Still on Amtrak, still enjoying it. The layover in Chicago was good; I wandered around the station and nearby for a little, and then relaxed in the first class lounge where there was free coffee, pop, and snacks. Lots of quiet little corners and a couple large TVs to watch.
Still meeting interesting people on the train, but the best part is that my brain is so totally relaxed. Reminds me: "Please don't do that, Dave. Daisy, Daisy . . ."
Anyone out there recognize that scene from that era-defining movie?????
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Friday, November 2, 2012
addition to last post Amtrak Trip 2 Day 1
So, although I had a nice, peaceful drive from Napa to Emeryville to catch my train, Joyce and Nancy arranged to have a taxi pick them up mid-morning to take them to a bus to San Francisco International Airport. When they got to the bus, they found themselves amongst a busload of 49ers fans. Probably wasn't too relaxing for them! But they said that the trip was fun, uneventful, and got them to the airport in plenty of time for their plane.
We had originally thought that they would drop me off at the train and then do a little sightseeing in San Francisco before catching their plane. However - San Francisco was insane that weekend with a 49ers game, America's Cup Sailboat Race, Navy Week, a huge Blue Grass festival at Golden Gate Park, the country's largest Columbus Day Parade, a huge Greek Festival, and several smaller fairs, festivals, and farmers markets. Given all the traffic we had last week, we thought it smartest to split up and none of actually try to drive into the city. Good decision!
We had originally thought that they would drop me off at the train and then do a little sightseeing in San Francisco before catching their plane. However - San Francisco was insane that weekend with a 49ers game, America's Cup Sailboat Race, Navy Week, a huge Blue Grass festival at Golden Gate Park, the country's largest Columbus Day Parade, a huge Greek Festival, and several smaller fairs, festivals, and farmers markets. Given all the traffic we had last week, we thought it smartest to split up and none of actually try to drive into the city. Good decision!
Amtrak Journey 2, Day 1
I got up early this morning and drove to Emeryville, near Oakland. Easy drive with a little early morning fog, but nothing I'm not used to from Seattle. Got there, returned the car, and waited about 30 minutes for the train. Perfect timing. Got on and got settled in my sleeping compartment.
As I traveled through Californina, I reflected on what I learned from my trip to Napa.
First, and most important, was that I REALLY enjoy traveling with my sisters! We never have a disagreement, we all seem to be in about the same mood (is this a lazy day or shop our brains out day). If one wants to do something a little different, the other two don't take it personally and perceive it as criticism. We always seem to have the same appetite for dinner - is it fancy steakhouse tonight or burgers and fries? We know not to chatter in the morning until everyone has had just the right amount of coffee. Even though we seem to live very different lives, we seem to have some very basic similarities. What's that saying: Different flowers from the same garden. That's us. We usually so look forward to our next Chick Trip that one of the things on our agenda is to plan the next one. This year, we outdid ourselves and have planned the next two!
The other thing that I learned was that grapes grow off the bottom of the staked plant. I had no idea - I thought the grape clusters were scattered throughout the greenery, but they hang off the bottom. A whole lot easier to pick than the way I had imagined it. I learned a lot about grapes and vineyards this trip; before I had visited wineries, so knew how grapes are made into wine. This time, got to see and hear a lot more about the grapes and vineyards themselves. I have a new appreciation for wine; and still my absolute favorite is champagne, the drier the better!
Am enjoying my first day back on the train. This part of the trip takes me from Emeryville through Reno, Salt Lake City, Denver, Chicago - where I change trains and have a little layover. The Chicago through Pittsburgh to Washington DC, where I again change trains with a little layover. From DC down to Savannah.
As I traveled through Californina, I reflected on what I learned from my trip to Napa.
First, and most important, was that I REALLY enjoy traveling with my sisters! We never have a disagreement, we all seem to be in about the same mood (is this a lazy day or shop our brains out day). If one wants to do something a little different, the other two don't take it personally and perceive it as criticism. We always seem to have the same appetite for dinner - is it fancy steakhouse tonight or burgers and fries? We know not to chatter in the morning until everyone has had just the right amount of coffee. Even though we seem to live very different lives, we seem to have some very basic similarities. What's that saying: Different flowers from the same garden. That's us. We usually so look forward to our next Chick Trip that one of the things on our agenda is to plan the next one. This year, we outdid ourselves and have planned the next two!
The other thing that I learned was that grapes grow off the bottom of the staked plant. I had no idea - I thought the grape clusters were scattered throughout the greenery, but they hang off the bottom. A whole lot easier to pick than the way I had imagined it. I learned a lot about grapes and vineyards this trip; before I had visited wineries, so knew how grapes are made into wine. This time, got to see and hear a lot more about the grapes and vineyards themselves. I have a new appreciation for wine; and still my absolute favorite is champagne, the drier the better!
