04-15-2013, 10:08 PM
What an amazing trip! I feel so guilty just showing up and having such a great time knowing all the work that goes into this behind the scenes. Flash once again orchestrated everything to perfection, and did a ton of work to make this all happen w/o a hitch. Bandit did some great recon work as well - What an awesome course! He did a terrific job of being the rabbit as well - What a way to get your adrenaline going! It was great to see some folks that I met two years ago, as well as some new faces - Just a great group of people to spend time with. Hats off also to the dedication for those coming from afar - The Canadian's, New Yorkers, North Carolinian's, and Pennsylvanian's - Hope I'm not leaving anybody out here. Well it sounds like this may have been the end of a decade of great Paso Wine Tours and Fun Runs. As we all know, Flash beats to a different drummer (In a good way) I wish I had his energy. That being said -.What would you all think about having an event on the west coast at around the same time each year whereby a different person would host it each year? We could keep the same theme, as there are numerous wineries from the Canadian Border to Mexico. Maybe one year someone could host a micro-brew tour in Oregon for instance - Maybe it's just left up the host. That being said, I could start by offering to host in the Napa Valley in 2014. I could host all the meals at the winery (Flora Springs Winery) in St Helena. We also have a 33 room inn just 3 minutes away in Rutherford (Rancho Caymus Inn) where I could get a very good rate on rooms for everyone. I could arrange some very interesting private tours and tastings at various wineries with winemakers and owners. There are countless spas in the area as well - So for those interested in that - Have no fear. There is a fair amount of bicycle traffic in the immediate vicinity, so the fun runs may go through the Napa Valley and over to the Sonoma Coast etc... Plenty of time to figure out all the details of that though. So do you think there would be enough people willing to host to make something like this work? In the meantime, maybe folks could chime in w/ their 2 preferred months (Sept - Nov are out for me due to harvest) i.e 1st choice April, 2nd choice June etc.... How many people would be willing to head to Napa Valley? Flash, if you want to post this in another area, so it's not on your Paso thread - Go ahead. I just wanted to touch base w/ those that I know were on the Paso run. I'll put a few pic's here of where I would host some events at the winery and a picture of our Inn. Thanks again for a great time in Paso everyone! Pauli p.s If winter months work better - We also have an Inn in Scottsdale on a golf course - (Southwest Inn at Eagle Mountain) No wineries, but lots of golf and spas - Just sayin......Might be able to get a larger gathering from other states. Let's start w/ the Napa one first though.
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