Amtrak Trip 2 Day 3

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?????

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!

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.

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.

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.

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!

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!

After a great night's sleep in my sleeping compartment, I was awakened by my cell phone. It was Tom Hancock (a work colleague). I demanded "Who is this!" and he replied, "Tom!" I said, "Who are you and why are you calling?" Turns out that they had heard of an Amtrak accident in California where some passengers got hurt, so he was calling to see if it was my train and if I was OK. Love you guys!!!!!

The sleeping compartments on Amtrak are considered First Class. In my opinion, they are well worth the cost, especially on a multi-day trip. You can have total privacy when you want, and when you decide to socialize, you can join others in the First Class Lounge, in the Observation Car, or in the open-to-all Cafe Car. Dining is communal - they seat 4 to a table, so unless you are part of a party of four, you'll be seated with strangers. The convention is that everyone at your table orders their meal from a menu and then someone starts the conversation by asking where the others are from, where they're going, the reason for the trip. That gets the ball rolling for some interesting and diverse conversations. For example, as I mentioned before, last night we got into a deep conversation about China. This morning at breakfast, we all got a little silly and played a game of naming all the breakfast cereals we could come up with, adding little stories - true or not - about an experience we've had or what they're made of, or how they were invented. As I said - you never know where the conversation is going! But it's always a fun trip.

I rented a car in Emeryville and headed across the Oakland Bridge to pick up my sisters at the San Francisco Airport. I had 90 minutes to get there, so thought I had no problem - until I hit a major traffic jam at the toll booth. But I finally got clear of that and was driving along the bridge when all of a sudden, I found myself in a tunnel. Wait. A tunnel??? I was on a bridge! I later discovered that that was Treasure Island, a "mountain" right under the bridge, and thus the tunnel.

Finally, I picked up my sisters, who by that time, had scarfed down most of the Ole Piper Inn pepperoni and sausage pizza they had brought from Minnesota (an old family favorite). My Mean Evil Sisters made me drive all the way through San Francisco and across the Golden Gate Bridge before they let me have a piece. But it was worth the wait.

Napa wasn't much farther and with our dueling Android Navigator and Tom Tom, we found our rented house.  After a little struggle unlocking the door, we piled ourselves and all our stuff in. And took a nap. We ARE on vacation! Cute little house - 3 bedrooms, living room, dining room, kitchen, 2.5 baths and a sweet back yard with a deck. And a neighbor's kitty who climbed up on a shed to peek over the fence at us.

We ate dinner at an upscale pub named Norman Rose in downtown Napa. It is amazing how many restaurants there are in Napa - it seems to be Foodie Heaven. Back at the house, we enjoyed some wine and after dozing while reading and watching TV, we stumbled to bed. Loving this!

I'm Off!

And I'm off! I spent most of Saturday getting all spiffed up for my Great Adventure: pedicure, facial, hair. Then Sunday, Randy and I played our usual weekly 2 hour water volleyball game. Purely recreational and fun, but we do a fair amount of teasing and trash-talking. Sunday evening, good friends Sandy and Bob came by and we went out to Gateway to India for a fabulous Indian dinner. Bob and Sandy spent the night, which annoyed our kitties, Wyatt and Quimby. They were annoyed that strangers occupied the guestroom and the bed - both of which they believe to be theirs. They did come purring into our bed, though, so obviously they weren't too traumatized. They are generally scared of anyone who comes to the house and tend to hide in Randy's closet. This time, though, they both tore through the living room a couple of times, as if daring the boogieman to get them. Weird animals.
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The next morning after a leisurely breakfast, Bob took Sandy and me to the Amtrak station. Sandy rode with me in my train compartment from Tacoma to Vancouver, WA while poor Bob drove I5 by himself. Sandy, I should explain, is long-time friend of mine - we met in Brownie Girl Scouts in the second grade. A few years later, Sandy was the one who introduced Randy and me on a blind date. As soon as we boarded the train, the attendant offered us champagne - a bubbly beverage that neither Sandy nor I ever turn down! After lunch, we arrived in Vancouver and Sandy had to get off while I continued my trip to Emeryville (Oakland/San Francisco). It was so pleasant and relaxing, I just let my mind relax. My Great Adventure has begun.

