Home again!

It's good to be home, but what a fun trip we took! The RV was beautiful, new and big(!). It had enough room for the four of us plus the dog, and an extra guest! The kitchen was more efficient than mine at home, and there was storage room enough for all of our things, too!

The weather was pleasant--it got cold in the evenings and was beautiful and sunny during the day. At night, the billions and billions of stars shone in the dark moonless sky, giving a light show with which no laser show could ever hope to compete. Gorgeous stars and constellations--from Orion, to the serpent (that my oldest daughter taught me about), to the barely visible Big Dipper. It was barely visible only because there were so very many danged stars to see that it took some time to determine the stars that belong to the Dipper! I loved it!

Thanksgiving Dinner disappointed none; everyone shared in part of the cooking. The group requested my yams, and another vegetable, so at the suggestion of another friend, I made something similar to my mother's recipe for zucchini, crook-neck squash, tomatoes, onions and cheese, with of course, garlic. The requisite potatoes, stuffing, gravy, corn, bread, etc., added to the sumptuous feast, making us so stuffed, we nearly did not have any room for the dessert pies. I felt right at home, but better, since I love the company we shared, and the natural environment added great peace to my holiday.

Friday Morning, we all drove into town (Solvang), for a huge but delicious breakfast for those Danish Doughnuts of sorts...and forgive me because I do not know how to spell this, but they are called apvelskivvers (pronounced "ayvelskivvers"). We all took our traditional walk after breakfast to the hardware store, where we found trinkets, bargains, not such bargains, but lots of things to see. From that point, we broke off into several groups...twice losing Emily in the hardware as we left...finally getting her to join us for the next portion of the walk.

Some of the dads took kids to see the little waterfall nearby, some went back to camp, the older kids took off either to camp or around town, and the moms walked off for their supershopping day in Solvang--the consignment shops, the thrift shops, and of course, window wishing in the expensive shops. Unfortunately, this year I could not find Poppy's Greek Fishing Cap, so he'll have to make to with his old one for one more year.

We made it back just in time to start cooking dinner. The group had requested I make lasagne, so I assembled it at home, and baked it in the terrific little oven in our RV Friday afternoon. If I say so myself, it tasted pretty darned good! Plus, we added leftover yams, zucchini, more bread, and, we celebrated one young man's birthday; he makes thirteen years, so Sarah and I baked cakes in ice cream cones. I was disappointed, but the kids seemed to like them.

Saturday, the women all walked together around the campground, checking out the laundry room, oohing and ahhing at the fancy RV's parked where there were electrical and water connections. I found two oak trees that someday I'm going to photograph. I tried to do that on Sunday, but the timing was not quite right, and the lighting fell short of spectacular, so I didn't shoot. My photography is something that I might write about some day. But this isn't the time.

Three of the families left for home Saturday afternoon, right after lunch. That left our family of four plus the dog, and one couple, the parents who had been coming to this campground for more than twenty years. Now that's a scrapbook!

Sunday afternoon, we began our trek homeward. Traffic moved slowly for most of the ride, packing up the RV brought on fatigue for Scott and me, so we had a great time talking and joking just to keep him awake while he drove. The ocean drive gave us great views as we plogged along. While we didn't see any whales or dolphins, we saw lots of surfers in their wetsuits who looked like seals on their boards. They furtively searched for perfect waves in that mostly glassy sea. I'm sure they found a few good waves.

We so much enjoyed our trip. It relaxed us, and let us be away from some of the issues that tend to overwhelm us in our daily lives. We came back tired yet refreshed (at least I did) and hopeful that we could face for awhile longer all the facets of our lives at one time.

Next up: Yesterday--an Interview!