Tour de Segway

Our fifth day called for an early morning so we could go on our Segway Wine Tasting Tour. This was one of the activities that we were all looking forward to as we talked about the trip... and it did not disappoint. We met our tour guides, Gerardo and Hunt, signed our lives away and donned our helmets.




As we got a briefing on how to ride our Segways, my nervousness began to grow. The foot placement, leaning and turning sounded like it required coordination-- something I am lacking. Bill was our guinea pig and was quickly zooming up and down the parking lot with a huge grin on his face and I think we were all a little relieved. We could master these things!!




After a little goofing around (Adam and Evan doing a sychronized Segway dance), we were off on our tour. We took it pretty slow and easy as we made our way to the first winery-- Buena Vista. We had a great guy named Quinn who explained all the wines and give us a history of California wines... and he poured generous glasses. After about five tastings,



the giggles came out, the pictures got sillier and everything was hilarious.



I vaguely remember Blanche singing "You shoulda put a ring on it" at this point and other craziness...



When the guides told us it was time to leave, we hopped back on our Segways and discovered a fun surprise... Segways are SO much easier with some wine in you! We were flying to the next location. We were jumping bumps in the road, taking turns at 12 miles per hour, and breaking with a lot more confidence. A glass and a half of wine at 11am made us Segway pros. Bartholmew Park Winery was the next stop and sweet Heidi tried her best to get our attention to explain the wines. Her attempts failed. We were busy watching Annie and Suzanne reinact an SNL skit,



making jokes about the "Naked" Merlot, and taking "anniversary" pics with our significant others...complete with intertwined arms.





We are such a fun bunch! Back on the Segways, this timid-turned-daredevil group sped to the Vella Cheese Factory. We were so happy to sample the delicious cheeses. I think we all found something we liked. Alex liked them all...



All our tastings done, we headed back to the starting location and that is when our one casualty of the day occurred. Nate managed to jump an asphalt bump and wrestled his Segway to the ground. Very impressive. Nate - 1. Segway - 0.



All in all, it was a fantastic experience. I never thought I would ride a Segway... and definitely didn't think I'd ever ride a Segway tipsy. I highly recommend it. The rest of the day consisted of more naps and more eating. We are experts at vactioning. Tomorrow is our last full day! One more day to live it up Sonoma-style!