Our very first trip. Twenty families, borrowed gear, and zero idea if this would actually work. We drove to Bothe-Napa hoping we'd pulled off something special.
Wine tasting from Brown Estate—the only Black-owned vineyard in Napa Valley—while kids created their own specialized pizzas on our single portable oven. One oven. Twenty families. It took forever and nobody cared. The hors d'oeuvres kept circulating, cards came out, the craft table filled with eager hands. Parents sipped wine and swapped stories while we waited. And waited. And it was perfect.
The kids walked the trail on their own—older ones leading younger ones down to the creek. First time in creek water for most of them. Watching them splash and shriek and discover? That's when we knew this was real. That's when we knew we weren't stopping.
Our group site sat tucked in its own clearing, surrounded by fall leaves and trees, vineyards visible across the way. Some folks brought backpacking tents and woke up a little cramped. But we all woke up knowing we'd found our people.
We built this together—first trip, borrowed gear, one pizza oven, and we built it anyway. Nobody solos.