Am enjoying my first day back on the train. This part of the trip takes me from Emeryville through Reno, Salt Lake City, Denver, Chicago - where I change trains and have a little layover. The Chicago through Pittsburgh to Washington DC, where I again change trains with a little layover. From DC down to Savannah.
Napa Valley Touring
Well, it's Saturday and it's our last day in Napa. We all leave tomorrow morning, so today is a Big Day. For our last time, we again enjoyed our coffee and breakfast on the backyard deck, enjoying the sunny pleasant weather. We fianally found the "waterfall feature" we had heard about. It wasn't the obvious fountain, but was part of the Jacuzzi! I don't get it. The "waterfall" fell about 4 inches and the only way it works is to turn on the jets and bubbler, so you can't hear a gentle waterfall. We all deided that had we REALLY wanted the sound of falling water with our morning coffee, we could have just turned on the hot tub. Somehow, that thought just didn't cut it! We are so fussy!
We decided to drive the Napa Valley from Napa to St. Helena, shopping and wine tasting along the way. One of our first stops was in Yountville, a cute little town with gift shops, wine tasting rooms, and restaurants. We had lunch on an outdoor patio at Pacific Blues Cafe. We had a very nice lunch of a BLT, Salmon Burger, and Polish Sausage with Sauerkraut. We just wanted a plain lunch, so did not eat at Thomas Keller's French Laundry. Maybe next time. After lunch, we got off the beaten path a little to visit the Grapevine Store in Rutherford. I bought a cute heart-shaped hanging wreath made of cabernet vines. We all bought a bunch of stuff and just shipped it all home.
We drove on to St. Helena and at the far end of town, found the Holy of Holies: The CIA Greystone. For you non-foodies, that would be the Culinary Institute of America - Greystone, sister to the one in New England. It looked like a large grey castle on a hill. Inside, it STILL resembled a castle. We got to spend a lot of time in Spice Market - their store. I bought a couple hundred dollars worth of cookbooks to ship home, and sampled some wonderful Myers Lemon Viniagrette.
On the way home, we stopped at several wineries for tastings - I was designated driver, so I watched and enjoyed vicariously Nancy and Joyce sip all kinds of wines and buy some. We stopped at BV (Beau Jous Vintners), Berringers, Menage a Trois, and a couple others whose names escape me at the moment. When we got back to Napa, we ate dinner at a hamburger place called Gotts Burgers - really excellent burgers on the pricey side. We spent $44 for 3 burgers, 1 fries, 1 malt, and 2 cokes.
We finally got back to the house, got all packed up to leave in the morning, and then hung out for the rest of the evening. Tomorrow for me: Amtrak.
We decided to drive the Napa Valley from Napa to St. Helena, shopping and wine tasting along the way. One of our first stops was in Yountville, a cute little town with gift shops, wine tasting rooms, and restaurants. We had lunch on an outdoor patio at Pacific Blues Cafe. We had a very nice lunch of a BLT, Salmon Burger, and Polish Sausage with Sauerkraut. We just wanted a plain lunch, so did not eat at Thomas Keller's French Laundry. Maybe next time. After lunch, we got off the beaten path a little to visit the Grapevine Store in Rutherford. I bought a cute heart-shaped hanging wreath made of cabernet vines. We all bought a bunch of stuff and just shipped it all home.
We drove on to St. Helena and at the far end of town, found the Holy of Holies: The CIA Greystone. For you non-foodies, that would be the Culinary Institute of America - Greystone, sister to the one in New England. It looked like a large grey castle on a hill. Inside, it STILL resembled a castle. We got to spend a lot of time in Spice Market - their store. I bought a couple hundred dollars worth of cookbooks to ship home, and sampled some wonderful Myers Lemon Viniagrette.
On the way home, we stopped at several wineries for tastings - I was designated driver, so I watched and enjoyed vicariously Nancy and Joyce sip all kinds of wines and buy some. We stopped at BV (Beau Jous Vintners), Berringers, Menage a Trois, and a couple others whose names escape me at the moment. When we got back to Napa, we ate dinner at a hamburger place called Gotts Burgers - really excellent burgers on the pricey side. We spent $44 for 3 burgers, 1 fries, 1 malt, and 2 cokes.
We finally got back to the house, got all packed up to leave in the morning, and then hung out for the rest of the evening. Tomorrow for me: Amtrak.
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Napa Wine Train
After another day of sleeping in - I am LOVING having no alarm clock! - we dawdled on the backyard deck, sipping our coffee, trying to coax the curious neighbor kitty, listening to the birds, and enjoying a mild sunny morning. We finally roused ourselves because we had reservations on the Napa Wine Train. We got to the station and had two very pleasant surprises. The first was that instead of typical plastic chairs or wooden benches, the station was full of comfy couches and tables with padded chairs. What a nice way to wait for our train! The second surprise was the granddaughter of the winery we were heading for (Grgich) conducted a wine tasting for us. We sampled a chardonney, pinot grigio, and a cabernet. What a lovely way to start the trip! We boarded the Wine Train and were seated at tables that were set with lovely linens and place settings.
