Our Week In Wine Country

We are mid-way through our week in Napa Valley, the wine capital of the U.S. It is also a food and dining mecca. Through some of Leslie’s food connections, we met up with a wonderful family who organized the week for us. Our first day included winery tours for Leslie and me, and then a cooking lesson for me, Will and Lydia: the menu included hand-tossed pizza on the grill, rack of lamb, beer can chicken and cream puffs for dessert filled with peaches picked by Will off their trees next to their vineyard. Leslie was free to look on. Part of my hope for this sabbatical is to learn how to cook – so I’m off to a good start. Yesterday we visited the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone here in St. Helena. We got a tour from its founder, a food colleague of Leslie’s.

Will turned 17 yesterday. The boy is growing up. I brought him his favorite, a pupusa, which is a Salvadorian tortilla he came to love from our time living in the D.C. area, bought at the St. Helena farmer’s market. Only in Napa would a farmer’s market include cooking lessons from a chef from the CIA.

The rows upon rows of vineyards are quite stunning and I am finding the Napa Valley quite beautiful. The temperature difference between day and night is 50 degrees – reaching into the low 100’s during the day. The differential moves the sugar up and down through the vine and branches and intensifies the flavor of the cabernet and chardonnay grapes for which the region is known.
Our week here is also a needed resting place for each of us to pause a bit and process this whole experience. We have seen so much already and we’re trying to just allow our minds and bodies time to take it all in.

Yosemite: Big Rocks and Big Trees

Now half way through our cross country adventure, we have found that we are surprised at every turn. We continue to pinch ourselves at this great opportunity to see this country and we offer more than an occasional thank you to Mr. Lilly. We have met people along the way, some of whom ask us what we're doing. Their eyes widen when we tell them that we're traveling around the country as a family for a month by train. They usually tell us that they've always wanted to do the same.

At the Grand Canyon and Yosemite we've seen many visitors from overseas and have heard countless languages spoken. At 17 and 14, Will and Lydia have already done a fair bit of traveling -- more certainly that Leslie or I did when we were their ages -- but my sense is that this trip has sealed their travel bug infection. Both Leslie and I were AFS foreign exchange students (me to New Zealand for a year in 1980 and Leslie for a summer in Austria the same year). I think Lydia is already plotting her exchange student pathway and Will is thinking about an intensive language book camp in Colombia next summer.

Yosemite National Park in California, where we have been for three nights, has been beyond words beautiful. The rock formations rise dramatically from the ground and the valleys are filled with meadows and trees. In mid-July, the famous waterfalls are still flowing. The one iconic view of El Capitan rock formation is almost gaudy it is so beautiful -- perhaps the most stunning natural setting I have ever seen. We walked among the ancient and giant sequoia tress at the southern most corner of the park -- some of them have been alive for over 2,000 years. They are said to have survived loggers in the 1800's when it was found that the trees shattered into many pieces when they were felled. Their weakness became their strength, as the loggers gave up and moved on to other trees.

Usually on family vacations I reach mid-way and begin to announce with great fanfare and sadness that the vacation is half-over. Not this trip. The experience continues to unfold in new ways and has reminded me of an important lesson: embrace the present. Don't look back with sadness about what can not be done again. And be thankful. Always.

Monterey

We leave the beautiful coast of California today as we rent a car to drive to Yosemite National Park for 3 days. The train trip from Los Angeles up the coast was spectacular. We rode next to the ocean up most of the coast, traveling through Simi Valley, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Paso Robles and getting off in Salinas. Yesterday we took a morning sail through the famous Monterrey aquarium, and end the evening with a visit the 18th green at Pebble Beach. We are finding it hard to leave the coast, but we know more adventures await.

From Coast to Coast

We arrived in downtown Los Angeles a day after the big Michael Jackson memorial service at the nearby Staples Center. Leslie and I walked a couple of blocks to find a place to wash our clothes.

The Amtrak experience has been very positive so far. The sleeper cars on the longer legs have been key.

We met up with college friends of Leslie's yesterday and were treated to dinner at their beach club In Santa Monica. We could see the lights of Malibu as we left. The kids had a great time.

Grand Canyon is Grand

July 7 and we are waking up about 200 yards from the Grand Canyon. Will and Lydia loved the sites yesterday. Got some great pictures at the rim of the California Condors. We depart this afternoon for Flagstaff and another sleeper car train ride. Arrive in L.A. tomorrow at 8 noon. Having a blast seeing this country!

July 4 in Santa Fe, New Mexico

We arrived tonight in Santa Fe, NM after a long train ride that started at 11 pm in Kansas City. Our first night bunking in the sleeper car was an adventure. We awoke to the landscape of western Kansas, which gave way to Colorado and then New Mexico. I found it hard to read a book, and I just wanted to day dream and look out the window. We only have one night in Santa Fe, but the weather is dry right now and cool -- couldn't be better. Off the the Grand Canyon tomorrow.

July 3 Arrived in Kansas City

Friday, July 3

We arrived at almost midnight in Kansas City from Chicago on our first of many legs of our train trip. The trip went well, though we sat for an hour somewhere in Missouri in the dark to pick up an extra dining car.

We kicked off the trip in Chicago with wonderful hospitality from the Rev. Geoffrey Ward, who welcomed us with Chicago deep dish pizza, a performance of Cirque Sanghai, and a wonderful Italian dinner. July 2 we crawled out of town with a visit to Taste of Chicago for Chicago-style hot dogs and some good tacos. My heart bypass surgery is pending.

The kids commented that that had never seen so much open farm land from Chicago to Kansas City. The corn is about 2 feet high.

Today is it raining in K.C., but we'll hang out. Our first sleeper car is tonight. On to Sante Fe!