Mystery trip revealed

For many years now I have enjoyed a wonderful friendship with a group of guys. The majority of them live in the San Diego area. It all started with a cruise to Mexico where my partner and I met Dan. He then introduced us to a group of his friends and I enjoyed them all but in particular, David who for about 18 years now I have been in almost daily contact with. There are three couples that have been together for a minimum of 27 years ( that includes me ) and it is wonderful to have the history we've created together.
Two years ago one of those couples surprised us by including us in a celebration of an important birthday. He and his partner hosted 14 of us on a wonderful 2 week cruise on the QM2 to the Caribbean. It was a trip not to be forgotten. Last year we wanted to reciprocate so we planned a long weekend in Calistoga...with a twist. We never let anyone know what the destination was and sent an occasional clue to make it fun. Building the anticipation made the experience before the actual trip as much fun as the actual weekend and I think we were truly able to surprise them. We had great dinners in Calistoga, St. Helena, etc, spa treatments and an excursion to a Ca'toga, a wonderful estate that features Carlo Marchiori's trompe l'oeil work.
We experienced David and Mike's surprise trip this last weekend. For months we have been getting "tube mail" with sort of clues that went into a beautiful album he'd sent. Pages would arrive beautifully styled with a sentiment that would elude to some aspect of what we would expect. Finally the morning of our flight arrived. We were instructed to open the final clue on the plane which told us to look for a sign upon arrival. At baggage claim we were easily able to identify our driver by that signage. He sped us off to our destination - a wonderful inn and spa in La Jolla where we checked our bag with the doorman who instructed us to meet our hosts at the restaurant for lunch. The six of us accounted for, we toasted the beginning of what we knew would be a memorable time and were happy to be at such a beautiful resort. After lunch Mike went to check on the rooms - not quite ready yet. He asked us to join him outside where a van was waiting to take us on an excursion while we waited. We're driving...and driving. I happened to look behind me and noticed that all our luggage was in the back of the van! Lunch was a ruse! Now, where are we headed? With every offramp we speculated as to whether the driver would exit. Finally there was no denying that we were crossing the border into Mexico! I'd never been in Baja so seeing the Mexican coast was a treat. The speculations grew and finally when we reached Ensanada and turned we knew we were headed for the wine country!
We enjoyed a great weekend full of wine, mexican train, incredible meals, horseback riding and sunning by the pool while watching grapes being harvested. The hosts of the ranch were also owners of the vineyard, celebrities in the valley and very entertaining.
No detail was overlooked by our hosts and the bar was definitely raised!