Our Thanksgiving 11-27-08

We had a change of plans and have delayed our journey south. We are waiting for some information and it may change our direction so rather than travel and then have to turn back around in a matter of weeks we are in a holding pattern...the beauty of being flexible.

We had a simple, quiet Thanksgiving together this year. I was able to cook a turkey, our first since hitting the road...our oven in the 5th wheel isn't big enough.

Andrea spent the day with her husband Will's family and Michelle's family opted to stay home....it is a long way to come for just a couple of days.

I got the bird in the oven and then we headed out for our daily walk. I grew up with a Step-dad who loved cooking so there was always an abundance of food on our thanksgiving day feasts when I was a girl. BUT, I wasn't very fond of some of the food, oyster stuffing, or stuffing with fruit and nuts in it...sometimes I just wanted plain old herbed stuffing, which for me I can prepare with ease today thanks to Stove Top Stuffing! I love that stuff!

My parents would get up early to wrestle the huge turkey and get it all prepared and in the oven...all day was non-stop preparation and when it was all over my parents were pooped! I am an observer and by observing all that stress...though I know they enjoyed doing it...I opted out of being a slave to Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners a long time ago!

I got up and cleaned and rinsed our bird, prepared the stuffing in the microwave, put the stuffing in the bird, slipped pats of butter under the skin of the breast and coated the bird with spray margarine, garlic powder and seasoned pepper. Covered it with foil and into the preheated oven for about 4 hours, took the foil off for the last 40 minutes, basted it a few times and ta-da....a scrumptious, moist, flavorful turkey. We had homemade garlic mashed potatoes, gravy, and corn along with the turkey and stuffing...with the tangy side of cranberry sauce....yum-yum! For dessert a small apple pie courtesy of Mrs. Smith, and a small pumpkin pie courtesy of Safeway bakery.

Larry is really good about stripping the bones after dinner so our turkey meat is ready for sandwiches and the carcass went into a pot of water for turkey soup. The stock smelled really good and today...the day after, I am cooking turkey soup with lots of turkey, onion, celery, and carrots! We will be on turkey overload for the next week! For two people a fourteen pound turkey is a lot, but it was 3 or 4 times cheaper than buying just a turkey breast.

Hope all of you had a lovely, relaxing day with your family and friends!

Our days at Andrea's

While we were at Andrea's we got to watch Ian play his last soccer game of the season. We had been at one of his first practices so it was neat to see how far the team had come. This was Ian's first season and he caught on really quick. After the game the team had pizza and the coach gave each of the players a trophy...they were thrilled. Ian kept wanting to know when he was going to get his, so the coach strung him along until he was the last to receive his trophy.

We had a nice few days visiting with the kids. Will, Andrea's husband, was actually home most of the weekend...we always tease him that as soon as he finds out we are coming he signs up for more work...smile.

The pretty black and white kitten is CC otherwise known as feline terrorist. On Sunday Larry's Mom, Carol came over and visited for a few hours and we all got caught up.

We left Monday morning and headed back to Fallon. We stopped in Sparks to get some things at Costco and then onto the house. After living out of our suitcase for 10 days it was good to get back home...we kind of missed traveling with our home! You know the economy is REALLY bad when you stand in line at Costco and not a single basket was full, most just had a few things....very, very unusual!

Now, I've caught you up on our trip. We have been back a week...time certainly flies. The sun sets by 4:30 and it has been getting into the low 30's here at night. The days have been sunny and in the 60's. We have been trying to get our Christmas shopping done so we can get it shipped off before we head south. The only thing out of the ordinary this week was one of the calves in the field around the corner that we pass on our walk was dead...ick. Not something you really want to start your day off with!

This last picture is Andrea, otherwise known as Ian's Mom....smile.

Leaving OR for CA 11-7-08

We left Michelle's place in Junction City on Friday, Nov. 7th. We left at 7 a.m. when Michelle was leaving for work and to take Seth to day care. He told us he just wanted us to be gone for a little bit....ahh.

