Day 23 - Family Time

Today was a simple day, but a great one. After last night's late return home from SF we allowed ourselves a bit of a sleep in. I think we all assembled for our breakfast around 8:30, luxury for a house filled with 3 people under 5 1/2! Today would be our last full day with Karen and family, and Sandy was leaving around dinner time for Burlington, so our only plans today were to share time and laugh, a lot. Mission accomplished!

Yeah, we had LOTS of fun!

After getting everyone cleaned, changed and ready for the day it was time for lunch, and I had a hankering for some Mexican fare. I'd heard abut a delicious Mexican place in Livermore, so we roused the troops and headed for Casa Orozco.

Impressive, no?

The place was splendid - large and imposing on the corner, and inside we were greeted by friendly and courteous staff who happily helped 4 adults keep 3 youngsters happy during our meal. T and I ordered a pint of the house special and some guacamole to get grumpy Gord some food quick. He was frustrated, but the many potted plants and art work kept him occupied until the chips and dip arrived. We scarfed it down like he hadn't eaten in a week - and no wonder, it was delicious. For lunch I ordered the veggie tostadas and T ordered the Cheese Enchilada Verde, everything was good, even though the tostada had broccoli, carrots and zucchini on it, the sour cream, guacamole and house made tortilla made up for the odd veg choice. Everyone was pleased with their meal and we decided to head home and plan our afternoon.

Karen took the pic of the happy group, it was the only way to get Gord to look - he has a bit of a crush.

When we got home we thought maybe we'd try to swing by nearby Wente winery- it's supposed to be great, and we'd had luck in BC so why not hit an American winery. Also, while we would have loved to stop at a Sonoma wi Rey as we drove through on our way to SF, if you recall T was feeling less than stellar, so that was a non-starter. But the Mexican was sitting pretty and when Sandy offered to play the role of acting grandma we jumped, sort of. The two of us are still not used to leaving him behind, but he was distracted on the floor with Sloan and the dog so we made a quick getaway. Sandy is already the busy grandmother of two and worked as a nurse for years, there was no one (besides his own two grandmas) better to leave him with. We still left her a # in case she needed to call us home, knowing full well we wouldn't receive a call.

Three, three, three wineries in one. 

Wente is a big place, the grounds of the winery actually host to other brands of wine under the Wente umbrella, and the place was packed. We parked the car and we headed for the main tasting room. Immediately we were met with a big difference between this winery and the ones we encounter at home (and in BC) - the noise and hub-bub. Now to be fair, we generally go to the smaller wineries in NOTL, so Peller or Hillebrand or Trius or any of the larger wineries may give you a similar experience, but nevertheless, Wente was  it small. It sounded and felt like a fancy bar. I did 't like that feeling, but Theresa did, if you know is you likely won't be surprised by that. 

Cousins toasting their parenting skills and their taste in Chardonay.

We stepped up to the bar/tasting counter and perused the tasting menu. They offer a few different packages, and we even tailored the different experiences to our tastes. The girls opted for the $5 (large production) tasting, but Bob (our server) offered to give them only whites, which would include some of the more expensive (small batch) whites as well. I went with the $10 small batch tasting, but I had a sling I'd be sending a case home (once in a lifetime memento) so I assumed the tasting charges would be forgiven. We enjoyed some wine, and we were all responsible, dumping most of the pour after a few sips so as not to require Sandy to come pick us up!

What can I say? The wines were good and after the girls picked a few wines to get for dinner, we put together a case and sent it off to my dear Aunt Carol in upstate NY - there's a note on the wine to not drink Gordon's wine A. Carol, so we'll see if any get 'damaged' in shipping. ;)

Bill was pleased with our purchases too.

With the shipping address filled out, and our tasting fees waived, (I thought so) we headed home to see how Gord was faring. Or more accurately, to see how Sandy and the girls were faring with our little screamer, we'd been gone about an hour and a half so it would be a good test for him. When we walked in the door we heard nothing, which was nice. We made our way from the kitchen into the living room and saw him sitting in the floor. He was playing quietly. Until he looked over and saw his parents. The thunders from the heavens know nothing of Gord's lungs. Sloan quickly told us that 'Gordon screamed a lot' but Sandy told us that he sat and played for over half an hour before noticing we were gone, and the scammed for half an hour or so, and then would cycle through calm play and calamitous wailing every 5 minutes or so. We thought it was a success as a whole and look forward to stretching his patience again and again once we get home. 

We needed to do some shopping so I ran out to get some groceries and a white dress shirt (see the blog in a week or so to find out why) and left the ladies and Gord. It took me about an hour to get what we needed and I'll say this about US roads - they're complete. You can drive anywhere in the US, which is good, because you have to. Livermore is a beautiful city, but you need a car there to get even a few errands run. I realized this wasn't approved for the residents as I drove past the Merceddez, Audi, Land Rover and Porsche dealerships.

By the time I got back home Karen and Sandy were gone, Karen was driving Sandy to the airport and I had missed our goodbye. That's , I'll see her when we get back on Lake Ontario, and I hope she knows how much we appreciate her taking such good care of Gord. We fed the girls and Gord and were just starting dessert when Karen made it home. After that it was a simple domestic night. Baths (which was good since Gord was starting to smell like a foot) and stories and packing before the babies were all asleep and the three adults could sit down for a little chatting before bed. We turned in around 11 with dreams of home in our heads. This was a big moment as tomorrow will mark the beginning of our week long journey home. No doubt we will have some stories from that week of dessert and corn that is I-80, but now that the family and friends are in our rear-view, we're hungry for home. W have two or three significant stops on the return trip including Lake Tahoe tomorrow, but. Hamilton is calling us home, and we're happy to listen. 

TOTAL FUEL FILL UPS: 7

DAILY WILDLIFE: Bee the dog, Judo the cat and Lotus the cat.