thanksgiving weekend

Thanksgiving weekend just past was a combination of miles traveled and a wonderful time with various branches of our family.

After getting Mom’s medication all sorted out Thursday afternoon, we hit the highway for Kelowna and a night at my brother’s house. From there it was on to Cranbrook the next morning (eight- hour drive) and what a gorgeous drive it was! The road from Kelowna to Cranbrook must be one of the most scenic in our province as it winds through mountain ranges, beside lakes and along streams. All the leaves are turning and so the roadsides are a visual delight, with the dark pine forests, sprinkled with the just-turned-yellow aspens and poplars.

We got to Cranbrook in time to help my sis, Doris, decorate the hall for the wedding celebration of Ian and Shivon (Their actual wedding day was October 9, 2004, two days before the birth of baby Isabella Ruby.) Ernie lost no time getting acquainted with her and spent much of the afternoon, entertaining the little princess.

Doris hosted us for the night in her new home. It’s about a 5-minute drive out of Kimberley in a woodsy development with quite the contrasts - beautiful, modern, well-appointed houses (like radiant heating in the tiled bathroom floors) in a setting so wild, my sis who loves running, doesn’t dare run the trails because of roaming bears and moose.


The next morning after breakfast in Kimberley, Doris left to do errands while Ernie and I explored the town (which features a Bavarian theme). Here are two storefronts on the Platzl, and a mural painted on one of the building walls at the other end.


After a few hours of R&R in the afternoon, we drove to Cranbrook for dinner at Eagle’s Hall. It was one of those celebrations with a small town feel to it – lots of families and kids underfoot, dressed to the nines and dodging in and out in games of tag and general horsing around, then setting themselves up to play in a corner of the hall with plastic cars and silken-haired rubber ponies some Mom had had the foresight to bring along.



The dinner was delicious, the program fun, Doris’s slide show of the kids a tear-jerker, and the dance was lively stretching, as it did, all the way to next morning. (Right is the bride's twin sister. Below me and my sister Doris.)




Sunday E. and I drove to Kelowna to visit his parents and have Thanksgiving dinner on Monday with more family (26 of us in all). You gotta love it – turkey, dressing, cranberry sauce, bean salad, spinach and strawberry salad, spaghetti squash, yams, buns, a variety of other salads, pumpkin pie and a yummy pumpkin cheesecake Julie made, the recipe of which she promised to make the first entry of her blog – (sound of fingers drumming) Julie, I’m waiting!!