We took interstate 5 south to Grants Pass where we picked up 199 down to the coast. We couldn't remember ever having taken that route before. Grants Pass's downtown looked like a happening place and the route to the coast was really pretty. The Smith River area is stunning and the Redwoods through there hugely awesome! The trees were enormous and we didn't have to take a side route to see them.

Along the way we started seeing "road apples" in the road and a couple miles on down the road we saw why. We don't know this guys story, but it was an interesting setup. The sky washed it out, but there was smoke spiraling out of the stove pipe. Larry would have loved to jump aboard and find out if the guy lived in the wagon or was just heading for a weekend event. We couldn't really stop him as he was on the highway, we stopped in a little pullout so we could get pictures.

It was a nice warm day and the ocean was even being lazy and relaxed. Very seldom have I ever seen the ocean so calm...it was like it was all it could do to actually break a wave they were rolling in so gently!

We finally got to Ukiah...Andrea's place at 5:30. It was a long drive and taking 5 all the way down and 20 over like we usually do would definitely have been quicker, but we are glad we took the scenic route...it was just slower and windier.

Seth and video games

We got to Michelle, Darel and Seths house around 5:30 on Oct. 31st and Seth was really excited to see us. He ran to put on his muscular black Spiderman costume and then he had to immediately get out his bike so he could show us that he could ride his bike without training wheels.

Michelle

Seth had a good time with us, he stayed home from daycare a couple days while we were there. He likes to wear our shoes or slippers and is fascinated by how the yarn becomes whatever I am making at the time when I have my knitting out.

Seth would rope Grandpa into "killing" the monsters on the video game he was playing. Kids are so quick to pick up those games and the controls. He would watch Larry or his Dad get through a tough spot and then the next time he could do it. He always remembered how to get to the different worlds and where to go back to for more "stuff".

Seth would pester Grandpa to death until he would help and Grandpa would get impatient sometimes, until I reminded him he was talking to a four year old....you forget with Seth sometimes!!!! Its pretty funny. In both of these pictures they are both immersed in whatever is happening on the screen and their expressions are so intense!

We stayed a week and had a great visit. It being northern Oregon we never saw the sun for more than an hour the whole time and it was mostly cold, cloudy and rainy. Too wet and gloomy for us. We are finding that we really like the dry sunshine of the southwest!

Rainbows, Water & Color

I am getting a better handle on these new programs.

The day we went to Michelle's from Fallon it was cloudy and rainy and we saw at least six different rainbows and here are just a couple of pictures of the best one. Then the rest of these pictures are of the wonderful fall colors of the west side of the Cascades...it was a beautiful drive!

Fall scenes

This whole finding a photo program that I like that works with Vista is getting on my last nerve. The one I had been using was perfect for what I needed, but doesn't work with Vista. The problem with some are they are too complicated or you have to be a bloodhound to track down what the program does with the original versus the edited version of the photos. I like to edit my photos and alter their size so they upload quicker, but finding a program that does everything...easily is a challenge. The other challenge is the time it takes to figure it all out and NOT loose any photos. I am still trying to find what works and so far it is all still a work in progress, but I am trying!
These photos are all I could get posted this evening. They were taken on Oct. 31st when we left Fallon and headed to our daughter Michelle's home in Junction City, Oregon.

We left before sun-up, a rare occurance for us and they were taken in north western Nevada east of Pyramid Lake and north of Gerlach.

Happy Birthday Larry!!! 11-6-08

Wow...how time flies! These are pics of Larry in his first year of life with his Mom Carol and his Dad Edgar. Today he has completed 51 years on the planet and counting!

The last picture is of Larry coaching Seth through some cyberland on the T.V. We are currently hanging at Seth's house, visiting and playing with him while his Mom and Dad are at work. Tomorrow we leave here and go spend a few days with Ian and his family in Ukiah. It was time for our Grandson fixes!