Napa Valley is not far from San Francisco so it was another short hop to go from Yosemite. Soon after passing by the town of Napa we unexpectedly came to Oakville - population 300.  Just had to stop for sentimental reasons...
 

Oakville, Napa Valley

		..
Just had to stop when we saw this sign	They even had a grocery store ...	... and their own blend of coffee!

We found a good RV park in the town of Callistoga at the fairgrounds, and decided to stay for a few days to visit the local wineries.  Visitor information told us most wineries gave guided tours for free so we set off to see what Oakville had to offer first.  The main winery there is Robert Mondavi's and we were surprised when we signed up for their tour and were charged $10 each.  We found the reason at the wine tasting at the end of the tour - the three tastings were from $35, $45, and $55 (US, of course) bottles of wine!  Almost the entire valley is given over the vineyards and wineries and some are very exotic - like the Coppola Winery, which is in a huge Tudor mansion and has many items from Francis Ford Coppola's movies and his oscars and other memorabilia. There, as at the magnificent Beringer winery, the tours are free but you pay for the wine tastings.  By contrast, at Sutter Home everything including the samples are free - but then their wine tends to the $5/bottle type! 
 

Napa Valley Wineries

....	....
Robert Mondavi Winery in Oakville, CA	Sutter Home Winery in St Helena, CA

Napa Valley is a beautiful place with a great climate - sunny, dry and in the 90's for 9 months of the year - and the Pacific coast is just a short ride over the mountains.

Next stop is Hwy 101 - the Pacific Highway - through N. California, Oregon and Washington and then a couple of months rest in Vancouver ...