Thanks, Merrill. Much appreciated (although, as a Chicagoan, it doesn’t sound that bad.)
One of our winery hosts just offered to let us “picnic” inside, so I think we found a solution.
Excellent!
The weather is bad here, and the forecast is for more of the same. There is so much rain coming down from the hillsides that it is causing some flooded streets - particularly where people don’t clear out their drains that are filled with leaves. I am not leaving my place on the Valley floor today - both ends of my small street have “flooded signs” and I always monitor how high the ditches fill - the ones on Pickett Road (3 dwellings down from my place) were at capacity when I went out to check a couple of hours ago. Hate to be “Debbie Downer,” but if you want a Napa Valley experience, you might want to alter your plans.
Sounds like an experience to me.
Why don’t you people just go ahead and give them your first born children?
[On second thought, maybe I shouldn’t go putting the idea in your heads…]
Jeremy, it’s funny to hear you say that, because I moved to Napa over a year ago from decades in Chicago, and I always laugh when I hear locals concerned about the weather because it’s raining. Indeed, the temple here in Napa yesterday cancelled Hebrew school for today due to the rain forecast.
But, Merrill is right - as much as it’s just rain, the flooding can get really bad.
If the roads are closing, which is expected, you might be stuck at the Westin.
Sunshine foods is excellent.
Can you still buy Della Fattoria bread at stores (other than their cafe/bakery in Petaluma)? And if so, who carries it?
The Napa River is expected to crest and flood on Thursday, through late Friday. The Westin is on the Napa River and was built to weather flooding, though vehicles in their parking lot may join the river. Just south of the Westin is the new flood bypass channel, which is already starting to flood. If the channel and the river can’t handle the drainage, the river will breach the banks along Wall St. and Northbay Dr., flowing west and flooding Soscol Ave. The parking area of the Westin will go under water next. With all the work that has been done to mitigate flooding, I’m thinking/hoping it won’t get as bad as 86, 2000 or 2002. We’ve already had enough rain to have created the floods of 2000 and 2002. If we do flood, the work done will have minimized the amount and allow for a much quicker draining of flooded areas.
Use Google Earth to view the Westin and the bypass. Hopefully everything works out but the Westin is damn near in the center.
A friend drove by and he said the flood gates were closed as of this evening. It isn’t supposed to be worse than the last time they used the Oxbow bypass in 2016 so downtown is expected to be fine.
So, how did the trip, picnic supply purchasing, and picnicking go? What a miserable few days here in Calistoga. Hope you were able to enjoy. I was not!
Alas, my wife got sick so we postponed. Hopefully to a week with better weather!
Sorry your wife got sick…but trust me, you did not miss anything up here in Napa Valley during those days. We have so much good weather during the year, I wish for all tourists/travelers to be here when we have it.
Thx! I know the wine will still be there --and the weather will be better-- when we return. Which we will. Soon.
The weather would have been especially painful with all those Spring Mountain sites --Smith-Madrone, Stony Hill, Paloma-- with beautiful views we wouldn’t have been able to see.