Thanksgiving and Visiting with Friends

On Thursday, the RV Resort was hosting a Thanksgiving Dinner for all the residents, with catered turkeys and a potluck for side dishes and desserts.  Tom helped the Activity Directors get the clubhouse dining room set up the night before.

 

On Thursday afternoon, we all gathered for a feast . . .

 

. . . and there was SO MUCH food! 

Everyone managed to stuff themselves, and there were still two full trays of turkey to send home in “doggie bags”.  We brought home enough to have a 2nd turkey dinner on Saturday!

 

 

 

After the big meal, the activity of the afternoon seemed to be walking . . . LOTS of people were out walking around the resort . . . it was a perfect afternoon for it!

On Friday and Saturday, Tom took care of a few small maintenance projects around the park,

and we had a visit from our friends, Debbie & Ken, who we had worked with at Lovers Key State Park the year before last.

They got set up on the site next to us,

and we spent some time getting caught up on what’s been happening since we last saw them in Phoenix in January.  The afternoon flew by, and we decided to go out for some pizza.  We found a place called Bellacino’s nearby, and the pizza was pretty good. 

Back at the RV Park, we went in for the night, but we got together in the morning to go to the Mexican Flea Market before they continued south to their winter volunteer spot near the Everglades.  I’m sure we’ll see them again this winter . . . they’re not too far away.

On Sunday, our plan was to go to mass at Ft. Myers Beach, then check out the sand sculptures . . . that will be a blog post all of it’s own.

Since we were in the area, we contacted Don & Carol at Lovers Key, and made plans to visit with them in the afternoon.  We sat down by the canal, watching the kayakers go by,

while we talked and snacked.  After a while, we walked to the beach to see the sand renourishment project.

Sand is being dredged from the bottom of the ocean at the north end of the beach,

then it’s pumped through pipes to the south end of the beach.  The areas has to be kept closed because until the sand dries thoroughly, it’s pretty much like quicksand – last week a tractor was left parked on the sand at the end of the day, and by morning it had disappeared!  It had completely sunk into the sand!

The difference in the beach is amazing, though!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s easily double the size it was when we were there two years ago!

 

We continued our visit back at their site, as the sun continued to sink in the sky. . . before we knew it, it was almost sunset and time for us to get home to rescue Casey.  Poor thing – she’d been cooped up all day!

 

We had a great visit with Don & Carol, and look forward to getting together again this winter!

 

 

 

As we made our way back to Ft. Myers, the sun was setting over the Gulf . . . the end of another beautiful day!

Happy Thanksgiving!

This is our 2nd year in the RV, but last year we spent Thanksgiving with my niece, Katy, and her family so I didn’t do too much cooking.  This year, she’s in Michigan with the family – celebrating the arrival of her new little guy, Graysen,

and we’re on our own in Arizona.  So, it was time to attempt roasting a turkey in our convection oven!

This big ‘ol bird completely filled the oven, so I opted for the oven bag to keep my oven from becoming a disaster!

 

While I was busy preparing dinner, Tom and the boys loaded the bikes into the back of the truck and drove to the north end of the park to ride the Pipeline Canyon Trail.

Casey kept watch at the door, waiting for them to return!

 

 

 

 

 

It was a beautiful day today,

and there are plenty of people celebrating the holiday here in the park.  Walking around we saw (and smelled) a variety of turkeys cooking – in deep fryers, on grills, and in roaster pans!

Our turkey took a little longer to cook than I expected, but it turned out juicy and delicious!

We had all the fixin’s to go with it – mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, dressing, corn, cranberry jelly, and homemade bread . . . YUM!

It was a great dinner, and we were all stuffed when it was over!  Nicolas was my clean-up guy, washing all the dishes while I packed away the leftovers, and when we were done, we all took a nice long walk around the campground to wear off some of that food!

Thanksgiving sunset

We finished off the day with some football and some pie . . . chocolate cream pie that I made from a kit, and a pumpkin pie courtesy of Fry’s.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

Meanwhile, we’re still waiting for our background check to be complete . . . the other host couple from out of state said theirs took 2 weeks, and I’m sure the holiday didn’t help.  We’re hoping to be able to start working next week, so Tom is going to ride along with the host on duty tomorrow for his training session.

We did a little bit of sight-seeing last weekend, exploring the little town of Cave Creek,    

which is a cute little artsy town just east of us . . . and drove through Scottsdale . . . Tom and I will have to go back down to Scottsdale to walk around one evening.  It looked like a cute area – reminded me of Naples, FL.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shortly after we arrived, the host couple on site #1 (next to us) moved across the road so that they would have morning sun instead of afternoon sun.  We had been noticing that site # 1 was quite a bit longer than the site we were on, and had an extra parking space next to it which would get the truck out of our patio area.  So, after a few days of deliberating, we decided to make the move before the last host arrives next week.

