Happy Thanksgiving.

Even to those for whom yes, today is not Thanksgiving, I know. :)

We left a bit before 10 to head down to Scott's aunt and uncle's house. I was a bit confused over where it was after hearing a couple different versions. Short form: somewhere down "near" Eugene (about 17 miles from it but I couldn't say in what direction), amidst dense forest. Scott had been once before, but was a passenger then, so he got driving directions from Yahoo or Mapquest or one of those.

Right. As soon as you've all finished laughing, I can get on with this post....

Seriously, the driving directions matched his memory of how they went last time almost perfectly. It was a nice trip on largely major roads. Except it avoided a loop on 36 by taking us across a local road, Hall. Which turned to dirt-and-gravel for about a mile, and had a lot of twists and turns and hills the rest of the time.

We went home via 36, skipping Hall. But I'm glad for the directions; it was actually a very pretty drive out, and not too stressful - the road was better than the one my parents live on (it had gravel and had clearly been maintained).

We arrived at about 11:45 and dinner started at just a bit after noon. It was excellent. There was a rice stuffing; the gravy had meat bits in; the turkey had been roasted outdoors in a fire pit. I stuffed myself (which, admittedly, for me does not take much). Some people still had room for pie, I didn't. (At the end of the afternoon, more pie was served. I shared a slice of blackberry pie with Scott then, and it was delicious.)

Then we went for a walk. These people run a camp, and the grounds are just gorgeous - the houses are right adjacent, but the grounds are...wowee. Forest, and terribly pretty. I didn't get my camera out as early as I should have on this, but I got it out all the same. I think we walked for 45 minutes or so, and it was incredibly nice.

Then back to the house (the four or five-year-old boy, their son, who had been "leading" us protesting all the way, because he wanted to "lead" us to play in the camp's play areas, never mind that someone else was renting the camp) where people hung around, talked, saw the new ATV that had been donated to the camp, and generally had a good time. Scott's brother dozed off and while I didn't quite, I just sort of sat there; they were discussing things I didn't know, I was well-fed and had had a nice walk, and the sound of their voices was very pleasant. I admit, I sort of zoned out on the conversation itself.

All in all, a very good Thanksgiving; whether it was a holiday for you or not, I hope that yours was as good.

Oh, and creeks!

On the way down there, I forgot to say, we saw Little Muddy Creek and Big Muddy Creek.

This amused me so much I wanted a picture of the signs, but there was always someone behind us and I didn't get a decent shot at speed. Pity.

I can just see how that happened: "What's the name of this river, sir?" "That ain't no river, it's just a big muddy creek!"

Or something. Hee.

Thanksgiving day pictures.

And, of course, what day would be complete without more pictures? (Hey, I referenced taking them. Of course I'm going to show off the ones that worked. I'd say I'd show off the ones that worked and don't involve family, but most of those didn't come out. Go figure. *sigh* But at any rate, here's my favorites from the non-people ones.)

Driving down, this barn caught my eye, because it looks nice and old and weathered. Imagine my surprise when I noticed a detail I hadn't actually seen at the time, in the photograph! It makes the barn a little more intriguing, if anything.


A bit later we crossed over this bridge. Yes, the bridgework in the foreground is a bit blurry. This is probably the worst of the photos I am showing off, but it's a very pretty river. It would be neat to get a photo of it from walking along the bridge on the sidewalk where I could pause and set it up properly.


Then we turned onto the little side road recommended by the map service. I don't have good pictures of the dirt-and-gravel part (it was actually not as picturesque scenery wise), but these pictures were taken along the length of it and are a good showing of why I am not at all sorry we drove it:

   

Then we got out to his aunt and uncle's house. These pictures are taken during the hike we all took after Thanksgiving dinner, over the lovely property they/the camp own/maintain:

       
       

And, finally, from the drive home, a picture of grass in the sunset that I really liked: