TEENAGER ATEXTING

Vladimir got his phone back this weekend after a year of being phoneless.

KALI

KALIFORNIA

RACHEL RAY WINE COUNTRY TOUR

I saw an episode of Rachel Ray's Tasty Travels a while back that focused on Napa and the Wine Country. We decided we would follow her trail and see what we would discover.
First stop on the tour was a visit to a 13th century Tuscan castle, Castello di Amarosa. But before that a stop at the Petrified Forest and the town of Calistoga.
The Petrified Forest was a strange place. We decided to skip the $7 self-guided tour (big, fat $1 discount for educators - don't do me any favors!) and hung out in the gift shop. I think we saw as much there as we would have on the tour. On the way out we saw a sign for another fake attraction - Old Faithful (of California).
We followed the road to the town of Calistoga, a bustling tourist hub of Napa Valley. We walked around the main street (the only street?) in the bright sunshine. After a brief stop at one of the many shi shi geegaw stores we went back to a little cafe that we had noticed earlier for some coffee. We spent about 30 minutes hanging out with the owner while he detailed the nuances of the coffee roasting business.
All buzzed out on coffee we struck out for Tuscany.

GRATON DAYS

We made it up to Santa Rosa by about noon. Evan was already there. We headed out in the direction of the Martin Ray Winery in Graton.
When we got there it was pretty late in the afternoon. The tasting room was still open and there was some kind of multi-winery thingy going on. We walked around the property for a little before going inside to sample.
We tried the Santa Barbara merlot. It seemed a little harsh. We asked about the jug wine, a three-litre jug of "red table wine" that they were selling for $13. the lady told us the history of the unrefillable jugs that got started as a tradition when Martin Ray was run by Italian immigrants.
After our winery experience we drove into the town of Graton. We had cocktails at the Underwood Bistro and Bar then crossed the (one) street to the Willow Wood Cafe for dinner.

SAN JAUN BAUTISTA

We haven't been down this way in a long time. I can't remember the last time we visited San Juan Bautista. Today we took a ride down here because the weather was so beautiful we just needed to get out and see California. When we got here there was some kind of Christmas related ceremony going on at the Mission. It was a Tridentine mass in honor of the baptism of Jesus (How is the date of Jesus' baptism decided?) How lucky to be in San Juan Bautista on the day we celebrate Jesus' baptism!

BOOKCLUB SAN FRANCISCO

"Ag bagairt a gcinn thar dhroim a chéile."
The Ferry Building competes with the Bank of America Tower for dominance of
San Francisco's skyline.

NOLLAIG BHEAG or NOLLAIG NA mBAN (WOMENS CHRISTMAS)

Happy Three Kings Day (Día de los Reyes magos).
The three kings didn't put anything in my shoe but I still have my economic stimulus money so I might buy the iPod thingy and get this economy moving again.
Nollaig Bheag or Nollaig na mBán.

NEPHEW (AND NIECE) WALK IN PALO ALTO

We spotted Forest's Packard in downtown Palo Alto. We always see at least one of Forest's cars awaiting repair at the Shell Station. I think the owner likes to use Forest's cars as an attraction. This is the closest we came to seeing Forest's Christmas tree this year.

We had the kids for the day because Sharon and Vitaly wanted a romantic day together (hope there's not going to be more babies in September).
Rich took Uly and Mercedes to the skate park while I hung out with Vladimir. We met up with them later and we all went for a walk across the pedestrian bridge into downtown Palo Alto. Mercedes and Uly were bouncing around like rabbits on steroids - they haven't learned the art of walking in the street.
Since it was so cold (40ish) the obvious thing to do was get some frozen yoghurt. We walked over to Fraîche (are there any businesses on the Peninsula that have English names?) on Emerson Street for the treat.

IMANI - NEW YEAR'S DAY

Imani (Faith)
To believe with all our heart in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.