It was a good move . . . we have much more room and open space!  We’ll be happy here!

As we moved all of our peripheral stuff over to the new site, Tom took the opportunity to take his motorcycle on a little ride around the park.

He’s hoping to get some riding in this winter.  Mike, one of the other hosts, has a motorcycle as well, and they are planning some rides on their days off.

After our “3 days of rain” last week, we’ve been enjoying the improved weather . . . highs in the 70s and lows in the 50s, and some spectacular sunsets!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Although we miss being with our family and friends on the holidays, we’re very thankful that our family is able to have this time together exploring the US and experiencing new adventures!

Happy Thanksgiving!

From the farm, to the table . . .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OK, not really . . . Tom Turkey up there is still safe at the Columbia Zoo, and our turkey came from the grocery store!  Looks good, though, doesn’t it!?!

We’re still at the Navy Base FamCamp in Charleston, and celebrated Thanksgiving with my niece, Katy, her husband, Shane, and our great-nephew, Jaxon.  We spent the morning at the RV, making bread and sweet potatoes for dinner, along with an apple tart and sugar cookies for dessert.  Around 2pm, we headed over to their house, and dinner was well underway.

Katy was in charge of the mashed potatoes,

while Shane carved the turkey and made gravy, 

Tom and I set the table and opened the wine,

and Nicolas kept Jaxon occupied.

Soon enough, it was time to sit down at the table to enjoy a delicious meal!  Jaxon got his first . . .

and believe me, he did not stay that clean for long!!  Everything was really good, and we all ate way too much, and were ready for a nap when we were done . . . but the little guy was the only one who got one!

By the time naptime was over, everything was cleaned up and we were ready for dessert . . . pumpkin pie, apple tart, and cookies!

Then it was bubble-time!

All cleaned up and snuggling with Mommy!

Then it was time for “Round 2” . . . bananas . . .

but SOOOO much better with cool-whip!

And time for another bath!!! 

We’ve been enjoying our visit with Katy, Shane & Jaxon, are were really glad to celebrate Thanksgiving together!  It was a much smaller family celebration than we are all used to, but we had a great time!

  HAPPY THANKSGIVING from all of us!!

Thanksgiving & Black Friday shopping

The turkey was ready to carve, and the side dishes were waiting in the wings . . .

My brother was doing most of the cooking, while Mom watched  . . . Donnie had banished her from the kitchen!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Everything was delicious, and it didn’t take long for everybody to stuff themselves!  When we weren’t eating, we played some cards and checked out the Black Friday ads.

We had big plans with my Mom and 2 of my sisters & brothers-in-law for Black Friday, so we spent the night at my Mom’s.  On Friday morning, we hit the road early (9:30m . . . OK, not really too early!) to tackle the “doorbusters” where else but . . . .

Shipshewana!!

It was a beautiful day, with temps near 60 degrees, and we we definitely not the only ones doing our “Small Business Saturday” shopping on Friday!

We all got some Christmas shopping done, stocked up on staples at the E & S Bulk Food Store, visited the puppies at Eash Sales, and opted for pizza for dinner.

It was a great day of shopping – and we didn’t have to deal with crazy crowds, pepper spray, or even get up at the crack of dawn!

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Tom & I and the boys spent Thanksgiving with my family at my parents’ house – it was a cold & rainy day, but we had a nice time.  My brother, Donnie, did the majority of the cooking,

with some supervision!

The final product was beautiful . . . and delicious!

We enjoyed the full thanksgiving feast – turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, noodles, vegetables, salad . . . and more desserts than you can imagine!

The chocolate turkey tasted pretty good, too!

We weren’t planning on doing any “Black Friday” shopping, but looking through the ads at my Mom’s, we found that Best Buy had the Nook (which the boys are getting for me for Christmas) and the XBox with Kinect (which the boys want for Christmas) both as doorbusters on Friday morning.  So . . . we were there at 6 am, in line with a hundred other people . . . and managed to get both of them!  That was it for us, though – after a couple of minor stops to look at snowblowers, and at Kroger to pick up a ham for dinner – we were back home by 9:30.

After our mid-afternoon nap, Tom’s family came over for dinner, and we had a “leftovers buffet” along with the ham we picked up at Kroger.  Another delicious dinner!