It's so Neat to Heat Your Feet on the Calistoga Mud and Farmer Patty

Oh, what a good day.   We are staying in Sonoma for a few days, while Jay and Lindsey and Henry get reacquainted.    I found this house in Sonoma on Trip Advisor, it's called "The Wine Country Cottage", and it's really great.   It's small, it's a studio, but as clean as can be, well furnished, and in a wonderful location.    It's in the countryside of Santa Rosa, on a 2 acre lot.   The owners, Lucy and Bob, are very friendly, and live in the nearby house.    They have a koi pond, a fire pit, a few sheep, a few goats andjust beautiful grounds.PICTURE

The most fun are the chickens that they raise, and give us fresh eggs every morning.   PIC OF BOWL OF EGGS AND EGG YOLK IF WE GET THAT ONE TOMORROW.   I helped feed them this morning, holding off the rooster with a rake, in case he decided to get testy!   PICTURE OF ROOSTER

After breakfast, we began our wine tasting adventures.  Spent most of the time in Dry Creek, and by the second winery, I was completely sloshed!    Found some very good wineries, Kokomo, Chateau Diane and Truett and Herbst.  CHECK NAME

Ate lunch at a highly recommended cafe, which Dan was VERY sceptical about, since it was on the grounds of a hospital, but I ignored him and just enjoyed my quiche.

We then drove over to Napa Valley on a beautiful back road, and went to a mud bath and spa.   Oh my, what an experience!   We started in a warm tub, then a hot tub, and a mineral water pool.  They then called us for the mud bath.   It is hard to describe how it feels!    You take your clothes off and get into a big tub filled with dark, rich mud.   (actually, it's peat moss from Canada mixed with volcanic ash from Lincoln, Ca. and the hot springs that are in Calistoga)    So you lie in this thick, dark muck, that actually doesn't smell as badly as you think it would.   It doesn't smell GOOD, but it wasn't bad.    They put a clay masque on your face at the same time. PCITURES OF US BOTH.      After that, you get out of the tub, which is quite a feat, by the way, and head to rinse off.   I got out first, as Dan was struggling to get out, and he later told me how strange it looked to have this muck dripping off my body from all over my body!   It felt weird too, really strange.   After rinsing off, you go into the Jacuzzi for another 10 minutes to relax and feel cleansed.   Then, you go into another room where they wrap you in a blanket, and put a cool cloth behind your head and on your forehead.    That is it.   And if that doesn't relax you, you have a big problem!

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We managed to drive home, and had a take out burger for dinner.  Now we are relaxing even more, we think we've learned how to do this very well today.