How the Other Half live....

Well as many of you know, I was the recipient of a fabulous trip that I got for being a challenge winner for the month of September with Discovery Toys. The trip was a trip on a private jet down to the Claremont Spa & Resort (http://www.claremontresort.com) in Berkeley, CA for 4 days. Here is a breakdown with all the fabulous details:
Day one - fly first class down to San Francisco with my friend Lori Nordquist (from Red Deer; a fellow challenge winner). We arrive around 9:30AM & our car is waiting to take us to the Claremont. We drop our bags & check into our room which has a beautiful view of San Francisco and we are off to San Fran for a day of shopping. We had a longer-than-expected walk to the train but got to see beautiful Berkeley and found a great little bakery where we stopped for lunch. We spent about 4 hours alone just in Macy's. Just when we thought we were finished, we would discover another whole floor of women's clothing!! It was crazy! We made a couple other stops & then headed back to the Claremont for dinner with Jane Leitch, President and Rich Newton, CEO of DT along with the other challenge earners - 4 other girls from the States. When we arrived at our room to get ready, there was champagne chilling on ice for us. We had dinner at the Paragon Restaurant (at the Claremont) - it was fabulous & their Butter Pecan Bread Pudding a la mode smothered in Bourbon Sauce is indescribably divine! I have to say, though, that one of the highlights of dinner for me was sitting next to our CEO & having him ask me what changes I would like to see in the company & then taking notes on what I said!!
Well, after dinner, we did a bit more socializing in our room and then it was off to bed. It had been a very long day (I was up at 4:30 my time to catch my flight and it was now about 1AM my time).
Day 2 - I slept in - unfortunately a bit too late to catch breakfast as I woke up at 9:30 & my first spa treatment was at 10. I grabbed a piece of fruit & off I went. My first treatment was an herbal "krauter" bath. This was fantastic - a very deep jet tub (there were even little jets that pulsed on my neck) and this wonderful 5 inch deep frothy foam - this was not your ordinary bubble bath! There was juice, water and ice by the side of my tub and an assistant to look after me when I needed it. After soaking for about 40 minutes, I headed to the waiting area (with juice or tea and herbal tonics of every kind) and visited with the other girls while waiting for my next treatment - a Moor mud wrap. I made a point of picking things I would never splurge for here and man, that mud wrap was heavenly! It included a mini-facial and a scalp massage to finish the experience off. After that, I spend some time in the steam room (I forgot to mention that when I arrived, I was very, very congested - after my day at the spa, I was not!) After that, we just hung out at the spa for a bit & then I went back to the room to grab a bite & just relax for a bit. As a group, we headed back into San Fran for the evening for a bit more shopping & a lovely dinner downtown. Again, we stayed up too late visiting.
Day 3 - Lori & I had ordered room service for breakfast which arrived at about 6:30AM as we had to head out early for our Napa Valley wine tour (http://www.winecountrytourshuttle.com/index.html). This was a 9-hour tour & was fantastic!! When we headed out, it was raining but as we left San Fran & headed north, it cleared up & was a beautiful day. We stopped at 4 wineries - Domain Chandon, V. Sattui (my favorite!), Rutherford and Andretti (as in Mario Andretti). V. Sattui (http://www.vsattui.com/) was definitely my favorite - we had lunch here as well as they have a deli where you can buy breads, cheeses and meats to go with your wine. There was a lovely picnic area outside where we ate. Andretti was beautiful to see as it has been redone to look like an Italian villa - very nice! This was also the only one where we got to walk around in the vineyards. This was an interesting time of year to go on a wine tour as the picking was all done & the leaves had started to change color - very beautiful! We met the girls back at Fisherman's Wharf (Pier 39) for dinner and then headed back to the spa for a late night soak in the hot tub.
Day 4 - time to go home already! But I was looking forward to this day as it was our turn to fly on the private jet! We had a sumptuous breakfast at Jordan's (at the resort) and were then picked up by our car & taken to the airfield. Our car pulled right up to the plane & we literally got out of the car & onto the plane. Lori & I had the whole jet to ourselves. Now I have to tell you, this is traveling as I have never experienced it! Very plush interior. Our meal was a platter of jumbo prawns with crostinis, a grilled chicken Caesar Salad (huge!), and cheesecake for dessert. In addition to that, there was fresh brewed Starbucks coffee, an entire drawer filled with candy & chocolate bars and another drawer filled with cold drinks (and of course booze!). The highlight of the flight for me was getting to sit in the pilot's seat! The co-pilot told me about all the controls and I got to see the view from the front - very cool! Apparently this plane is owned by one of the members of the board & it was offered to Jane & she offered it to us through the challenge.
This whole trip was an unbelievable experience for me and I am truly grateful to Discovery Toys for offering this challenge. They sure know how to treat their people!