Description
My husband and I live in an adorable two bedroom cottage style home in the world famous wine growing region known as the Napa Valley. Our home is located in the town of Napa, of which wineries are abundant in every direction, depending on the area you would like to visit. Lots to see and do locally. As well as, great central location for short trips such as San Francisco which is a nearby 60 minute drive, Sacramento 60 minute drive, wine country 15, 30, 60 minutes drives. Or slightly longer trips where we can be your starting or ending point to places like, Yosemite National park a mere 3 hour drive away, Lake Tahoe located in the Sierra Mountains, a short 3 hours away, (which was where our picture was taken in the snow last Christmas- found in our picture profile list). Also other trips to consider would be the amazing "Grand Circle", which includes Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park and the Grand Canyon National Park, all within roughly a 12 hour drive. (our sunny picture in the picture profile list, was the magnificent Grand Canyon)
Oh yes, onto our description of our sweet little home... our home is very cozy, just under 900 sq. feet, with beautiful views of the nearby Westwood Hills. You will be quite pleased upon your arrival as you pull up to our adorable little house with a white picket fence on a usually quiet family neighborhood street. Our home is very cute, clean, and unpretentious. Very simple, minimal clutter, no breakables really. We have a nice size kitchen, living room with fireplace, two small bedrooms and one bath. French doors off the kitchen will open to a nice size backyard with a large patio and barbeque area. Depending on the time of year fresh veggies will be growing or flowers to be picked.
Neighborhood
You are a short 5 minute drive from downtown Napa, where you will find many types of restaurants, including fine dining, casual outdoor cafe seating, as well as, many coffee houses. There are daily shows, concerts and events held at the downtown Opera House. You are also within 5 minute walking distance of Premium Outlet shopping, with over 20 great stores to choose from, including but not limited to, higher end designer clothing labels. Some stores for example would be Coach, TSE cashmere, Tommy Hilfigger and Banana Republic.
There is a cute little Trolley service available for free transportation. The service highlights the best parts of Napa, you just jump on and off the trolley which comes every 30 minutes and has over a dozen pick-up and drop- off points. Of which, one is located at the earlier mentioned Premium Outlet shopping only 5 minute walking distance from our home.
The local Napa Valley Wine Train depot is a 10 minute drive into the downtown area, where you may board for a scenic ride up valley to visit the world famous wine growing region. Or simply jump in your car and visit wineries in every direction 15 minutes from our home.
If you enjoy hiking or biking, there are nearby trails and country roads all over. Including vineyards just a couple minutes from our neighborhood up over a small hill. Or you can simply take little walks through our nearby regional parks, one of which is walking distance from our home. There is a path just a few minutes away that will take you along a tree lined hillside with views from the top of Westwood hill. Once on top of the hill, you can see our cute little house almost a stones throw away.
And don't forget while you are in the infamous wine country region, you are also in an area known for its amazing spa recreation. Natural mineral pools and mud baths are a dime a dozen here.
About Us
My husband and I are very excited to try our first home exchange. We absolutely love to travel and are willing to go just about anywhere. Our jobs however are not extremely flexible at the moment. We unfortunately will be planning our trips usually 6 months ahead of time for the time being.
We are both in our early thirties. I am a dental hygienist working part time three days a week. I have lots of time on my hands to grow a beautiful vegetable garden and care for my cute little yard. My husband was a Spanish Teacher, turned firefighter, turned Park Ranger. He currently works as a law enforcement Ranger for the nearby Sonoma County Regional Parks division. His goal being permanent employment as a firefighter with the state of California. As his employment changes in the nearby future, we will be readily available to travel 4 days out of the week, as he will soon join me in the three day work force. We look forward to our future allowing us travel much more than we have been able to in the past. We feel home exchange would give us the perfect opportunity to do so.
As for now our family is limited to my husband and I, as well as, our matching black/white dog and kitten. Our animals will be with our nearby family during the exchange, however our home is open to them while we are home. Just a warning, in case there is anyone interested but may have allergies to pets. We look forward to the future contacts and cannot wait for our first exchange.
Destination
We have a vacation to plan in November 2007, we have 10- 12 days to play with; most interested in New York City, tropical warm areas or Canada would be okay too. Next year we should be ready to take short nearby 4 day trips, hopefully monthly when a good exchange is suitable.
