This photo is from the 2008 parade. If you get tired of looking at costumes you can always check out the fall foliage. For some of my 2009 Halloween photos (not of Ashland since I’m living in Tokyo for the year) click here.

This picture has so many Ashlandish things in it, from the Ashland Drug Store to the OSF heraldic banners, from the vampires to the psycho pushing a stroller. It’s all here.

Which party in the happy couple in the middle of this photo do you think chose their costume first?

Japanese wedding or Halloween parade? PacMan doesn’t seem to like to eat Wario and pirates as much as dots and ghosts.

Across the street from Taylor’s Refresher lie part of the tracks for the Napa Wine Train. The wine train takes customers from downtown Napa to St. Helena and back. While on board patrons are treated to a fine meal and wine while enjoying the view of the vineyards.

We road the wine train for Thanksgiving dinner several years ago.

Once upon a time I was a tour guide in Napa so I’ve been on the route from Napa to St. Helena countless times. The beauty of the place never gets old or boring though.

The day after the aforementioned reunion there was a second gathering for families held at Taylor’s Refresher in St. Helena. Apparently Taylor’s Refresher has been featured on some Food Channel or Food Network shows (maybe “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” and some others?). The place was crazy packed for a town of 6,000 people. There was a line of more than 50 people the entire time we were there. And we were there for more than 3 hours enjoying the picnic on the back lawn.

The food was good, but the prices are high. You’ll be lucky to spend much less than $20 a person ($10 burgers, $6 shakes, $4 fries, etc.). Despite the prices, and long lines, people were coming from far away just to eat at Taylor’s Refresher. The people in line behind us came all the way from Sacramento (an hour and a half at least) just for lunch.

An embarrassing moment happened after we got our food and made our way to the reunion picnic area. My wife sat down next to a man she didn’t know (a spouse of an old classmate) who asked about the food. She said it was OK but the line was ridiculous. It turns out the man was the owner of the place. Oops.

A couple months back we took a trip down I-5 to Napa, California for my wife’s 20th high school reunion. While there we spotted the above Kara’s Cupcakes in the Oxbow Market. Cupcake shops have sprouted up all over the country, but none have made it to Ashland yet. You can see the menu details by clicking on the above picture for a much more enlarged view. The prices seem more than a bit ridiculous to me. $80 for two dozen cupcakes and a bottle of milk?!? I don’t think I’ll be a customer even if they make it to my hometown.

October is now upon us so let’s look back to last year’s Halloween parade. Here we find everyone gathering in front of the library to begin the parade. The guy in the Flash Gordon costume was really funny. He ran up and down the street looking just like the real thing.