Today will be a day of “white food” violations, starting with an Egg McMuffin and Hash Browns at McDonalds. These two old friends have been missing from my diet these past few months, along with other varieties of breads and potatoes, plus rice, pasta, sugar, flour, and other white foods carbs. My wife and I agreed to not skip any courses of our elaborately prepared French Laundry dinner tonight, so why not just start adding some long-avoided carbs this morning?

Quite frankly it didn’t sit well in my stomach. In fact, just sat there with a distinct heaviness. I’m not sure my digestive system knows what to do with it? Hopefully, my body will adapt before lunch, and can handle the beers I’m certain to consume while catching up with a college friend. I was going to describe our friendship as “old,” but when you’re both in your mid-sixties,  college was obviously long ago.

My weight has dropped to a low of 183, at least  20 pounds below the starting point of when we altered our diet. I had also slightly increased my morning run distance. As a result, my belt needs more notches and my pants don’t fit. I can certainly afford a day or two off, if I don’t resort back to my old habits.

Bread used to be my primary measuring stick of restaurant excellence, so not having bread with dinner tonight would not allow me to fairly compare experiences. This was my justification for today’s change in diet. The rest of our long weekend will be focused around Napa Valley wineries, so it will be a slow transition back to a more disciplined diet. I also broke my string of 101 5k days due to our early flight. Instead, I ran the required one-mile distance to maintain my everyday running steak.

The SF Airport was a major hassle, as getting to the Hertz rental area involved a multitude of escalators and a lengthy Airtrain ride. My wife had already grabbed a cab to get to her business lunch on time. I eventually navigated my way downtown to meet my I.U. friend, arriving about 45 minutes late. We ate at The Old Ship Saloon at the corner of Battery and Pacific, then spent some time together sitting by the Dock of The Bay.

My wife and I eventually reunited and left downtown in the rental car. We had more than two hours to make the one-hour drive to Yountville. As we made our way across the Golden Gate Bridge, traffic became a major concern, the GPS indicating an alarming late arrival for our precious French Laundry reservation. To make a long story short, we frantically arrived about 10 minutes late that turned out to be no big deal.

Three hours later, we took a private kitchen tour and left with our autographed, personalized menu. My wife was impressed with the whole experience, while I was leery of our $225 bottle of vino. It was actually one of the least expensive choices, not that my decision was made on price. Why worry about cost when you’re already eating at one of the pricier restaurants in America?

I got up early the morning to meet my other I.U. friend for breakfast, who lives nearby in Napa but originally had other plans. This was a last minute addition to my plans so I had to get up early to do my 5k run. It was actually the same time I normally get up, but it felt like I should be in a sleeping-in mode, while my wife was vacationing.

My friend suggested we go to Peet’s but with my hearing challenges I thought he said “pizza.” Imagine my disappointment. I ordered tea since they had no Diet Coke, and stupidly wasn’t paying attention as I added honey to his cup of coffee, thinking it was my order. It shows how often I visit a coffee shop. It will probably be the only place I visit this weekend that doesn’t serve wine, other than McDonald’s for another Diet Coke fix.

It’s time for our first Napa tasting, so I’ll update you more on our California wine adventure in later posts.