The 18 mile trip through the Napa Valley was beautiful with many vineyards and wineries. The train traveled slowly enough so that we could enjoy the scenery in a relaxed way. We ordered from a menu. I had a beef filet, Joyce had salmon, and Nancy had swordfish. All meals were plated beautifully and garnished with watercress - I love that mild peppery fresh flavor! I think we were on thr train for about an hour which gave us plenty of time to savor our food. And of course, we took pictures of each - we're being such good foodies on this trip, taking photos of all our meals.
At the winery, we were greeted by our tour guide who was very energetic, chatty, and fun. Grgich is a Croatian winery and it did have a Eastern European feel to it (or maybe it's the feeling one gets from a lot of wineries, not sure). Our guide explained that they have a bio-environmental, sustainable vineyards and winery. They have lady bugs to eat the spiders and mites, owls to eat mice and keep snakes away, dogs to chase the racoons - all of whom love the grapes, especially when they begin to ferment. We got to taste the tiny wine grapes - they were tart-sweet with thickish skins. He had us suck the pulp from the grapes and then spit the seeds into our hands. If the seeds a green, the grapes are not ready; if they're brown, the grapes are ready to pick through and crush. After visiting the fermenting room, the waiting room, and the bottling room, we were led into the tasting room where we tasted 5 wines. We were given some time to buy wine if we wished or visit the flower gardens and fountains. And we were given the lovely wine glasses to keep, a nice touch.
After a friendly All Aboard, we found ourselves in a different type of train car where we were served dessert. I had chocolate mousse, which was lovely; Joyce had creme brule; Nancy had a refreshing fruit plate. And we had some delicious coffee. We were offered alcoholic coffee drinks, but we figured we'd had quite enough to drink by then!
We returned to the house for a well-deserved nap - hey riding on a wine train, wine tasting, and eating fabulous food is exhausting! We eventually got up and when our landlord stopped by to see if we had everything we needed, asked him for a recommendation for an inexpensive Mexican restaurant for dinner. We got what we asked for. It was our least favorite meal of the week, but even so, it wasn't bad. We had standard American Mexican fare: Nancy had a taco salad, Joyce had enchiladas, and I had crispy tacos.
Tomorrow, we're going to travel the Napa Valley by car from Napa to St. Helena, stopping at wineries and interesting shops, and of course, the CIA Greystone (Culinary Institute of America). Gotta get some rest tonight - it'll be another busy day.
The 18 mile trip through the Napa Valley was beautiful with many vineyards and wineries. The train traveled slowly enough so that we could enjoy the scenery in a relaxed way. We ordered from a menu. I had a beef filet, Joyce had salmon, and Nancy had swordfish. All meals were plated beautifully and garnished with watercress - I love that mild peppery fresh flavor! I think we were on thr train for about an hour which gave us plenty of time to savor our food. And of course, we took pictures of each - we're being such good foodies on this trip, taking photos of all our meals.
At the winery, we were greeted by our tour guide who was very energetic, chatty, and fun. Grgich is a Croatian winery and it did have a Eastern European feel to it (or maybe it's the feeling one gets from a lot of wineries, not sure). Our guide explained that they have a bio-environmental, sustainable vineyards and winery. They have lady bugs to eat the spiders and mites, owls to eat mice and keep snakes away, dogs to chase the racoons - all of whom love the grapes, especially when they begin to ferment. We got to taste the tiny wine grapes - they were tart-sweet with thickish skins. He had us suck the pulp from the grapes and then spit the seeds into our hands. If the seeds a green, the grapes are not ready; if they're brown, the grapes are ready to pick through and crush. After visiting the fermenting room, the waiting room, and the bottling room, we were led into the tasting room where we tasted 5 wines. We were given some time to buy wine if we wished or visit the flower gardens and fountains. And we were given the lovely wine glasses to keep, a nice touch.
After a friendly All Aboard, we found ourselves in a different type of train car where we were served dessert. I had chocolate mousse, which was lovely; Joyce had creme brule; Nancy had a refreshing fruit plate. And we had some delicious coffee. We were offered alcoholic coffee drinks, but we figured we'd had quite enough to drink by then!
We returned to the house for a well-deserved nap - hey riding on a wine train, wine tasting, and eating fabulous food is exhausting! We eventually got up and when our landlord stopped by to see if we had everything we needed, asked him for a recommendation for an inexpensive Mexican restaurant for dinner. We got what we asked for. It was our least favorite meal of the week, but even so, it wasn't bad. We had standard American Mexican fare: Nancy had a taco salad, Joyce had enchiladas, and I had crispy tacos.
