ddeuddeg wrote:I thought W-2s were required to be mailed by 1/31. I didn't know your condo was in such a black hole, mail-wise. Maybe that's why it's not selling more easily.

Oh it was exciting. Our W-2s WERE all mailed by 1/31. Allegedly. See, but I had 2 coming because we had switched payroll providers mid-year. So I received one of them on 1/31, but it was wrong (everyone's was wrong). So we contacted HR and they said "oops, my bad" and they fixed them and re-mailed them and we received them on Tuesday. But we still hadn't received the OTHER one from the previous payroll provider. So HR called them and threatened fire and brimstone (for fear of US all calling the IRS to have fire and brimstone rained down on them) and got them reprinted and mailed to our HR department, who then manually distributed them yesterday. When there is an error on a W-2, they have until the 15th to get a correct one to you. And the IRS doesn't want to hear from you prior to the 15th anyway about missing W-2s.

So yeah. That was fun

So we're almost completely set with regards to flights. cheron's flight is fully booked and I've gotten my flight to Cali booked. Need to wait until next month when I get a couple thousand more Rapid Rewards points added to my account before I can book my return flight. But I'm at least set for getting there. I'll worry about getting home later. LOL

Anyways, we'll both be arriving on the same plane (as we both change planes at MDW) at OAK at 3:40pm on Tues 7/24.
I know it's only Feb, but I'm getting PUMPED for this trip!

tiger7610 wrote:I'm interested, I guess I have to contact instructor (not sure what/why, but will pm RPM). I really doubt I can take off a full week from work, so I guess I'm just going to go with the newbie tour.

Guess RPM has been too busy to notice the overlap and update the list. I was going to say that puts Mother in ... except I think he posted he was busy the 23rd to the 25th.

Mother, is that still the case?

HitAnyKey42 wrote:So we're almost completely set with regards to flights. cheron's flight is fully booked and I've gotten my flight to Cali booked. Need to wait until next month when I get a couple thousand more Rapid Rewards points added to my account before I can book my return flight. But I'm at least set for getting there. I'll worry about getting home later. LOL

Anyways, we'll both be arriving on the same plane (as we both change planes at MDW) at OAK at 3:40pm on Tues 7/24.
I know it's only Feb, but I'm getting PUMPED for this trip!

Don't forget to keep checking with Southwest in case the rates go down. Even if you used points, you can get them refunded and rebook at a lower rate. I managed last week to save about $50 on our car rental in Milwaukee. Rates out there are ridiculous! I will keep looking though.

bahwm wrote:Don't forget to keep checking with Southwest in case the rates go down. Even if you used points, you can get them refunded and rebook at a lower rate. I managed last week to save about $50 on our car rental in Milwaukee. Rates out there are ridiculous! I will keep looking though.

Since I convinced him to fly out of LGA, he actually might have a chance of rates dropping and being able to swap out the points

Anything new to report on 1) how much the deposits will be and when they are due and 2) what hotel we should make reservations at?

jmdavidson wrote:Anything new to report on 1) how much the deposits will be and when they are due and 2) what hotel we should make reservations at?

Relax...they're working as fast as they can, and will certainly not delay in letting us know. Dates are set - you can safely book your flights. The hotel group rate is there so that a) we get a decent deal, and b) you don't need to worry about super advance booking.

I feel that at times this thread gets perilously close to taking rpm/woop/WD's efforts for granted. Remember that rpm and woop do this in their scant spare time.

klezman wrote:Relax...they're working as fast as they can, and will certainly not delay in letting us know. Dates are set - you can safely book your flights. The hotel group rate is there so that a) we get a decent deal, and b) you don't need to worry about super advance booking.

I feel that at times this thread gets perilously close to taking rpm/woop/WD's efforts for granted. Remember that rpm and woop do this in their scant spare time.

Thank you.

Patience grasshoppers! Get you checkbooks out, hotel and deposit information should be posted in a day or so.

rpm wrote:Thank you.

Patience grasshoppers! Get you checkbooks out, hotel and deposit information should be posted in a day or so.

However, this information will only be provided to those who can snatch the pebble from rpm's hand.

