How ironic

Has anyone else noted the irony of the MS Explorer crashing in Antartica? I'd say it was very aptly named :-)

Very Thanksgiving!

This is my first Thanksgiving in the US and we managed to have 2 of them! Last year we were in Australia, and the year before I hadn't yet arrived (but was only a few days away, expect a 2 year post very soon!).

We celebrated our first Thanksgiving on the Saturday before Thanksgiving at our apartment with our neighbours who have made our lives so much more fulfilling. We have amazing neighbours who are kind, fun and friendly, so it was great to spend it with them. There was 10 at the dinner table and as you can see we had plenty of fabulous food.



The next day we drove to Phoenix to see our friends Craig and Sarah and spend a few days with them. We spent about 48 hours in Phoenix sweating it out in the heat before driving to Woods Canyon Lake where we froze our butts off!

Craig and Sarah have a swish RV, and were camping there with a bunch of friends for a few days. It was incredibly cold all day and night so there was a roaring campfire going the entire time. The group there were a lot of fun and all really nice people, and made us feel very welcome into their group. We spent Thanksgiving Day fishing down at Woods Canyon Lake which was cold and windy but still a really nice day.







Thanksgiving dinner was on Friday (the day after Thanksgiving) at about 4pm, and the 28 of us sat outside in 33 degree F (0 celsius) eating our dinner. We had heaps of food including deep fried turkeys which are very tasty despite our hesitation about such a cooking method. All the food was very traditional Thanksgiving food and incredibly tasty. It wasn't long before everyone moved back to the warmth of the camp fire though!





A great time was had, and now we prepare to head to Australia in a little under 2 weeks for Christmas.

Quick update

The week before last I went on a roadtrip with mum and Aunty Glenda while Andrew was in Boston for work.

I seem to have lost the motivation for a big write up so here's the quick version.

Friday (October 26) - drove from Mountain View to Yosemite and had a look at Bridalveil Falls

Saturday - Walked to the top of Sentinel Dome and went to Mariposa Grove to check out the Giant Sequoias. Drove to Las Vegas and arrive close to midnight.

Sunday - Walked up and down most of the Las Vegas Strip and checked out all the main hotels. Apparently I'm over Vegas - 3 times in 12 months is more than enough!

Monday - Mum and Glenda did a tour of the Grand Canyon while I caught up with our friends Brent and Amy who also happened to be touring there. In the afternoon we drove to Anaheim (Los Angeles).

Tuesday and Wednesday - Disneyland. Oh man Disneyland is so much fun. The 2 day pass also gives you access to the Californian Adventure Park next door and we spent so much time at Disneyland that we only got there late on the second day. We did get to do the California Screaming rollercoaster and the rapids ride there which were both fabulous, so that's ok. Wednesday evening we drove to Hollywood and stayed there Wednesday and Thursday nights.

Thursday - looked around Hollywood - also very over Hollywood. Mum and Glenda did a tour while I caught up with Cara, my "aneurysm friend", and Caitlin and Mick from home so I ended up having a great time.

Friday - drove back to Mountain View and crashed! Crashed in bed that is, didn't crash the car... Mum and Glenda flew back to Australia that night. The house is so quiet now!

Total round trip - 1000 miles (2400km)

We're having a Thanksgiving dinner this Saturday night coming with our neighbours at our place (for 10 adults!), then Sunday we drive to Phoenix, Arizona to spend the week there with Craig and Sarah for the week of Thanksgiving and have another Thanksgiving dinner there.

After that I don't want to drive anywhere for a long while...