'Housewives' Weather Storm, Head to Napa Valley

This week’s “The Real Housewives of New Jersey” brought the long-awaited and long-dreaded trip to Napa Valley, with surprising results.

Several weeks ago, when Teresa Giudice was fighting with Caroline Manzo, Melissa Gorga, and , Jacqueline Laurita’s husband Chris invited the entire cast out to California for a business trip he and his nephews went on.

For some reason, the Giudices decided to go, despite getting along with literally none of the other families on a consistent basis. Last week, even the men got involved during a sit-down meeting in which Giudice managed to insult every single one of them.

“I was just going to ignore her, to be honest,” Laurita said of Teresa, adding that she adjusted her attitude since Giudice appeared to have a genuine conversation with her last week.

The trip began just as Tropical Storm Irene hit North Jersey, making Melissa Gorga and Teresa nervous about leaving their young children behind.

“When they say a hurricane is coming… mostly what that means is a lot of rain and windy, right?” Giudice asks.

Their somewhat rescheduled trip out to California was documented through unsteady, home-movie like footage and colorful maps. Despite having driven to Pittsburg and taking a flight through Houston (“the Ashlee Holmes trip,” as the Manzo boys put it), everyone managed to arrive in one piece and not yet mad at each other.

“This is all the 'before' pictures,” said Rich Wakile, who decided the camera crew around him was not enough and had his own video camera. “Everyone loving and kissing. Let’s see if we’re all like this in a week.”

After a whirlwind trip through a camping store, where they buy everything from animal print placemats to “decorative accents,” the crew headed towards Half Moon Bay. Evidently no one told them that route takes them right to the edge of a cliff, difficult and scary in vehicles half the size of their RVs.

“I think it was a really good idea that I brought my rosary with me,” Wakile said. “My life is just going to end here. I’ll just make my peace with God.”

When they arrived at the “campground,” they were confused as to why they’re in a parking lot. Melissa was mortified that Teresa complained loudly about it to their neighbors, but everyone seemed to take it in relatively good fun. The segment also showed Joe Giudice and Joe Gorga laughingly try to pitch a tent. “[The Joes] build houses for a living,” Chris Manzo said. “A tent should be no problem for them.”

This wasn’t the case.

“We are Italian,” Caroline Manzo said. “To us, camping is dried sausage and provolone.”

The real highlight of the trip, as usual, is Teresa Giudice’s antics. Except this time, it’s her distinct lack of antics. She is cordial to Jacqueline and Caroline without being pushy, has a genuine moment with Rich Wakile (who has previously threatened to burn a house down with her in it), cuddles and mutually gropes sister-in-law Melissa (although she claims she’s “not a toucher”), and even has an adult conversationa bout something that’s been bothering her.

Last week, Wakile attended Giudice’s cookbook signing and made a few comments about some of Giudice’s recipes being originally Wakile’s mothers’. While Wakile’s mother and Giudice’s father are sister and brother, Giudice is adamant that the recipes belong to her mother alone.

“I just want her to acknowledge what she did. Well, she probably knows what she did, so I want her to know I know what she was trying to do,” Giudice said.

“I wasn’t trying to insult her; I was giving her props! Back the [expletive] off!” Wakile said.

To each other, however, they seemed to discuss it maturely and move on. Wakile later told Laurita and Manzo that she was satisfied with the outcome of the conversation. She even tries to intervene on behalf of her cousin to the non-related housewives.

“I’m not going to get involved with whatever your fight is, but I would ask you to keep an open mind because you do have such a history,” she said.

Even Caroline Manzo didn’t have a comeback to that.

Giudice may not have let her tiff with Wakile go completely, however, as she tried to tell Melissa about it on the beach later. Melissa, taking her life into her hands, asked Teresa to evaluate her own actions.

“Between me and you, me and you had our little tiff, our little problem. Then you and Kathy had your little problem. You had a little thing with Jacqueline, you had a little thing with Caroline. You need to sit back from it and say what am I doing wrong? Because why am I having an issue with everyone?” she said.

Teresa got defensive, but did not raise her voice. She repeated that she never did anything to deserve what is happening and that she does not hold grudges, a well-documented untruth. Still, Gorga seemed pleased.

“I feel like we hit like a break through moment,” she said. “We’re able to have these really serious conversations and be fine. And all I can think about is my husband. And how happy he’s going to be.”

While their Bravo blogs seemed to indicate that all is not well between any of the ‘Housewives’ and Teresa, its always nice to hope. And this episode definitely ends on a high, hopeful note.