2. We arrive at Chandon.

After driving my new car off the lot on Saturday night, I left on Monday, June 20th around noon. My original plan had been to head south to Santa Barbara, LA and San Diego. I had planned (very roughly) on my trip being a counter clockwise circumnavigation of the United States, making numerous inroads along the way. A funny thing happened on the way to the forum however. Ian Winget, one of my oldest, dearest friends, and his girlfriend Cathy Shinn invited me to join them in Napa for the evening. I had yet to visit Ian in Napa, even though it had been his home for the past several years. So I ended up scrapping the southern route, crossing the Bay Bridge (78 miles on the odometer) and heading north and east to Napa and Younteville. This was the first of many, many times where I planned on doing one thing and ended up doing something else entirely. Sort of a theme for the trip. I arrived at the Chandon Winery around 2:30ish (I got a bit lost, I was using a Tom Tom I'd bought and for the first little while. . . . To be honest, the first 3 months, I would often pass the turn it wanted me to make, thinking the distance it was reporting and the distance I was seeing didn't jibe. "It must mean the next one, that cant be 300 yards" I would think to myself. . . . . . "At next intersection, turn around" it would respond in a sexy, british accent) The grounds of Chandon are spectacular, It'd be difficult to imagine a more perfect place to start my adventure. I wandered in through the idyllic gardens, ponds and fountains and into the lobby where Ian met me with one of his substantial hugs. He's a big guy and not afraid to express his feelings through hugs. The same could be said of me. It was monumental and I knew immediately I had mad the right decision heading east. He gave me a quick tour of the building, introducing me to a few friends and coworkers before heading back into the bowels of the building to finish his days work. He told his boy here to make sure I was drunk when he got back. He was a really nice guy and did as he was asked. (Ian, can you help me with his name? Corey? Aaron? Chief? I'm pretty sure I called him all three)