• Home
  • About
  • Work with Me
  • SUBSCRIBE!
  • BEST ONLINE SHOPPING
  • youtube
  • Contact Me

Baby Boomster

Active Women Over 50

WALK AND EARN YOUR BRACELET
  • Read About >>
  • Fashion/Beauty
  • Travel
    • General Travel
    • Los Angeles Travel
  • Wellness
  • Fitness Over 50
  • Lifestyle
  • Recipes
  • Interviews
You are here: Home / Senior Women Travel / US Travel / California / Napa Valley: Fall Leaves and Fine Wine
Privacy Policy This post may contain affiliate links for products I recommend. If you purchase, I may earn a small commission at no cost to you.

Napa Valley: Fall Leaves and Fine Wine

November 30, 2017 by Rebecca Forstadt-Olkowski 3 Comments

Napa Valley in autumn is my favorite place to be for this Southern California girl because autumn leaves in Los Angeles are rare. The hillsides and vineyards of the wine country are ablaze with rust, red, and yellow colors after the harvest. I love when I can spend the Thanksgiving holidays at my brother’s house near Yountville because it gives our spread-out family a chance to get together and have fun.

Baby Boomer Travel | Napa, California | Fall Colors in Wine Country

This time, my sister who lives in Southern Colorado when she’s not roaming the Southwest selling her art, flew to Burbank from Phoenix and joined me and my daughter for the trek up North. We only had 3 nights to spend in Napa, so we drove up the boring I-5 that passes by the huge stinky slaughterhouse we call Cowshwitz. It was a risk to travel on Wednesday because there’s usually horrendous traffic, but we missed it by leaving at the crack of dawn.

Even though Napa had just endured a devasting fire, the I-29 looked beautiful when we arrived at my brother’s house. The hills on the opposite side of the valley by the Silverado Trail were black and devastated and we saw signs posted along the road thanking all the first responders.

My brother’s backyard looks out into a large vineyard that was bright with warm fall colors. Fortunately, most of the harvest had been picked before the fire. What remained suffered from the smoke and may affect the taste of the wine in the future.

I love that the hot air balloons pass over his house in the morning.

Click on images to view full-size

  • Baby Boomer Travel | Napa, California | Hot Air Balloon
  • Baby Boomer Travel | Napa, California | Backyard vineyards and balloons

Our 3-night stay was relaxing and mellow, but we did take several invigorating walks including a 5-miler down the Napa wine trail to Yountville and back. The tree-lined trail was recently installed between each direction of Highway 29, to protect hikers and bikers from drivers drunk from a day of winetasting.

Baby Boomer Travel | Napa, California | Wine Trail
My niece rescued my daughter’s dog from our long walk

As we were strolling on the walking path, the Napa Valley Wine Train passed by. The residents of Napa are not keen on the train running through their neighborhood, but for tourists, it’s a lovely way to enjoy the countryside and drink wine without having to drive.

Baby Boomer Travel | Napa, California | Napa Wine Train
Napa Wine Train

We also did a photo walk while hiking on a trail near the Napa River and Downtown.

  • Baby Boomer Travel | Napa, California | Napa River Trail
  • Baby Boomer Travel | Napa, California | Napa Valley River
  • Baby Boomer Travel | Napa, California | Bird - Downtown Napa Bridge

No trip to Napa is complete without wine tasting. We spent Friday afternoon drinking champagne and appetizers at Domaine Chandon where my sister-in-law is a member.

Baby Boomer Travel | Napa, California | Domaine Chandon winery
Domaine Chandon winery

Afterward, we had a reservation to visit the Elyse Winery. It’s a small winery near my brother’s house. Sometimes family-run wineries are even more fun and that was true of Elyse. We had our own table out on the patio and personal service from one of the family members.

Baby Boomer Travel | Napa. California | Elyse Winery
My daughter tasting wine on the patio of Elyse Winery

My brother’s family had scheduled a photo shoot for their Christmas card at my sister-in-law’s Aunt’s house in the center of the valley, so we all went along to check out the scenery.

Love wine? Buy The California Wine Club’s Premier Series as a Gift

Click on images to view full-size

  • Baby Boomer Travel | Napa, California | Backyard Vineyard Mid Napa Valley
  • Baby Boomer Travel | Napa, California | Pumpkin - Fall Colors - Mid Napa Valley

At dusk, we drove through the Silverado Trail to see some of the fire damage.  In an affluent neighborhood we passed, you could see how randomly the flames destroyed some houses and left others next to it still standing.  No one is immune from disaster and we were all thankful our family members were safe and sound.

My video was created with Camtasia

You can order amazing California wines here.

What’s your favorite place to enjoy fall colors? Please leave a comment below.

Share this post:

Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share on Pinterest Share on LinkedIn

Filed Under: California Tagged With: Baby Boomer Travel, balloons, hike, Thanksgiving, wine, women over 50

Post Updates

Click HERE for Best Trip Planning & Travel Resources

BabyBoomster Tours – Cape Cod and the Islands in June 2023. Click here to get info and sign up TODAY.

Comments

  1. 1010ParkPlace says

    December 2, 2017 at 6:06 am

    I haven’t really found a good overview of the damage, so thanks for posting this. If I were to live in that area it would be Yountville. Know you hear this all the time, but your daughter is so beautiful.

    Reply
    • Rebecca Forstadt-Olkowski says

      December 2, 2017 at 8:50 am

      Thanks, Brenda. I love Yountville too. It’s such a charming little town. And thanks for the compliment about my daughter. I am constantly amazed by her.

      Reply
  2. Sue from Sizzling Towards 60 & Beyond says

    December 3, 2017 at 11:01 am

    It looks lovely Rebecca and a great combination of walking and enjoying a vino. I love the autumn colours as we don’t have these trees where I live. Here in Australia we are heading into Summer

    Reply

Leave a comment and tell us what you think Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Contact Info

  • About Baby Boomster
  • Send a message
  • Media Kit
  • Writer’s Guidelines

…………………………………………..

Rebecca Forstadt Olkowski
rebecca@babyboomster.com
Los Angeles,  CA 91001

Honors and Awards

Top 100 Baby Boomer blogs

Search for a topic

Legal Stuff You Need to Know

  • Disclaimer
  • Disclosure
  • Please read my Privacy and Cookie Policy

Rebecca Olkowski is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to BabyBoomster.com. Other affiliations are listed HERE.

INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK |  LINKEDIN |  PINTEREST |  TWITTER |  YOUTUBE | IMDB


BabyBoomster.com is a travel, food, wellness, entertainment, and lifestyle blog for Baby Boomer women over 50. | Los Angeles, California

Copyright Ⓒ 2011 - 2022  | BabyBoomster.com  |  All Rights Reserved

Privacy and Cookie Policy