Thirst Quenching Napa Valley

I'm a big fan of business trips.
I've only been on a few so far but from what I can tell, they are right up my alley.
Overtime pay, getting paid to fly, delicious meals paid for by the company, drinking with co-workers, meeting new people, staying in a nice hotel, room service, a change of surroundings.
What's not to love?
It definitely beats sitting in the office 9-5 staring at a computer screen in my opinion.
Last week I was sent on a business trip to Napa Valley, needless to say I was stoked.
Having never been there before, I wasn't exactly sure what I was in for, however an all expense paid trip to a world famous wine region in exchange for some work sounded like a good deal to me.
So I packed my bags and headed for the airport.
When I got to the gate I realized that I had completely forgotten to check into my flight the night before.
 As I was awaiting to hear my fate from the airport attendant, my stomach sank with the notion that this whole trip could all go down the drain.
Thankfully, somebody had cancelled last minute so I was able to board the fully booked flight.
Bullet dodged. Close one.
Once I landed, there was still a small drive to to Napa from the airport, which was cool because I got to see a foggy Golden Gate Bridge across the bay in the distance!
I took a picture but pictures taken with a cell phone from the backseat of a car on the freeway do not exactly make for the best quality photographs...so just use your imagination.
About 45 minutes later the fog had cleared, the sun was shinning bright and there were grape vines as far as the eye could see in every direction.

I finally reached The Meritage, the gorgeous resort and winery that I was staying at for the next few days.
When I got to my room to settle in, I saw that there was a cheese plate and bottle of wine waiting for me, snazzy.

Brie, Goat, Gorgonzola, Dates, Walnuts, Honey Comb

The bed was pretty cool too.
Does anyone else get the urge to jump on big perfectly made beds when they see them? No, just me? Okay, moving on...

I've realized that I get super excited about staying at hotels, like I think it's probably not normal but I always get this rush of excitement when I get to the room and open the door for the first time, like I'm half expecting to see something magical that I've never experienced before.

Next I ran over and flung the curtains open to see the view from the balcony, naturally.

I approve.

Unfortunately I actually had to do some work while I was there, I guess that the "business" part of the trip.

But fast forward a few hours later and I was finally free to explore the beautiful rolling hills and maybe have a glass of wine or three.

I decided to go on a walk in the vineyard because I wanted to get up close and personal with those famous Napa grapes.

The path was closed due to construction yada yada yada, but I may have snuck in anyways, shhhhhhh

Has the names and date of a couple to be married there soon

This looked like a confused artichoke.

I got a little off the beaten path, but it was so peaceful I just kept walking...

I love finding old forgotten things

I eventually found my way back an made it to the top of the hill.

When I turned around to go back down, I realized that I was completely lost and had no idea how to get back down to the bottom.

Since the area was technically closed, there was nobody around to ask or casually follow.

So I had to fend for myself.

I couldn't find the path so I made my own and took the unconventional way which involved alot of winding and weaving my way through the vines.

At the bottom, I found a lovely little tasting room built into the hill called, The Cave.

This cave was filled the best kind of treasures, mainly golds and rubies.

I met up with my boss and the president of the company for some wine tasting (no pressure, right?)

To quote Bridesmaids, my first impression was, "Oh, man! This is some classy shit here..."

No joke, every single wine I had was better than the last. 

Those little grapes on the hill are definite future champions, because those that went before them are made of greatness.

So great in fact, I drank almost all of it before I remembered to take a picture...

The night ended in a delicious 5 course meal thanks to my company's very generous president.

However I did not take any pictures of the food because I was at a table with about 7 really important people in my company.

I actually tried to take an incognito picture with my phone when the first course came out but the auto flash went off and I was super embarrassed, so that was the end of that.

After a couple more glasses of wine we said our good nights and headed back to our rooms.

I instantly crawled into my big squishy bed and fell asleep.

...Like I said, I'm a big fan of business trips.