Tomorrow, we're going to travel the Napa Valley by car from Napa to St. Helena, stopping at wineries and interesting shops, and of course, the CIA Greystone (Culinary Institute of America). Gotta get some rest tonight - it'll be another busy day.
Sonoma Summer
We have decided to do a couple of short road trips this week to explore what's beyond Napa. Today we went to Sonoma, just a few miles over in the next valley. It's very different from Napa - Napa is green and lush while Sonoma seems more high desert. We tried to find a restaurant for lunch that TripAdvisor folks had advertised as "a great burger and fries but surly service." One said he bet anyone anything if they could make the waitress smile. Apparently, the "service" is what attracts people to this place. We couldn't find it and ended up elsewhere with perfectly good food. On the way out, we spotted the other restaurant across the street in the same building as a car repair garage. I guess the ambiance matches the service!
On to shopping. There were lots of cute little boutiques around the main square in Sonoma. Last of the Big The Spenders, I bought Randy a dozen "taco proppers" - little holders that hold your tacos upright for filling and serving. He'll be delighted as he's tried several different things to achieve the same thing. Randy: Please forget that you read this and act surprised when I give you these taco proppers!
It was very hot in Sonoma - I felt a little faint and overwhelmed in one shop and had to leave. And I quite liked the shop as it had really different items from all over the world, the majority of items were hand crafted. I had hoped to find a cute bag for my computer, but the ones I really liked were either too small or too large. The hunt is still on. While waiting outside for Nancy and Joyce, this older woman came and sat next to me in the shade and after a few minutes chatting, told me that I was much nicer than her sisters who refuse to talk to her any more because she keeps leaving rehab (!) before she's supposed to. Sometimes, I can really attract 'em! Nancy bought an adorable butter / cheese spreader with a Westie on the handle in another shop that was fun - lots of different serving pieces, dishware, flatware, candles, linens, etc.
For dinner, we went to Uva - an Italian restaurant. I had an excellent pasta with Bolognese, Joyce had yummy cheese ravioli in marinara. Nancy had a pizza on super thin and crispy crust. Joyce and Nancy had wine, and of course, since we're in wine country, I had another Margarita. Those are really hitting the spot with me this week!
On to shopping. There were lots of cute little boutiques around the main square in Sonoma. Last of the Big The Spenders, I bought Randy a dozen "taco proppers" - little holders that hold your tacos upright for filling and serving. He'll be delighted as he's tried several different things to achieve the same thing. Randy: Please forget that you read this and act surprised when I give you these taco proppers!
It was very hot in Sonoma - I felt a little faint and overwhelmed in one shop and had to leave. And I quite liked the shop as it had really different items from all over the world, the majority of items were hand crafted. I had hoped to find a cute bag for my computer, but the ones I really liked were either too small or too large. The hunt is still on. While waiting outside for Nancy and Joyce, this older woman came and sat next to me in the shade and after a few minutes chatting, told me that I was much nicer than her sisters who refuse to talk to her any more because she keeps leaving rehab (!) before she's supposed to. Sometimes, I can really attract 'em! Nancy bought an adorable butter / cheese spreader with a Westie on the handle in another shop that was fun - lots of different serving pieces, dishware, flatware, candles, linens, etc.
For dinner, we went to Uva - an Italian restaurant. I had an excellent pasta with Bolognese, Joyce had yummy cheese ravioli in marinara. Nancy had a pizza on super thin and crispy crust. Joyce and Nancy had wine, and of course, since we're in wine country, I had another Margarita. Those are really hitting the spot with me this week!
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Lazy Day in Napa
We slept in this morning and then had a long breakfast on the deck. While sipping our coffee, we noticed that a kitty was up on the roof of a storage shed and was peeking at us over the fence. We tried coaxing it, but it just wanted to watch us. We explored the backyard, tried to figure out how to turn on the water fountain, which we later discovered didn't work. We eventually got dressed and went to do a little shopping. I was on the hunt for two specific items (Crabtree and Evelyn's Wisteria and a cute computer bag); no luck, Napping and reading, we spent a couple delightful late afternoon hours and then headed out for dinner. Nancy always likes us to go for an excellent steak, so we went to Cole's Steakhouse. When the waiter came to get our beverage orders, I said, "Well, in honor of being in wine country, I'd like a Margarita!" Nancy followed suit with a Cosmo. Joyce - our much less rebellious sister - ordered wine and pronounced it delicious. The steaks were tender, flavorful, and delicious! We ordered one side order of hash browned potatoes and it was enough for 8 people. Delicious, but couldn't eat even a third of it! Back at the house, sipping more wine, we read, knitted, watched tv, chatted before heading off to bed. Another glorious vacation day - just what I wanted!
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