Friday, February 27, 2026

Calistoga Trip

Friday, February 27, 2026  , , ,  No comments

For Inna's birthday, I had planned a two-day getaway retreat at Calistoga, featuring rest & relaxation at the Indian Springs Resort & Spa.

Friday, February 27, 2026

After Inna and I finished work, we started our drive to Indian Springs Resort & Spa in Calistoga. There was some traffic on the way, and we arrived later than expected. After checking in at reception, we picked up our room keys for #22. We parked our Tesla Model Y near our room and unloaded the car. 

I had initially made dinner reservations at Lovina for 20:15. After a 10-minute walk from room #22 at Indian Springs, we checked in at Lovina and were quickly taken to the table upstairs. After being seated, we ordered the following items:
  • Appetizer: Freshly Baked Bread
  • Salad: Sonoma Apple Salad, Mushroom Soup shots x 2
  • Boris: Wine Forest Risotto
  • Inna: Seared Wild Halibut, Berry Collins (non-alcoholic)
As expected, the freshly baked bread and Sonoma Apple Salad were excellent. We shared both the Wine Forest Risotto and the Seared Pacific Halibut. They were both excellent. The Mushroom soup shots were also excellent.

After dinner, we returned to our room and changed into swimsuits. We walked to the nearby thermal pool and jumped in. The water was quite hot, but we got used to it eventually. We swam around for an hour and returned to our room at 23:30. Floating around, I even fell asleep for 20 minutes.

We observed a unique phenomenon from the thermal pool, called the 22-degree Halo.

The Science of the 22-degree Halo

While it might look like a ring of light or a thin cloud, the halo is caused by refraction—the bending of light as it passes through ice crystals.

  • The Clouds: Even if the sky looks clear, there are often high-altitude cirrus clouds drifting about 20,000 to 40,000 feet above you.

  • The Crystals: These clouds are so high and cold that they are composed of millions of tiny, hexagonal (six-sided) ice crystals.

  • The "Magic" Angle: As moonlight enters one side of these hexagonal crystals and exits the other, it is bent at an angle of exactly 22 degrees. This consistency is why the halo always appears to be the same size, regardless of where you are standing.

Why it looks like a ring

Because the ice crystals are oriented in all different directions in the sky, they refract the light in a circular pattern around the moon.

Fun Fact: Because the light is being refracted (like a prism), you can sometimes see a faint red tint on the inside of the ring and blue on the outside, though it's often too dim for the human eye to pick up at night.

Folklore vs. Reality

In many cultures, a lunar halo is seen as a weather predictor. The old saying goes: "Ring around the moon, rain or snow soon." There is actually some truth to this! Cirrus clouds often precede a warm front, which frequently brings rain within 24 to 48 hours. So, while you were enjoying your swim, the sky was likely signaling a change in the weather


The frogs near our room were extremely loud, but stopped ribbiting when we came near. After resting a bit, we turned in.

Saturday, February 28, 2025

At 08:00, Inna had a migraine, and we decided to skip the Restorative + Meditation Yoga at the Reflection Room. 

At 09:00, we decided to drive to our favorite Michelin-rated Solbar restaurant for breakfast, located at the Solage Resort (just a few minutes away from Indian Springs). Solage also has free Tesla destination chargers, and we parked our Tesla Model Y at a charger and started the charging process. I charged the Tesla for one hour (from 54% to 64%) using 480V.

From the charging lot, we walked a few minutes to Solbar. The weather was sunny, beautiful, and warm for a February day. We decided to sit outdoors,  as the indoor area was entirely empty. In fact, we got so hot, sitting by in direct, morning sun, that we asked our waiter to move our table to a shaded area.

Initially, I was planning to order my all-time favorite Lemon Ricotta pancakes, but I changed my mind as I wanted a breakfast with protein. We ordered the following items:

  • Boris: Yogurt + Granola, Coffee
  • Inna: Duck Hash, Coffee
My Yogurt with Granola was excellent, and the Duck Hash was amazing. We were so full that we cancelled the order for Lemon Ricotta pancakes!

After breakfast, we decided to hike in the Bothe-Napa Valley State Park. ChatGPT suggested that we hike the highly rated Redwood Trail, and we drove to the Bothe State Park, to the gravel parking lot near the Redwood Trail trailhead.

