Paul and I traveled home to California for the Christmas holidays. It was a nice visit and I was happy to spend the time with my parents in the sunny warmth of NorCal.
Months ago we found cheap fares leaving out of Newark airport, but we stalled on it, didn't book it, and the fares wound up increasing. So, we decided we'd try flying out of JFK in NYC instead.
Paul's cousin Jen in NJ was kind enough to let us crash at her house the night before our flight. Paul's Aunt Joann made arrangements for us to leave my car in a local parking garage while we were gone so we didn't have to worry about it. We got on the train the next morning and headed to Newark Penn Station where we changed trains and went to New York Penn Station. From there, we took the subway to 53rd and 5th where we hopped off because I really wanted to see the Christmas Tree in Rockefeller Center. We walked down 5th Ave and admired some of the shops' decorations. Soon enough we arrived at one of the biggest Christmas Trees I've ever seen. It was quite beautiful, even if it was daytime. Ice skaters joyfully skated nearby and we were quite happy. Some photos and we decided to keep walking. We peeked in on where they film the Today Show and headed toward Times Square. I popped into Starbucks to get a coffee because I was freezing and we grabbed a couple of bagels from a street vendor.
After a while of walking and freezing, we ducked into the Rockefeller Center building to escape from the cold for a while before reevaluating what to do next. We figured on walking a bit more, so back out into the cold we went. We admired the tree from another angle and walked down 5th Ave until I ran onto a street vendor selling cashmere scarves. I am a scarf fiend. I was trying to decide which one to purchase when my dad called to tell us that our flight was delayed---5 hours! Boo!
I wound up not buying a scarf and instead we tried to figure out what we wanted to do. We had been about ready to get back on the subway to head to the airport, but that plan was now out the window. I thought maybe we could find a Barnes & Noble to waste some time, but I wasn't sure where one was. I looked up and no kidding, just down the street was a BN. We popped inside and browsed around before we purchased Alice in Wonderland/Alice Through the Looking Glass--a classic that we don't own. Then, it was back out into the cold.
We decided to start walking down 5th Ave because I thought maybe we could go to Mario Batali's pizzeria (Otto) for lunch. I thought I remembered the address, but I texted my mom to double check. We headed on our way downtown through the sloshy streets of NYC. The recent storm left lots of snow and slush piled up near the sidewalks. Sneakers were not the shoes of choice for the day as our feet got wet. For the record, however, we didn't plan on walking as much as we did. Anyway, we walked all the way to Otto (near Greenwich Village) and got right in for lunch. The pizza was quite fantastic. I had a margherita and Paul had pepperoni. We even took photos. : )
After lunch, we wondered about what to do. I was actually getting tired because we were carrying fairly heavy bags (after all, we had all our luggage with us). Paul mentioned something about a place Brian took him once with lots of street vendors selling knock off handbags, etc. Perfect! A great way to waste some time! I texted Brian and he told us to go to Canal Street. We did ask for directions before we left the restaurant, but we wound up lost and had to backtrack after walking a very long way. Oh well.
We eventually made it to Canal Street and were asked hundreds of times if we were interested in this Rolex watch or that Prada bag. It was comical. And the people! So many! We found out later that Paul's grandfather used to work on Canal Street! We probably passed right by the location and didn't even know it!
We had our fill of people and knock offs, so we did our best to find the right subway line and plopped ourselves into a train. Changed trains once, then twice, and eventually arrived at JFK only to find our airplane was delayed another half hour. And it still didn't leave when they said it would. Annoying!
We didn't leave NY until after 10pm, AFTER we should have already been in California. The worst part was that my dad was driving up to San Francisco to pick us up AND he had to work the next day. We finally arrived in California, but not until after 1am. Stupid American Airlines and their maintenance problems! Oh well, we arrived safely anyway and that's what's important I guess.
Unfortunately Dad was working the next day, but we got to spend the day with Mom and that was nice. Paul and I planned a menu, went grocery shopping, ran errands, and decorated the Christmas Tree. We also got busy with rebuilding Mom and Dad's computer (their Christmas gift). Paul and I ordered a new CPU, motherboard, RAM, and DVD-rom before we flew out. I told Mom and Dad not to open the box once it came and while they probably suspected we were up to something, they couldn't be certain.
We took the old components out of my 2003 homebuilt and carefully put the new components in. We did keep the same hard-drive because it was still working well and that allowed a quicker build because we didn't have to install an operating system. It booted up and while we had to make a few corrections with USB ports, it worked extremely well and we were quite pleased. We configured everything so they each have a user name and we hoped they would love the newer, faster machine.
