Deb here: It is our first morning here and the girls are up at the crack of dawn. I actually got up at dawn's first light myself so we are off to a good start. What a perfect way to begin our first full day here - hot air balloons taking off one in succession!

tj here: We were hoping for some cooler weather, but it's still not bad . We've got plenty of sunshine, clear skies and low humidity. The hot part of the day is short lived. Life is good! Looking forward to our winery tour today!

Mare here: Today was the Napa valley winery tour and our tour guide, Army, picked us up at our hotel about 10:30 and we rode in a very comfy shuttle bus. The tour was with Platypus Tours and was chosen because the groups were kept small and the wineries they tour have tasting fees around $15. There were nine of us on the tour: Marty and Cookie from New York, Kevin and Camille from Atlanta and Jeff and Katelyn from Hong Kong. Army was a fun guide, very attentive and made everyone feel welcome.

Fun facts to know and tell that we learned along the drive to the first winery:
There are 33 different types of soil in the Napa valley.
St Helena, a dormant volcano, is at the top of the valley.
The valley is five miles wide.
There are 17 different climates in the valley.
Grapes prefer dry weather and are only watered when they look like they're dying .
It's not uncommon to pick the grapes at night as that is when the sugar levels are highest.
Wind turbines are used in the valley, not for power generation, but to help control the frost in the air
Champagne is made from red grapes.
The first vineyard in Napa was planted 125 years ago by the Donner family.
Olive oil is the second biggest item produced in the valley. Olives are harvested in November.
Some people consider screw caps better than cork as cork may harbor bacteria which will ruin a bottle of wine. Also bottles with screw caps can be stored standing up.
When tasting wine, swirl the wine in the glass, put your nose at top of glass first to smell the fruit then move your nose toward the bottom of the glass where you will smell the alcohol.
Red wine should be chilled 10-15 minutes before serving.
Headaches from red wine are mostly caused by histamines in the wine.