Day Fourteen Sonoma (CA)

Kicking back and not driving a bazillion miles rocks! It is another type of heaven. Yay heaven!

We are in beautiful, sunny Sonoma CA. For those of you who don't know where that is, it is the county next to Napa (you know, "Wine County") in CA. It has its own loveliness that some people don't appreciate. They see the seared hills and think it is all dead and dying. But it really is a pretty thriving ecosystem. And no, I don't really miss it, but I do appreciate it.

Mom and I did little to start the day. Puttered around a bit. One of the frustrating things for her seems to be that she can't keep track of our itinerary in her head. Which is understandable, as I am often tweaking it out from under her. Not purposefully, but sometimes life changes and so plans change. I am doing my best at keeping her in the loop. I just don't know what is likely to stay in her brain and what leaks out as soon as I say it. Oh well, live and learn (and forget and learn again). :)

Karl, my older brother, called and we had a little chat. He does a great job of keeping in contact with mom, calling most days and sending her notes and stuff. We actually talked a bit about an impending visit he is planning, and a little about mom and such. Hard for me to wrap my mind around future events when we have so far yet to travel on this trip. But I try.

Next, off to lunch. Although we had left overs, I wanted to get out of the house for lunch. Our host suggested a brewpub (why do people keep suggesting brewpubs to me - how do they know that I like them? Weird...) in downtown. Run by the people who do Gordon Biersch, there are two Hopmonk locations up here. I must admit that I haven't been thrilled by the Gordon Biersch Beer that I have tasted in the past, but I am open to retrying things occasionally.

Nice place, nice server - her name was Emma, but she wasn't my ex-wife. Weird. :) Anyway, I surprised mom by ordering mussels with fries for our lunch. I asked about tasters and was not terribly surprised myself to find that they were outlandishly prices: three 4 oz. tasters for 8 dollars. Really? 12 ozs of beer (if the glasses are filled right to the rim) for $8? Eeeek! No matter the beer, three tasters ought to be at most $4 and that is still pretty expensive. Whatever. I just opted to have a beer - Lagunitas Sumpin' Sumpin'. I didn't even go for one of the three beers that they brewed in house. Jeesh. The food was also very good. Emma brought us some lemon aoli that was great with the fries! Yum!

On the way to the restaurant, mom had noticed a place that offered train rides. She said she wanted to go and immediately retracted the statement. But I thought it sounded fun. So, on the way back to the house, we stopped at Train Town.

Choo choo! The first thing I thought of when I saw train town was my brother. He was, for a long time, quite an avid HO train person. I think he still would be if he hadn't made other choices. Anyway, the place was a teeny weeny amusement park. The focus of which was, obviously, trains. And the focus of the focus was the miniature train that offered rides! The ride itself was very pleasant, winding through their property - lots of little carved animals peeking out from alongside the tracks. Various bridges and tunnels to traverse. And a stop in a miniature town where one could feed some animals. Goats for the most part. And I was put in jail. Briefly. All in all (another of my favorite phrases) I really enjoyed the stop! And I think mom did too!

Back at the house, more rest and relaxation was the order of the afternoon. Our host eventually returned from her day and we decided that instead of cooking, we ought to go out again! Yay eating out! We chose Japanese for the evening.

Eating at a Japanese restaurant can be intimidating for those who are new to it. Luckily we weren't! Well, mom thought she was - but I know she has been to Japanese restaurants before - and we had a lovely three week trip in Japan years back - 1991 I believe. We had a great meal! Rolls and sushi and tempura! I also had a lovely porter from Japan. Our server, Corie, was kind enough to share her story with us and her five year plan! And she took our picture! Yippee!

Back at the ranch, we continued to party like rock stars. We smashed our amps and set our guitars on fire and...oh, wait, that was another time. Last night we watch the latest version of Soldier, Sailor, Tinker, Spy and had yummy popcorn! Sadly, mom couldn't keep track of the story (which wasn't surprising, it was very confusing) but we got through it. I thought Gary Oldman did great. And the rest of the cast was good too!

Yet another great day. When will this carousel ride end? Too soon and not soon enough, I am sure. :)

Pretty good!

On the train to nowhere!

Spider roll!