The hike was excellent with beautiful redwoods, streams, and lush surroundings. Luckily, it was not muddy (but next time, we should bring our hiking boots).

For lunch, we decided to drive to St. Helena and try the Farmstead at Long Meadow Ranch (famous for its grass-fed meats). After being seated indoors, we ordered the following items:

  • Drinks: Seasonal Sparkling VA
  • Appetizer: Burrata
  • Salad: Garden Salad
  • Entree: Flannery Flat-Iron Steak (medium-rare) with French Fries
The Burrata and the Garden Salad were excellent. The Flannery Flat-Iron Steak was excellent, too (though the portion was on the smaller size.) There were a few large groups of women dining (not sure if these were bachelorette parties).

After lunch,  we returned home, as I had work to do, and Inna decided to return to St. Helena to explore the town further. When I finished with my work, I reassembled my Sonicake travel guitar and played for a bit, until Inna returned.

We decided to play ping-pong and headed to the pool (where the ping-pong table is located). A few young teenage girls were playing, so we waited by the fireplace patiently for them to finish. Fortunately, they finished 15 minutes later, and Inna and I played 3 games. I won the first, Inna won the second, and I barely won the third game. All of the games were quite close.

We returned to our room, resting for a bit, and reading the news. The U.S. had attacked Iran, and I wanted to read all about it. After reading the news, I returned to the room and played my Sonicake guitar some more.

At 20:00, we walked to Sam's Social Club for dinner. After looking at the dinner menu, we ordered the following items:
  • Drinks: Might Dry Apple Cider
  • Appetizer: Grilled Octopus
  • Inna: Piri Piri Chicken
  • Boris: Cheeseburger with Fries
Inna loved the Grilled Octopus and her Piri Piri Chicken. I liked my Cheeseburger. Overall, the menu was quite limited.

After dinner, we walked to downtown Calistoga to burn off some calories. Being Saturday night, there were a couple of bars playing loud music. One live singer was doing a decent job on Adele's "Someone Like You."

We returned to our room and decided to head to the thermal pool. We spent two hours floating around, enjoying the warm water and the beautiful night sky (which was much clearer, showing more stars). Unfortunately, the 22 Degree Halo we had observed on Friday was gone (though the moon still shone bright).                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
Sunday, March 1, 2026

I woke at 07:30, took a shower, and shaved. At 09:00, we drove over to Solbar for our morning breakfast. I was hoping to charge my Tesla Model Y. Luckily, all the Tesla chargers were free, and I plugged in my Tesla (to charge it from 50% to 84%).

After sitting down at Solbar/Solage, we ordered the following items:

  • Duck Hash, Coffee
  • Yogurt + Granola, Coffee

The Duck Hash was excellent, and the Yogurt + Granola was also fantastic. We walked back to Indian Springs Resort & Spa and changed into our swimsuits. We ended up swimming for about an hour (from 10:00 to 11:00). It was a bit colder and more cloudy than on Saturday. 

I returned to our room and changed out of the swimsuits. I walked back to Solage to pick up the charged Tesla and drove it back to Indian Springs Resort & Spa. Inna was already there, and we quickly packed our suitcases and checked out of the hotel.

Inna explored Calistoga downtown for a bit, while I read my Kindle Colorsoft. When she returned at 12:45, we started our drive to Bouchon Bistro in Yountville.

We found a parking space near Bouchon Bistro and checked in at 13:15. Inna got a fantastic outdoor table. After sitting down and looking at the menu, we ordered the following items:

  • Appetizer: Freshly Baked Baguette
  • Soup: Mushroom Soup (Soup du Jour)
  • Salad: Salade maraîchère au chèvre chaud
  • Main: Epaule d'Agneau (Lamb) with beans
  • Dessert: Chocolate Mousse

The mushroom soup and salade maraîchère au chèvre chaud were excellent. The Lamb was superb.  We also enjoyed the Chocolate Mousse.

The drive back home was fairly smooth with mostly light traffic, and we arrived at around 16:50.


Calistoga Trip Review

Highlights

  • Swimming and relaxing at Indian Springs' Thermal Pool
  • Seeing the 22-degree Halo from Indian Springs' Thermal Pool
  • Dining at Solbar and Lovina, in Calistoga
  • Dining at Bouchon Bistro in Yountville

Lowlights

  • Inna is getting a headache on Saturday morning

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