My favorite trips for food, wine and photography is a trip to the Napa Valley and California. We made our way back on our about the fifth trip to the wine region. As always planning the trip is part of the excitement. We always visit some of our favorites and find a few new wineries to explore.

This was the first time for a balloon ride for us. The magnificent views of Napa Valley only beat the quiet and peaceful trip.

We were staying in an Airbnb about 10 miles up in the hills west of Yountville. We were surprised to wake early our second day to no power, water or cell phone coverage.

We knew some high winds the night before but did not realize the enormity of the situation until we turned on the car radio. The radio news provided only sketchy details of fires all over the region. We drove into Yountville to access the situation and soon saw the fires on the west side of the hills and across the valley extending over to Sonoma County.

The news was very scattered with still no power or cell coverage even in town. With the extent of the fires, it looks very bad for many in the region. We returned to our house, packed up and headed to Carmel.