After last night’s dinner, I slept hard and woke up to chilly conditions. I wanted to run about nine miles at a relatively brisk pace in the morning and rest of the remainder of the day for a longish bike ride tomorrow.
First, here are a couple of pics from yesterday’s appetizers.
The day started with balloons in the air. Right behind our villa, we saw about a dozen of them. We knew it would be the perfect long weekend in Napa!
When I started running at around 9:15AM, the temperature was in the mid-50s. There was a chill in the air, but it was a comfortable chill in calm conditions. I started north from the villa on St. Helena Highway and then then headed east on Oakville Cross Rd. With vineyards on both sides and a gentle sun shining on me, I was happy. It was smooth sailing. Before I realized it, I had run 3 miles and come upon a small hill. I climbed it effortlessly and then hit Silverado Trail going north. I wanted to turn around at the 4.5 mile point to do an out and back run for a total of 9 miles. Right at the 4.5 mile point I could go back west (left) on to Skellenger Lane. I had no idea if this would take me back to St. Helena Highway!
I took a chance and started running on it for the next mile or so. At this point, the road curved to the right, but there was a dirt path at the edge of a vineyard going back south. I was loving the run with vineyards everywhere, hence I decided to run through the vineyards. Fortunately, after a bit of bushwhacking, I was able to zigzag back to Oakville Cross Rd and then back to St. Helena Highway. I did a total of 9 miles and was ecstatic. It is one of the most enjoyable runs I have ever done!
Napa is beautiful in spite of heavy traffic everywhere. In the evening, we went over to Calistoga Bike Shop to pick up bikes for us (Don and me). Tomorrow, we plan to go up to Howell Mountain Road. Apparently, it’s a pretty tough 4-mile climb!