Wine Train

Charlie Brown: We've got another holiday to worry about. It seems Thanksgiving Day is upon us.

Sally Brown: I haven't even finished eating all of my Halloween Candy...

- A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving

After Halloween, it's all a big holiday blur, isn't it? I always thought holidays were well-planned, when I thought about the fact that Christmas and My Birthday are almost exactly six months apart. And then I realized that everyone's birthday is not in June. As previously discussed, I don't really consider Halloween to be an important part of the holiday season, but it did trigger the beginning of my online Christmas shopping, so I guess I can't say I'm immune to the October 31st sugar celebration.

All of a sudden, I found Thanksgiving Day upon me. I haven't been home to North Carolina since June, but the idea of flying across the country during the busiest travel week of the US calendar year has never really appealed to me. This year, though, the West Coast was graced with my parents' presence, so we all prepared for a four-or-five day tour of the Bay Area to see family (and, in my case, various shopping malls. I'll get to that later, sort of.).

The hype of Thanksgiving Day is kind of awkward, isn't it? We've all seen The Santa Clause, where Tim Allen burns the turkey and then they have to go to Denny's for Christmas dinner. So many family members to get together, cook for, and find sleeping places for... As a firm believer in detailed logistical planning, I'm glad no one wanted to come to my San Jose apartment for Thanksgiving, that's for sure! A couple of years ago I decided to forgo the logistics and head to Mexico with my friend Nicole on a cruise. It was fun, but it was missing that special holiday feeling. Maybe because it was 85 degrees. This year for Thanksgiving, we celebrated a second holiday, i.e., my cousin Ana's 21st birthday. And where else, but the Wine Train in Napa Valley?

There are Corey and Ben with their commemorative wine glasses, courtesy of Ana's godparents. Hard to tell in the picture, but look closely at the base of Ben's glass: it's green, and it changes colors! I bet that feature only becomes increasingly amusing, the more glasses of wine you drink. Mental note: Ask Ana. The Wine Train took us through some of the vineyards in Napa on a leisurely ride; In hindsight, I wish I had eaten breakfast so I could have sampled more of the wines. I made up for breakfast, though, with the three pounds of turkey and sides and dessert that made up my Thanksgiving "dinner" (lunch) on the train. I had so much turkey, I barely stayed awake long enough to drive my grandmother and little sister back to the East Bay. Asleep by 5pm, up again at midnight for some Black Friday shopping!

Here are Erin and I at the end of the train ride, falling asleep at the dinner table.** Our Black Friday shopping experience is a blog topic for the future, or it might not be if I decide I'm too embarrassed to go into any elaboration beyond the hour I woke up to get started. Incidentally, a picture of the trunk of my car may suffice.

**Note: We did not actually fall asleep at the dinner table, though I have definitely done that before. At least twice in the last year. Another future blog topic...