How We Spent Thanksgiving 2013

Last week we took a break from it all and traveled out to Michigan to visit Douglas’ family. It was a much needed vacation that left us feeling refreshed despite the ten and a half hour trip there on Wednesday and another one back on Sunday. I cannot say that Kahlua and Crème don’t mind the trip, but at least they tolerate it.

Our trip started out on Wednesday morning. We had planned to start earlier, but the last weather report that Douglas listened to before going to sleep Tuesday night was that the storm that was forecast would be through Pennsylvania by ten a.m. We left at nine twenty, stopping at a deli to pick up sandwiches for breakfast and lunch, by nine forty we were on the highway.

It was raining heavily for the first leg of the trip, through New York and New Jersey, but for once the weathermen were correct in saying that Pennsylvania would be clear. Snow coated the branches and covered the ground around us, but the pavement was clear and dry. It appeared that we were driving through a winter fairyland. Unfortunately, as many pictures as I took, not a one did justice to the beauty that surrounded us.

We were nearly out of Pennsylvania when we noticed the erratic driving of a truck behind us. The driver was flashing his lights, honking his horn and flipping us off. He pulled up alongside of our car but did not pass us. Douglas asked me what that guy’s problem was. It made us nervous because you never know what kind of crazy people there are on the road. Fortunately, we know this crazy well, as it turned out to be one of Douglas’ closest friends, Mark. He had been working in Pennsylvania and was headed home to Michigan. What eerie coincidence led to him being at the exact same stretch of the road at the same time is just another of the oddities we have come to accept as normal in our lives.

We followed behind Mark through most of Ohio until he needed to refuel. We stopped with him and bought coffee and chatted for about an hour. Back on the road we resumed our post behind his truck until we arrived in Indiana and got off at the first exit to travel five miles north where Douglas’ parents live just over the border in Michigan.

Thursday morning was quiet as we prepared for the feast and the invasion of little ones that were on the way. It is easy to be thankful when this is the view from most of the windows in the house. Soon enough all of the family arrived and madness ensued.

I am so thankful for this wonderful family that I married into. They are such good people, and we always have fun with them. We were particularly grateful that Douglas’ brother Dan and his family were able to join us for the day. They live in Illinois, and it is not always possible for them to visit while we are there.

The Thanksgiving feast was tasty and bountiful. Only three family members were missing. Two nieces spent the holiday with their father, and Douglas’ brother Sean was not able to come up from South Carolina.

Nothing can renew your energy like spending time with children. Since we have none of non-furry kind, we particularly enjoy spending time with all of the nieces and nephews. They especially love Douglas because he will get down on the ground and play with them.

Crème and Kahlua had fun tormenting the littlest of the cousins. She growled at them when she first met them, and they actually respected that she did not want to play and left her alone. Later that evening, she must have been feeling more comfortable in the new house, because she ran up to Crème and started batting at her. After that they all played tag for a couple of hours.

Once all of the little ones were gone we played a rousing game of Boggle between Douglas, his sister Angela and myself and then Douglas and I ended the evening with a game of Trivial Pursuit Genius III Edition. We need that version at home because a good portion of the questions, particularly the arts and entertainment questions, were based in the 1980’s an era we both know well. They were much easier for us to answer than the original edition that we have at home with questions from our grandparents’ apogee.

Friday morning was clear and beautiful on the lake.

On Friday we drove over to western Michigan to visit Mark and his family. This is Douglas’ second family. It had been about a year since we got together with them for Michael and Maureen’s wedding, and it was good to see them again.

All thirteen of us went bowling, taking up three lanes. My performance was pretty bad. I need to start bowling more frequently. I did manage to break 100 twice.

Douglas did only slightly better than I but he at least had a good excuse. They did not have shoes in his size, and he was forced to bowl in his socks. This meant that he spent most of the evening on his knees.

Back at Mark’s house we played a ridiculous game of Quelf that had us all laughing. Then we switched to cards and challenged each other with several rounds of Canadian Salad. Both were games we had never played before but plan to play again. We imagined that Quelf would be a great game to play with the Forsyth’s if they ever come back to visit us.

I was glad to see snow the next morning. Mark’s house is beautiful out there in the woods, and I love to visit, but I don’t think I would ever want to live out there. I will stick to the Cape of Dreams.

On Saturday morning, we drove back to eastern Michigan and went to Niki and Brett’s lake house to spend the day with all but the Illinois portion of the family. Football was played and watched, puzzles were put together and forts were built for a satisfying spell from daily life. We are going to miss those crazy kids.

This was the sunrise at the lake on Sunday morning. It made it difficult to leave. We both would have appreciated a few more days of vacation. Alas, it is back to the grind we go. At least, we know that there are only three weeks until our next vacation.