After the appointment, we headed toward Napa. On the way, we stopped in Vallejo so that Ethan could look at a hang glider that he interested in purchasing. He is hoping to get donations for his birthday toward this. He said it looked really good, so he is going to have it checked at a professional shop sometime next week.Our stay in Napa was wonderful! The weather was gorgeous on Saturday. Since neither of us is a wine drinker (and I couldn't partake even if I did enjoy wine), we decided to explore other options in wine country. We drove up to Calistoga to see the Old Faithful Geyser of California. The geyser shoots up water on average about 60 ft, and it generally blows around every 40 minutes. However, with the recent rains, it is running a bit fast, which was nice. It was "erupting" about every 10 minutes or so. It was actually pretty cool, and we thought it was a fun trip since we will be going to Yellowstone this summer to see the Old Faithful there. Also on the site were some farm animals. There were some Tennessee fainting goats that didn't faint. However, they were awfully cute, and there were at least 5 little babies. One of them was sleeping in the food trough, which was really cute. Especially, when one of its siblings jumped in! They also had some llamas and some 4 horned Jacob's Sheep. It was a nice relaxing place, and you could just sit in the chairs in front of the geyser and relax. They even had some picnic tables.
Next, we headed to the petrified forest nearby. Apparently, a volcano erupted quite a long time ago and covered the forest in ash. As the trees began to be uncovered, they were filled in with minerals that allowed rocks to replace the trees' tissues. It was really neat to look at the specimens up close. This was especially true of the ones that had large gaps in them were larger formations had formed. They reminded me of the geode rocks we would buy and crack open as a child.
Next, we headed back to Napa and checked Ethan in at the Expo. Then, we went to a chocolate factory to buy some tasty treats. We also walked through the open market. Unfortunately, I was experiencing some major fatigue on Saturday, so I was a bit slow walking around.
Ethan's running group met for a wonderful lunch at Uva's. I had some roasted chicken, and he had some gnocchi. It was a good time with friends with a lot of talk abou the impending weather. All of the weather forecasts indicated rain with a stiff head wind. The runners were a bit worried abou that.
This morning, there was plenty of rain, but very little wind. Ethan was very happy about that! We got to the starting line around 6:30. The race started at 7:00. I drove to some spectator spots for pictures. Unfortunately, my camera did something weird for the mile 21 picture, but I got a shot or two of Ethan running. Ethan's goal was to finish in 3:30. He had no stomach problems, but he did hit a bit of a wall around mile 18. He pushed through and finished at 3:38. Although he didn't make his goal, I think he is still happy with his performance. Considering the rain, I think he did a great job! Plus, his shoes had to weigh at least an extra couple of pounds in water weight by the end.
After the race, Ethan wasn't feeling the best. We have decided that he is gulping a lot of air while he runs, and he has a hard time getting rid of it! After some time had passed, he was feeling much better! We met up with some of the team for a delicious lunch at a little spot called Pica Pica. The restaurant served all of the food on corn cakes. It was really delicious. After lunch, we made our way home. We've done some unpacking and relaxing. Now we are just going to enjoy some down time out of the RAIN!
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