Lisa Zahn

George had the luck to grow up in a beautiful place in Virginia.  The state of, for all you Minnesotans who continually ask us "town or state?"  (We have a town called Virginia in northern Minnesota.)  But George grew up in what is formally known as the Commonwealth of Virginia.  It's a beautiful place.  Here are some pictures from our Christmas at his boyhood home...  The "big boys" flying balsa wood airplanes, overlooking the Ware River.  The kids having a marshmallow shooting war in the yard.  The "front" or river-side of the house with its wraparound porch facing the water.  "Tree Lodge", and the pansies are blooming next to the snowman at Christmas!  George and Eli walking along the shoreline.  Rose sitting on one of the many pier posts that have washed up via hurricanes.  Eli found some treasure along the shore--bamboo poles.  And George found a lot of trash.  Father and son...

We traveled to Virginia for Christmas this year to visit George's family. It was our first Christmastime in Virginia since 2005, and it was time for our kids to remember what Christmas at the Zahns is like again. We took the train from Minnesota to Williamsburg. Riding Amtrak from Minnesota to Williamsburg, Virginia was a scream--for better and worse. Let's just say, particularly on the Empire Builder going east from Minnesota, be prepared for delays and changes of plans. The famous superliner, Empire Builder, originates in Chicago, heads west to Seattle, and by the time it gets to Minnesota it's on the 6th day of a 6-day trip so things can get a little hairy by day 6. The "vintage" Amtrak station in St. Cloud, Minnesota Some passengers have been on the train from Seattle, for 3 days, so you might want to keep your distance because they can be a) a little dirty and b) a little loopy. I only had one woman show me the pictures of her pet squirrel. She fit both...