Tour(s) Update

The tour hotel is again going to be the Best Western Sonoma Valley Inn – right near Sonoma square. We have a rooms reserved for Sunday-Thursday. They are double queen rooms and the rate is $169.00 per night. The Friday night rate for those who want to stay over is $219.00. Before I get any grief, let me assure you that this is their best group rate. It is POSSIBLE that someone will get a special rate on a room via some last minute deal. The rooms are under a group Woot Wine Tour.

We have an overlap night on Tuesday evening, for those arriving for the second tour.

We will be having our pre-tour reception on Sunday early evening in the Krug Event center.

Also, we have decided on a slightly larger vehicle this year as it affords us more storage space for wine purchases along the way. As such, we can accommodate 30 tourists for each tour – exclusive of rpm and me.

To be fair to everyone who would like to go, and to hopefully reduce the likelihood of last minute cancellations, we are going to be collecting a $250.00 per person deposit, due to me (and made out to me) by March 5.

The total trip cost will be around $650.00 (exclusive of hotel and airfare) – likely a bit less. The first year I handed back cash to everyone on the last day. The second tour, I had to collect cash from everyone, due to last minute cancellations.

Once the list is sorted out for both tours, you will know where and to whom to send your deposit.

Still early on most of the details for the days. Stay tuned. Here is the info for the hotel:

Best Western
SONOMA VALLEY INN
550 Second St. West
Sonoma, CA 95476
Ph: 800-334-5784

Cheers!

woopdedoo wrote:Tour(s) Update
that we've all been eagerly awaiting!

Awesome! Thanks for the info and for your work putting it together! We are very much looking forward to it!

woopdedoo wrote:Tour(s) Update
...we can accommodate 30 tourists for each tour – exclusive of rpm and me.

Woohoo! I guess I'm now on the bus! Thanks woopdedoo and rpm!

jhkey wrote:Woohoo! I guess I'm now on the bus! Thanks woopdedoo and rpm!

....and my odds just increased dramatically

Can any of the veterans offer advice about the best airport to fly into? Also, is it better to rent a car or take a cab?

Thanks for any insight, this will give me something to think about while I wait to see if my number comes up.

woopdedoo wrote:Also, we have decided on a slightly larger vehicle this year as it affords us more storage space for wine purchases along the way. As such, we can accommodate 30 tourists for each tour – exclusive of rpm and me.

Oops... did I say that out loud?

chipgreen wrote:....and my odds just increased dramatically

Can any of the veterans offer advice about the best airport to fly into? Also, is it better to rent a car or take a cab?

Thanks for any insight, this will give me something to think about while I wait to see if my number comes up.

Cab would be too expensive. However, you could always see if anyone else flying in would carpool with you. Several people did that the first tour. Usually they flew into the same airport.


As to airports, there's San Francisco (SFO), San Jose (SJC), and Oakland (OAK) airports, with Oakland being closest, followed by SFO and then SJC.


You could also see about Sacramento (SAC), but it's a longer drive. You could see the state historical sites there.

Itwdswafo wrote:



Oops... did I say that out loud?

Hey! That's my job!!



Also, I held out as long as I could, but I've become a proponent of PayPal, so perhaps Woop & RPM could use that for payments?

chipgreen wrote:....and my odds just increased dramatically

Can any of the veterans offer advice about the best airport to fly into? Also, is it better to rent a car or take a cab?

Thanks for any insight, this will give me something to think about while I wait to see if my number comes up.

The mileage from Oakland Airport or San Francisco Airport to the BW (Sonoma) is about 58. Shuttle service from either SFO or OAK looks like around $85 one way for one person, shared ride.

Please note Post 1 and Title of the thread have been updated to reflect the deposit amount, the deposit deadline, and the increased number of Tourists!

Last trip, we had four of us fly in near the same time to SFO, and then we had a shared vanpool up to Sonoma. Don't remember the cost, but was reasonable. The round trip cost was much cheaper than renting a car for the whole trip.

MarkDaSpark wrote:You could also see about Sacramento (SAC), but it's a longer drive. You could see the state historical sites there.

As an FYI when I did it in 2010, the SuperShuttle from the hotel to the Sacramento airport (it's SMF, not SAC) was about $40 or so. About an hour & a half ride, if I recall.

chipgreen wrote:....and my odds just increased dramatically

Can any of the veterans offer advice about the best airport to fly into? Also, is it better to rent a car or take a cab?

Thanks for any insight, this will give me something to think about while I wait to see if my number comes up.

