Christmas/New Year's Extravaganza

After Thanksgiving, we passed most of our time in site counting down the days until leaving for California and a holiday visit with Amanda's family. We left Cerro Brisa on the 12th of December and, after spending a wonderful night in Panama City dining and hanging out with some of our fellow Peace Corps volunteers, we took off on the 13th for the promised land. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calistoga%2C_California)

My good friend Zane picked us up from San Francisco airport late at nigth and we had the pleasure of spending most of the following day with him before jumping on a San Francisco-Santa Rosa bus to meet Amanda's father and Ruth. We had a great time with Zane as we cruised for a while around the Palo Alto/Mountain View area where he lives. I have to say that there are probably only a handful of friends that I would consider "for life" in the the sense that we could be apart for years and still be able to pick up right where we left off while really enjoying one another's company. Zane is definitely one of them.

After hanging out with Zane for a bit before jumping on the bus (which brought us through some interesting-looking San Francisco neighborhoods as well!), we headed out to Santa Rosa and finally met up with Amanda's family, which she hadn't seen in almost a year-and-a-half. The follwing week was awesome. We enjoyed the beautful Napa Valley climate (crisp and dry), wine (tasted at four local wineries [www.castellodiamorosa.com-a $30M, recreated Tuscan castle; www.bennettlane.com-a beautiful botique winery in an upper valley corner; www.summerswinery.com-a small, high-quality Calistoga winery; www.vincentarroyo.com-my favorite Napa Valley winery, with awesome service, great wine, and that down-home feel] , a few of which don't sell off their premesis), and scenery and had a great time hanging out with family. I think I can speak for both of us when I say that we look forward very much to returning in the (hopefully near) future.




A shot of us and our host-family, the Monteros, seding us off the night before we left. Angela, our host-mother is holding their new daughter(as of yet unnamed) who was born only a few days before.







Visiting with Amanda's great uncle Guido, who just recently turned 94, was undoubtedly one of the highlights of the entire vacation. He's a wonderful host and, while legally blind, can still make a kick-ass Manhattan. (and insists upon it too!) Lesson learned: drink Manhattan's regularly for long life and good health.








A great picture of Amanda and her uncle Guido (usually called "Guy") . After a morning full of deliciously stiff drinks, Amanda (and I) were a bit blitzed, though you may not be able to tell in this picture.








Amanda, Joe, and Guy, all trying to look sober for the camera. Ruth was with us as well, but unfortunately not in the picture as she was the one taking it. We'll just have to get a shot of her when we return next time.










Amanda and I overlooking the amazingly beautiful upper Napa Valley. I'm not sure what grapes are growing in the vineyard rows below us (maybe cabernet?), but I'm sure they're tasty!









The front of the Culinary Institue of America's Napa Valley campus. Blessed is the man or woman who studies here.












A typical work-station for CIA students. Individual classes here run near $1,000, but that seems a small price to pay for learning from the masters.













The main classroom. Awesome.











We'll post about the rest of our trip the next time around. Right now, we leave David to return to our site for the first time in a month! God Bless!