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Published: December 25th 2007
Well, it was time to go on another trip and this time it was to Northern California to see Amanda, my daddy's sister. She lives in Berkeley. My grandpa Jay even drove from Las Vegas to stay with us. Amanda's name was difficult from me, but by the end of the week, I stopped calling her "hey" and "that one" and came up with something that sounded like Manda. As far as Grandpa Jay, it was much easier for me to say Avo' Jay (Avo' is grandfather in portuguese), so avo' jay it was.
We did so many fun things. The day we arrived, we went to a cool childrens park in Oakland where I road on a small train. The next day we took a real train to San Francisco and walked around the city. It was sooooo cold, but dad bundled me up in lots of clothes. I hadn't been to a cold place since Argentina 1 1/2 years ago. On another day in San Francisco, we went to the wharf and I saw a lot of sea lions!
With daddy's passion for wine, we spent 2 days wine tasting. 1 day in Napa (Buehler, Joseph Phleps,
V. Sattui, Cosentino, Grgich Hills, Darioush) and another day in Sonoma (Ferrari-Carrano, Zichichi, Seghesio, Martinelli, De Loach, Sebastiani) . While I was not able to try the wine, there were plenty of places to run around, dogs to play with, and of course, food to eat. I only broke one wine glass the whole trip! Daddy brought back a bunch of wine and had some others shipped as if the 650 bottles he still has from Italy is not enough.
One day we went back into San Francisco to go to the zoo. It was great to see the animals I have been learning about. I was a little sad that I did not see any elephants like the ones that I road on in Cambodia, or the dolphins I swam with in Honduras, but there were plenty of others to keep me happy for the day. Daddy ran into a friend,Mary, from Tulane medical school in New Orleans. He had not seen her for almost 10 years, so it was a real surprise running into her. She has a daughter named Carolina who I became instant friends with. We saw the lions and tigers at feeding time, including
Tatiana, who attacked some people 3 days later. Of all my travels, the SF zoo was probably the most dangerous place my dad has ever taken me to.
It was a great trip to San Francisco and especially spending time with my aunt and my grandpa. Even though we are separated by many miles, I am sure that I will see them again soon.
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Gina
non-member comment
What a delight!
To spend such a magnificent journey with you and your little one! We are planning to journey through Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam with our 12 year old and 2 year old daughters. My husband is very positive but I find myself experiencing highs and lows - is my 2 year old too young - am I putting her health unecessarily at risk? Should I wait until she is older? Your exquisite photographs and dialogue expressed as tho through your daughter's eyes is food for the soul. Thank you for sharing your experience! I am researching thoroughly but if you are willing to provide any tips or share impressions they would be most welcome :)