If you fly into OAK or SFO, there are a couple shuttle services to Sonoma. The one I keep finding first is $66 roundtrip per person (airport to sonoma to airport), or $34 one way.

What are the plans in the evenings? I know the preference would be to stay together, but the Lodge at Sonoma is about a mile from the SVI and I would be able to use my marriott points and gift cards there which would allow more $$ for wine...

What would the price be if you wanted to do both tours? This is assuming it's an option if the veteran tour doesn't fill up?

jhkey wrote:What would the price be if you wanted to do both tours? This is assuming it's an option if the veteran tour doesn't fill up?

There is a problem, in that there is a full day of overlap. If one is in Tour 1, one could only participate in days 2 and 3 of Tour 2 - but our costs for the Tour 2 would be the same.

We have not determined how we would handle that.

With more regret than you can imagine, All 3 of us are going to back out. For those that agree with me, November can't come quickly enough. To those that take our place...have a great time. You know you will. Deb and I will miss seeing you all again, and maybe in 2 years we will be ready, willing and able to join you.

We are pulling out early, so that our replacements can make their arrangements.

gregorylane wrote:With more regret than you can imagine, All 3 of us are going to back out. For those that agree with me, November can't come quickly enough. To those that take our place...have a great time. You know you will. Deb and I will miss seeing you all again, and maybe in 2 years we will be ready, willing and able to join you.

We are pulling out early, so that our replacements can make their arrangements.

You will be sorely missed.

jhkey wrote:What would the price be if you wanted to do both tours? This is assuming it's an option if the veteran tour doesn't fill up?

redwinefan also expressed a possible interest in joining both tours. (pg.2 of this thread).

joelsisk wrote:If you fly into OAK or SFO, there are a couple shuttle services to Sonoma. The one I keep finding first is $66 roundtrip per person (airport to sonoma to airport), or $34 one way.

What are the plans in the evenings? I know the preference would be to stay together, but the Lodge at Sonoma is about a mile from the SVI and I would be able to use my marriott points and gift cards there which would allow more $$ for wine...

On the first 2 tours, evening plans varied, but if you were staying abut a mile away, and could manage transportation to and from, all you'd have to do is make sure you're there in the AM to begin the day. I'm sure that at the end of the day's touring, dinner, etc., if you want to hang out with the rest of the group, or part of the rest of the group, at the SVI or wherever, there should be no problem with that.

joelsisk wrote:If you fly into OAK or SFO, there are a couple shuttle services to Sonoma. The one I keep finding first is $66 roundtrip per person (airport to sonoma to airport), or $34 one way.

What are the plans in the evenings? I know the preference would be to stay together, but the Lodge at Sonoma is about a mile from the SVI and I would be able to use my marriott points and gift cards there which would allow more $$ for wine...

That seems like a reasonable rate and is the same from/to SFO. Does the Best Western provide a shuttle to the Sonoma airport?

rpm wrote:You will be sorely missed.

Roger that.

ddeuddeg wrote:Roger that.

+1 +1 +1

I guess it's been a while since I stayed in a Best Western (I guess wine country adds $$).

At any rate I just booked my room, and the lady said it was the last room in the group rate block.

It has two queen beds, so if anyone wants to share a room, I'm game.

woopdedoo wrote:Tour(s) Update

The tour hotel is again going to be the Best Western Sonoma Valley Inn – right near Sonoma square. We have a rooms reserved for Sunday-Thursday. They are double queen rooms and the rate is $169.00 per night. The Friday night rate for those who want to stay over is $219.00. Before I get any grief, let me assure you that this is their best group rate. It is POSSIBLE that someone will get a special rate on a room via some last minute deal. The rooms are under a group Woot Wine Tour.

We have an overlap night on Tuesday evening, for those arriving for the second tour.

We will be having our pre-tour reception on Sunday early evening in the Krug Event center.

Also, we have decided on a slightly larger vehicle this year as it affords us more storage space for wine purchases along the way. As such, we can accommodate 30 tourists for each tour – exclusive of rpm and me.

To be fair to everyone who would like to go, and to hopefully reduce the likelihood of last minute cancellations, we are going to be collecting a $250.00 per person deposit, due to me (and made out to me) by March 5.

