Verde Valley Wine Trail!

I've wanted to do this road trip for a while! Lori and I drove up through Prescott Valley and into Jerome, thinking we'd visit three or four wineries. The drive up is beautiful!

Our first stop, Cellar 433 in Jerome. Our sommelier, Shell, set the bar REALLY high for all other tasting rooms. She was adorable, knowledgeable, and so sweet. We tried six wines -- three white blends and three red blends. Enjoyed a cheese platter and enjoyed the view!

Lori was getting a little silly, but still oh so sophisicated!  (Note: the pinky is out!)

Just up the hill is Haunted Hamburger. Shell was kind enough to hold the wine I purchased so we didn't have to carry it.

 Hungry!  I had the sourdough burger. Nom nom nom.

 Many of the leaves have already fallen, but there were still a few colorful spots.  This one is right outside the fudge shop. It was raining lightly and the air smelled SO GOOD.

Next (and last) stop:  Page Springs Cellars. The atmosphere is lovely. The service not so much. No tasting notes, no information about the wines (other than the name). As I mentioned, Shell set the bar HIGH. 

 At least we got the last slice of cheesecake to share!

I bet the vineyard is absolutely beautiful in the spring!

Chocolate and Chilies

The Desert Botanical Garden had a chocolate and chili festival so we had to go. And we had to be looking fabulous! It was a little warm, but we enjoyed ourselves.

There was FREE CHOCOLATE CAKE!

We did some shopping, wandered through the gardens, stopped for green chili burritos, and saw a cooking demonstration. Almost too pretty to eat!

A little contemplation time...

Bacon, Blues & Brews!

Who can resist bacon? And music? And great weather?

I don't think there were enough food trucks, but we did manage to get some bacon.

The ultimate burger -- hamburger, pulled pork, bacon and cheese with barbecue sauce. Mmmmm.

 This beer from the Beer Research Institute is a coffee milk stout. It's called "Morning Sex" and when I said to the server "I need that!" he was quite amused. It was so good I went back for seconds.

Deb and I got matching tattoos, visited a palm reader (to see if she would tell me the same thing the clairvoyant told me a couple of weeks ago), and I bought a cute dress.

This is the foot I stomp scorpions with, so it seemed appropriate.