Okemo Thanksgiving

I spent the evening of my birthday driving up to Ludlow, VT to spend several days, including the Thanksgiving holiday, with my parents, and my sister & her family. What a fun time.

The drive up was enjoyable, and amazingly traffic-free. I went Route 2 West to 91 North, to VT 103 North, and after a quick drive down 100, I was at the entrance to Okemo Mountain in Ludlow, VT. In order not to get lost, I called my sister, and she came down the hill so I could follow her to the 5-bedroom/4-bath house we were all staying at. Dad & Ma had been there since early afternoon with my sister and 2 of the kids, I arrived at 6 pm sharp, and Jon got there after work around 9 pm. Ma got me a pepperoni, mushroom & anchovy pizza from a local place for supper, and for my birthday gift she & Dad gave me a candle, a 5-pound bag of coffee, and the latest issue of Sky & Telescope magazine. I'd brought my Lego blocks in case the kids needed something to do (they were thrilled), so Georgia, Hayden, Dad & I messed around with them for a few hours. Everyone was in bed by midnight. The moon was full, and there were so many stars in the sky, that I stared out the skylight at Orion (and many other constellations) for a good ten minutes before turning in. Then I read "Time Wants a Skeleton" by Ross Rocklynne until I finished it and fell asleep, while listening to Mojave 3, Nick Drake, and Pale Saints on my iPod.

Day 2: The kids were up at the crack of dawn playing hide & seek, and they burst into my room at 7:30. I finally got out of bed at 8, and had coffee & cold pizza for breakfast. I read Mark Kurlansky's "The Big Oyster" all morning while Sarah made pies and Ma cooked the turkey and other main meal stuff. Then it was the Patriots-Lions game at noon. We had a fantastic dinner, the Patriots and Saints both won their games, I read a big chunk of the book, and we all just took it easy all day, having pie and coffee later, watching tv and the girls perform (sing, dance, etc...) at various times. I was in bed by 11 pm (!), and fell asleep reading more of "TBO", and listening to Slowdive and Telefon Tel Aviv. Another great day.

Day 3: I got up at 8 again, and had coffee and a chocolate chip brownie while reading. Ma made scrambled eggs & bacon for everyone, which was cool, and we all just lounged around all morning. I showered at ten, packed up my car (after scraping last night's ice off of it), was on the road by 11 am, and proceeded to enjoy a leisurely sunny drive home (2 hours door to door), down through the sunny Vermont mountains, and the beautiful western Massachusetts woods. What a great way to start off this new year of my life, out of town with my family!