After a few hours, I had dinner with 3 retired professors of history and geology - they got into a deep conversation about China. That's one thing I love about the train - you meet such interesting people!

Finally - here we go!

OK, everyone. Thank you to those of you who are still reading this blog - I appreciate your extreme patience! So - where have I been since my first (and only) post? I bought this new little computer so I could blog during my trip. Got it just a couple of days before I left. I downloaded all the software I needed and thought I was all set. When I tried to post from the train, I couldn't get on the internet. I decided that I could wait a day until I got to Napa, but when I tried it there, I still couldn't access the internet. I was doing a mighty battle with Bing and just couldn't get past it. During my 3 week trip, I periodically tried to connect, but couldn't. Finally, after I got home, Randy tried and after struggling with it, finally managed to load Firefox and got me a solid internet connection. So, my lack of postings were totally operator-error. HOWEVER - I still wrote my blogs and so I am intending on posting them one at a time. We'll just all pretend that it was 3 weeks ago . . . with me?
Next up: figuring out how to get photos from my Android to the computer so I can post some.

So, my first real learning on this trip was that long ago I chose the right career - working with people rather than working with computers.

Welcome to my new blog! I am naming this blog CB Over the Rainbow because of the connection of the song - both the Judy Garland and the Israel "IZ" Kamakawiwo'ole versions - and a life transition I'm just beginning: if happy little bluebirds fly above the rainbow, why oh why can't I?

The first transition begins in just a couple of days. I am taking a three week vacation trip; that's the longest vacation of my life. I won't count our 2 month honeymoon because Randy was in college and I was working for my mother-in-law and it was our slow season. The only other time that I'm not counting is when Randy and I moved to Seattle. We sold our house in Colorado, packed up two trucks towing our boat behind one and our car, loaded with our beloved kitties Fred and Arthur, behind the other. With some small exceptions of completing consulting work we were both doing, we did not work for 6 months. Different than a vacation, we acted like tourists in our new city, but were between gigs. Living off the sale of our Colorado house, we realized that that wouldn't last forever; but it was sweet while it lasted.

For this trip, I am celebrating a Milestone Birthday. I had double knee surgery during my last Milestone Birthday and spent most of the time drugged out of my gourd on pain killers. This time, I'm a lot more alert! So my present is a fabulous 3 week cross country trip, spending some time with people who mean a lot to me.

I start on Monday with a train trip from Seattle to Vancouver, WA with Sandy - a great friend whom I've known since 2nd grade Brownie Scouts. Sandy is the one who introduced Randy and me on a blind date when we were 14. So, Sandy is special in my life. Sandy needs to get off at the Oregon border to meet her husband, Bob, and get back home. I will continue on the train to Emeryville, CA. I'll grab a rental car, drive across the Bay to San Francisco Airport to pick up my sisters, Nancy and Joyce. The three of us have rented a house in Napa and intend to spend a few days visiting wineries, spas, boutiques, and sleeping in and just vegging. This is our 14th Annual Chick Trip; we usually begin planning the next one before the current one begins!

After Napa, I get back on Amtrak and head for Savannah, GA. Train routes don't go straight across the states, so I go through Reno, Salt Lake City, Denver, Chicago, Washington DC, and finally to Savannah. I'm meeting 6 friends (including Sandy from the first part of my trip) there; we all went to high school together, so we're all celebrating the Milestone Birthday this year. Some I haven't seen in quite a while and one I haven't seen since high school! I am so looking forward to this reunion of friends.

The second transition is my retirement. I've worked at my current job for over 20 years, and although I will miss my colleagues, my clients, and my work, it's time to move to the next chapter of my life - which is already overloaded with plans. More about that in future blogs.

So this 3 week trip involves my favorite mode of travel - the train, seeing the USA, hanging out with my sisters and some old friends, and letting my mind relax and play over my options and plans for the future. I intend to blog every day, though there might be a couple days here and there that I don't have WiFi access. Next blog is Monday, October 1. All Aboard!