Our holiday get togethers…part deux.

One of the holiday affairs we attended involved a 60 mile drive.  For that reason alone we always seem to waiver about going.  Wow, 60 miles then drive home at night.  A trek to Sonora is not an unpleasant drive by any means, just a long drive for us of late.  I remember when making 250 mile drives at the drop of a hat was nothing, but now, it gives reason for pause.  “Do we really wanna do that? Remember, we have to drive back as well!”

Every year we get invited to Jen’s in-laws, the Gonzales’ for Christmas.  We went once a few years ago and have passed the on it the past 5 years or so for reasons stated above.  This year, we decided to go.  Jen, Roth, and now Rowan, have always managed to make it down from Seattle to see Roth’s parents for Christmas.  They also set aside a couple of days for us at our house. Sonora isn’t really that far despite my whining about the 60 miles.  So going to the the Gonzales’ is two fold:  accepting a very well meaning Christmas dinner invite and being able to spend a few extra hours with Jen’s family before they come to our house.

The Gonzales’ house is situated a short distance off the main highway, up in the hills near the town of Sonora.  One must navigate a small, curvy, pot-holed road for a short distance that non-SUV’s probably shouldn’t attempt.  But our little, low-slung Subaru SVX made with without any problem despite the smell of burning oil when we got there.  Hey, it’s got 185,000 miles on in and that what those cars do!

Their house is fairly good sized with a nice, big, recently renovated modern kitchen, perfect for cooking for 15 people.  Yes, others besides us were invited including another of their sons and his girlfriend who live there plus another roomie plus a bevy of their relatives, sisters and grandparents I think.  Roth’s mother had her brother from SF in attendance.  He and Roth’s father are both my age and we engaged in a number of conversations ranging from French Laundry cooking (Roth’s Dad is a self-taught chef type like me) to the theory of ancient astronauts.  We talked about living in San Francisco (Tom, Roth’s uncle) and what it’s like residing in such a diverse, culturally rich, beautiful urban environment.  He’s lived there most of his life though has recently moved to Napa, a few miles from the northern tip of the bay.  The restaurants, the galleries, the street people, the stores all fascinating to me, one who has lived mainly in the suburbs, or, recently, small towns like Modesto and Pismo beach.  It’s a whole other world to live there versus just visiting for a day or two.  For one, using public transportation is the most viable option considering parking costs if you can even find one.  Restaurants and bar of all shapes and sizes are there to explore if for nothing else.

Our visit to the Gonzales culminated with a nice, well-planned dinner of rolled, marinated pork roast, a bevy of roasted root vegetables, and Jen’s contribution, her pan-cooked brussels sprouts.  All was cooked perfectly, the company was great, and brought our visit to an end.  My son, Jimmy, called and was arriving earlier than expected at our house, so we had to head out a bit early, sans dessert.

Jimmy was waiting for us when we got home and all was well.

A couple of days later, Jen and Roth and Rowan arrived and we got to spend two relaxing days with them doing nothing much more than enjoying each other’s company.  Rowan, who just turned three, is, well, a typical three year old: precocious, active, curious, strong-spirited, etc.  His parent have done a great job with raising him so far despite the usual three year old’s propensity to take advantage of Mom’s good nature.  ‘Nuff said?  He is a great little boy now.

I had a chance to roll around the floor and horse around with him.  I surprised even myself when raising him over me and preforming several “presses” with a squirming, giggling boy.  Fortunately, his attention span waned with that and I was not required to perform any further gymnastic feats!

All in all it was a great visit.  They departed Friday after two days here, and head north to Redding for one of two more overnight stops on their almost whirlwind Christmas trip.  As Roth was packing up the car I pointed out he only need do this two more times before getting back home.  I not sure he found that spectre amusing.

That pretty much wrapped up our holiday get togethers, economical but very satisfying.  By the way, for New Years, we made a couple of party snacks (wings, toasted raviolis, and sliders), watched a little TV and were asleep by 9:30 or so.  I was awoken from my deep sleep to the distant sounds of very large fireworks booms and gun shots in the air.  I glanced at the clock, it was 12:05.  I elbowed Loretta, “Hey!”  “What?  Huh?” “It’s midnight, honey, Happy New Year”. “Happy New Year to you…”  I laid there another few minutes listening to the far off revelers and the sound of various forms of ordinance going off…pop, pop, pop.  Ah, sounds like a nine millimeter glock.  Certainly hope the bullets don’t come down on our house!  Happy New Year!

It was a nice holiday season for us.  We thoroughly enjoyed all of it.  Until next year.