I’ve needed to catch up on this story for a long time. At first I wasn’t sure if I would put it on the site. It took a long time for me to swallow the whole experience as it is. This story takes me back to my last night in White Bear Lake, MN. You can read the local newspaper article about it here. It was the evening of September 29th, my last night staying with the Vukelich family. …

Wow! Who would have thought? Well, I did for one. When this trip first started I told myself it could go either one of two ways. Either it would be a complete flop or it would be a complete success and much more than I could have ever imagine or handle myself. Now that I’m on a side trip to NYC writing from 39,000 feet I think the answer is it’s a success. …

This trip has been one treat after the next, here’s a few more from yesterday and today. Ernie Ball Nancy’s husband, Jim, has been working for Ernie Ball for about 30 years. He took some time yesterday afternoon to give me a personal tour of the Ernie Ball guitar factory. Anything that is backstage or behind scenes I love to see, and anything about how things work or how they’re put together. …

It’s a great treat to get pictures from friends and family on this trip. I love getting e-mails from people who just want to say hi and see how everything is going and I love to answer those. Getting photos from home home is the best! I thought I would share a few with everyone from home that my parents have sent me recently. My family rocks. They sent pictures to me on Thanksgiving with a sign that says “Happy Thanksgiving. …

“Get a job ‘ya bum.” That’s the single comment on the article from the News Review in Oregon. Check out the article here. I haven’t had a comment like this since a couple weeks before leaving. Of course there were a few people who seemed to be joking about it, but they may have been serious. I’ve had a few negative comments, but I wanted to address this on specifically. Being called a bum bothers me a little. …

Every morning is a new day. That has never been truer for me than on this trip. Today’s new experience or adventure was The Hearst Castle, built by the newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst. Wow, what a castle. I kept thinking to myself, “I had no idea anything like this existed in the United States.” It’s marvelous and said to be one of the most valuable estates in the world. The monthly electrical bill runs about $25,000 with thousands of visitors every week, if not every day, and costing millions of dollars to operate every year. …

The group found a place in Paso Robles for some appetizers (including turkey nuts) after leaving the wineries. From there we wandered over to a small park in Paso Robles where hundreds of people were gathered to light the trees with Christmas lights. All of a sudden a couple things hit me. 1) Wow! It’s Christmas time already? And 2) Awww there’s no snow. I realized that I might not get much of that Christmas spirit when I’m traveling every few days this year. …

Today was another new experience for me, wine tasting. The film Sideways, about wine tasting, was filmed not too far south from San Luis Obispo. We took two vehicles to fit everyone in and it was a perfect blue sky day. Some people spend the day after thanksgiving getting up early and going shopping on one of the most chaotic days of the year. As for this family, they sleep in a little later and go wine tasting out in the vineyards and even bring the kids where they can play with the dog at the ranch or play on the swing. …

What a great day. I’m still amazed by the kindness of people to invite a complete stranger to their home to live with them, especially over Thanksgiving when they have all kinds of friends and family that they have to take care of already. It’s phenomenal. It’s a great testimony to the kindness of people across the country and isn’t that what Thanksgiving is all about? It was a relaxing day after sleeping in, getting to know the family better, sharing conversation, meeting other family of theirs, neighbors, and friends. …

This is my first Thanksgiving outside of Michigan and away from my parents. A lot of people have asked me about what I’m doing for different holidays on the trip. And I think today is going to be pretty cool to spend it with a new family I’ve never met. They said there should be about 16 or 17 people, ranging from 7-70 I think. Hopefully I can remember all of their names. …