Christmas Eve morning I made cornbread for dressing the next day. Mom also made a pumpkin pie. At least we got a jump start on cooking. Paul and I drove up to San Jose to have lunch with Dad, then went to Whole Foods so I could get some fresh fish for dinner for the Feast of the Seven Fishes (an Italian tradition I learned about from Paul's family--I'm Italian but didn't know about it!) The store was a zoo! Not the best time to be grocery shopping! We got what we wanted and got the heck out of there, but still had to stop at Safeway on the way home because Whole Foods didn't have all we needed.
We had a nice dinner and we finished wrapping our gifts before waking up to a beautiful, sunny Christmas morning. It was such a gorgeous day, Dad decided he wanted to fire off one of the model rockets that we gave him a couple years before. He had enough engines for three launches. We could not believe how high the rocket traveled on the first launch. Dad is a good judge of altitude (being a pilot and all) and he says over 2,500-3,000 feet! Paul and I had to run through the pasture and up a neighbor's driveway to retrieve the rocket after the first launch. Even though there was no wind at ground level, there is wind up top and it traveled a little ways.
Put in another engine, repacked the parachute and changed launch sites for launch number two. Another successful launch, but this time it went a little further. Again, Paul and I set off across the pasture and Paul ran down the road to make the recovery. One more launch and this time it nearly landed on the roof of the house! I think it hit the roof but bounced off. Paul caught it once it came down. It was a lot of fun. Here are two launch videos:
One is not uploading...I'll try it again later...
We made pecan pie bars and lazed around much of the afternoon. I had put a turkey breast in the slow cooker earlier in the day so we were in good shape for food. It was nice not stressing out about cooking this and that. Once the turkey was nearly done, we cooked up the sweet potatoes and put that casserole together, Mom made the dressing, and we had a lot of great food! We enjoyed a lovely Christmas dinner. Afterwards, we piled into the living room and opened our gifts. We were spoiled, as usual, but hopefully Mom and Dad were surprised with their computer! We appreciated all the gifts!
The next morning, Dad wanted to try out his new waffle maker. After nearly all the batter was used up, the handle broke off the machine! Brand new and already broken! What a bummer! At least we got waffles out of it first. : ) We returned it promptly too.
The next few days we basically took it easy. We watched the Everest series on The Discovery Channel, made lots of good food, ate lots of good food, we ran, we played with the dogs and cats, we visited, we shopped.
One night we went upstairs to go to bed and I heard something outside. It sounded like a car revving its engine. I figured someone must be stuck in the mud. I went downstairs and Paul, Mom and I watched from the Living Room as someone down the street was indeed stuck in the mud. There really wasn't much we could have done short of getting the tractor out and since Dad was asleep already, we weren't going to do that. Eventually a tow truck came and pulled them out. The next day Paul and I walked down to see how much damage the car had done in the orchard across the street. There were some significant ruts for sure. And, apparently in a last ditch effort, it appears they sacrificed all four floor mats to try to stuff under their tires to get the car out. I guess they didn't want muddy floor mats, so they just left them in the orchard. Nice.
Before we knew it, it was New Year's Eve and time to head back to New York. We booked a red eye flight because it was cheap, plus it gave us a few days to readjust before we had to go back to work on Monday. We flew JetBlue for the first time and I would recommend them over most other airlines. Well, except over Southwest. They're my favorite. : )
The flight was uneventful and fairly smooth all the way. The only celebration we did was Paul and I brought glow in the dark bracelets/necklaces. Even the flight attendants seemed to like them. This was the second time Paul and I have welcomed a new year on an airplane.
We arrived at JFK just before 7am. We picked up our one checked bag and headed upstairs to the Airtrain, to the subway, to NY Penn Station, to Newark Penn Station, and eventually back to Somerville where we dropped of a little thank you gift to Jen, grabbed a bagel and coffee from Dunkin' and hit the road. I fought the sleepies all the way home because I hadn't slept on the airplane. Paul was kind enough to drive, but he was tired too. Once we made it home we actually felt good enough to unpack. I thought we might have headed straight to the couch for a nap, but we wound up staying up for a while, eating dinner, and THEN crashing early.
It felt strange to be home. We hadn't been gone that long, but it seemed as though we had. I immediately missed the mild temperatures, the comforts of home, my pets, and of course MOSTLY my parents. Fortunately, I'll be heading back soon and I know the time will fly.
I need to get photos from Mom & Dad's camera, but here are a few from ours.
Hope everyone had a great holiday season and best wishes for a fabulous 2010!
Photos include our little Charlie Brown Christmas Tree, NYC photos, and photos from California.
Christmas 2009
