We (Cathie, Lilas, Walter, and I) decided to head up to Dawson Creek, B.C. (yes, that is the REAL name of the town) to have Thanksgiving with my cousins Andy and Jamie, and their two girls, Tamsen and Rowan. Cathie and I took her cute little zoomy Mazda RX-8, which aspires to be a James Bond car when it grows up. It's about a six hour drive to Dawson Creek, through some of the most gorgeous country I have ever seen - part of it on the Alaskan Highway - really.
Driving up, it was a beautiful sunny day, and the leaves on the trees were stunning - evergreens mixed in with this almost highlighter yellow color of the....not evergreens, and don't ask me what they were. Of course, on the drive up I didn't have my phone near me, so I didn't take any pictures. On the drive back, I took pictures, but it was a gloomy day, so the leaves didn't look as cool. But here are a couple three of my best efforts to show the amazing fall colors up here:
Seriously, they don't even come close to doing it justice, but that's what I got so far. Beautiful country up here in the fall. The drive was six hours, so nothing too terrible, and we arrived at the Best Western in Dawson Creek without incident. And now, I'd like to take a moment to sing the praises of the Dawson Creek Best Western, in the style of Buddy the Elf: It's amazing! It's so cute, and they'd decorated for Halloween! They served REAL continental breakfast there - I made myself REAL waffles with their easy-to-use-if-you're-literate waffle irons and batter machine! They had lots of different cereals, fresh fruits, yogurt, pastries (fresh ones, not those horrible pre-packaged ones everyone else serves), a bunch of different milks, juices, cocoa - so good! And the receptionist was nice! And the room was nice! And the towels were fluffy! The only thing I hated was the hide-a-bed! And it was only for two nights, so it wasn't a big deal! And I love them, I love them, I loooo-OOOOVE THEM! Okay, I'm done.
After dropping our stuff at the hotel, we headed over to Andy's house. I admit, it was awkward at first for me, because I've only met Jamie and the girls once before. Jamie is always sweet, no weirdness there, but the girls, I think, weren't sure what to make of me. Rowan got over it the quickest, bless her little three year old self, and showed me how she could jump from stone to stone in the garden without touching the dirt. So cute! Things got better when Evan (the son of a friend who's staying with Andy and Jamie) started showing me his longest-play-doh-snake-in-the-world. Then there was a little piano playing, some shared kitty and puppy loves, and everything was good.
The decision was made to go to Tony Roma's for dinner (it's next to the hotel), and while I normally support anything to do with Tony Roma's, I have to say, if what we got in D.C. is indicative of what is served at most Tony Roma's, it's no wonder they're closing all over the place. Not great. Not even good. But the company and conversation were excellent, so I survived. Then it was time to retire for the evening, except for me that was postponed as I worked on school assignments. It's been a long time since I had to do school work on a holiday weekend. I forgot how much I hate it. Anyways...
Sunday, we went to the D.C. ward with Lilas, Andy, and Rowan (poor Tamsen wanted to come, but she was getting over a cold). It was a nice meeting, a little different - half talks, half testimony meeting - but I realized, as I listened to the little girl in front of me throw fit after fit about not getting her way, that I am turning into a curmudgeon. I'll have to work on that.
After church, Cathie decided she needed a better coat because the wind in D.C.? She is very chilly and strong. Santa Anas ain't got nothin' on D.C. wind, nu-uh. So we changed, headed over to Wally World, and ended up getting a bunch of paper, markers (including window writers) and soda. We headed from there to Andy and Jamie's, where our gifts of paper and markers were well received by the children, and I spent the next couple of hours coloring. I love coloring! It's so relaxing.
See? Don't I look relaxed?
When coloring ceased to be a distraction, Cathie and I bundled up the girls and ourselves and took a walk. We ended up at a park next to a school, which had, miracle of miracles, a merry go round! One of those old metal beasts that you just can't find anywhere anymore. So of course, we had to play on it.
This is Rowan. Not bad, considering she was spinning at the time.
And here's Tamsen, holding back her bangs which were whipping in the wind.
Aw, look at these cute girls!
There was also a corkscrew slide, which Rowan and I went down together (twice) with mixed results. The second time we stuck the landing...the first time, I fell over and took her with me. Thankfully, I was the one with the camera...but after the giant tire tried to eat Rowan, we decided to head back to the house.
Back inside, we had Fred Penner sing-a-long time, with Cathie standing in as Fred on the guitar. Then we played I Spy with the I Spy book. It became very intense, and took all four of us concentrating very hard to find everything.
Where is that darn seahorse?
Found it!
Then, it was time for dinner. Thankfully, Canadian Thanksgiving dinner is pretty traditional, what with the turkey, stuffing, potatoes, carrots, etc. I had to square off with Uncle Walt about the beets, though - he felt I needed some. I disagreed. After dinner came dessert, pumpkin pie with more whip cream than pie - then only proper way to eat it, according to Andy (I agree). Then, we watched Megamind on Floyd's (Andy's friend) iPad, and a bunch of the BBC talking animal voiceovers off YouTube (random, but SOOOOO FUNNY!).
Overall, it was a great experience, and I am glad I got to spend Thanksgiving with my Canadian family. It was a little weird, coloring Halloween pictures on Thanksgiving, but it was a fun time. And I made friends with two adorable little girls, and hopefully they remember me the next time I go up there. Happy Canadian Thanksgiving, eh!
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