are some pics from her trip. Maybe we'll convice dad to get on a plane one day...!

Pics from our vacation will come later (they are on Matt's laptop so I don't have them with me).

Mom's Birthday Pie

Blowing out the Candles

Mom 'n Molly

Playing RUMMY

Our New Curtains -- Thanks, Mom! I bought the material online back in June, but didn't make the curtains till mom came with her expertise.

Molly and her Grand-Puppy Mama

Hook 'em Horns!!

We've always been Longhorn fans at heart; it's just that Matt wouldn't allow us to wear any of his gear. But my mom saw an opportunity to FINALLY show her true colors! I really wish I would've gone to Texas!
Hook 'em!