The total trip cost will be around $650.00 (exclusive of hotel and airfare) – likely a bit less. The first year I handed back cash to everyone on the last day. The second tour, I had to collect cash from everyone, due to last minute cancellations.

Once the list is sorted out for both tours, you will know where and to whom to send your deposit.

Still early on most of the details for the days. Stay tuned. Here is the info for the hotel:

Best Western
SONOMA VALLEY INN
550 Second St. West
Sonoma, CA 95476
Ph: 800-334-5784

Cheers!

chipgreen wrote:redwinefan also expressed a possible interest in joining both tours. (pg.2 of this thread).

Yes, if this is a possibility, I would like to be added to the list, but I have to do all my calendar checking this week to make sure this is doable on my end. My +1 would probably only be in for Tour #1.

bsevern wrote:I guess it's been a while since I stayed in a Best Western (I guess wine country adds $$).

At any rate I just booked my room, and the lady said it was the last room in the group rate block.

It has two queen beds, so if anyone wants to share a room, I'm game.

I just now reserved my room and had no issue so I don't think they're out.

cmaldoon wrote:I just now reserved my room and had no issue so I don't think they're out.

Hopefully they're not out, but that was what the lady said when I booked.

joelsisk wrote:If you fly into OAK or SFO, there are a couple shuttle services to Sonoma. The one I keep finding first is $66 roundtrip per person (airport to sonoma to airport), or $34 one way.

What are the plans in the evenings? I know the preference would be to stay together, but the Lodge at Sonoma is about a mile from the SVI and I would be able to use my marriott points and gift cards there which would allow more $$ for wine...

Well, if the SVI is indeed booked, then I'll look into the Lodge. And since I will be driving up, I can drive you both over to SVI.


Edit: Err, nevermind. Forgot you two were in the Newbie group. Although ... I might drive up on Monday so I can visit some wineries on Tuesday before the Oldie Tour starts.

ddeuddeg wrote:On the first 2 tours, evening plans varied, but if you were staying abut a mile away, and could manage transportation to and from, all you'd have to do is make sure you're there in the AM to begin the day. I'm sure that at the end of the day's touring, dinner, etc., if you want to hang out with the rest of the group, or part of the rest of the group, at the SVI or wherever, there should be no problem with that.

It's obviously up to you, but:

1. You will be responsible to get to the SVI each morning in time for our departure (which is usually around 8 am, but may be earlier on the first day) - the bus will not stop elsewhere. Unless you rented a car (and where would you park it all day), you would be taking a taxi (I don't know the cost or availability in Sonoma - you should check that out before making a decision) or expecting someone else to get up even earlier to go pick you up and bring you back.

2. Similarly, after the day's festivities, you will be responsible to get back to wherever you are staying. The same transport issues apply here as above, but also adds includes driving after having had a fair amount of wine during the day. Whether that's you or whomever you're expecting to drive you back and then come back themselves. Driving under the influence is a bad idea in any event, a worse one when you are in an unfamiliar area.

3. If the group is going to dinner from the SVI, you will be responsible to get to the SVI and to get back to you lodging from the SVI afterward. After dinner, I suspect the only way back to your lodging would be a taxi (cost? availability? at night?) since you and most everyone else will have had wine with dinner.

I know almost everyone would like to save a few $$ on the hotel - recession or no, prices always seem to go up. The SVI worked well last Tour and is very conveniently located to downtown Sonoma - you can walk to the square with restaurants and shops -- which enables us to release the bus earlier when we have dinner in downtown Sonoma. Since we pay for the bus by the hour, not having the bus for the whole evening reduces the cost to everyone.

gregorylane wrote:With more regret than you can imagine, All 3 of us are going to back out. For those that agree with me, November can't come quickly enough. To those that take our place...have a great time. You know you will. Deb and I will miss seeing you all again, and maybe in 2 years we will be ready, willing and able to join you.

We are pulling out early, so that our replacements can make their arrangements.

I was looking forward to meeting your son too!

Question: For the Group Rate, is there a special code or something that we can put in to reserve rooms online or must we call them?

Just curious, if we have a larger bus, and more folks going, did the cost of the tour go down, or was it mitigated by the expense of a larger bus?

Thanks for all the effort putting this together, I can't wait to go!!!

MarkDaSpark wrote:...before the Oldie Tour starts.

I believe they're called FOGs