family, travel and thanksgiving

now that my grandmother has moved in things have relaxed quite a bit.

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here we are celebrating my mom and mathew’s belated birthdays.

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(left) justin and najia. (right) me and popo.

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(left) popo, mathew, me and friends, andy and midori, who have spent time with popo in the past. (right) my immediate family + popo.

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this is what mathew and i look like relaxed…

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a few days later i got on a train, fell asleep and woke up in a different state…

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…to snow! somewhere in oregon…

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it takes 22 hours to get from emeryville to seattle. if you want to truly relax, take a long train trip somewhere. there’s no where to go and nothing to do but read, knit, listen to music, watch movies and sleep. ahhh. it’s a beautiful way to just slow down. i had a nice lunch in the dining car and met people from all over the country. (left) i sat outside during a stop in portland. this is the guitar playing guy i met from new york.

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here are i am with my “sisters” in seattle. we watched “new moon” on opening day. (left to right) laura, me, elissa and wylie.

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elissa had a group art show opening. i was so glad i could attend. and i bought 2 pieces! (right) elissa and her mom, chris.

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(left) this is the view from my bedroom. (right) on my last night the family cooked an amazing early thanksgiving, going-away dinner.

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(left) back on the train. i’ve done sleeper car trains in scotland and didn’t enjoy it. these are coach seats and i found it much easier to sleep. plus you get to meet all kinds of nice people. the seats recline and there’s tons of leg room, similar to business class on a plane. (right) a bridge. in oregon?

i’m excited to plan my next train trip. i want to visit my “other family” in seattle again in the spring. and i’d like to travel by train to chicago with mathew.

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my family’s thanksgiving celebration in sacramento. if everyone had shown up it would have been 51 people, but that night we had 43? crowded but festive.

hope everyone had a nice thanksgiving!