As I sit here, I can smell the turkey sizzling and crackling in the oven.  Abi is outside working in the yard – something he never tires of doing – and I’m puttering, continuing to ready ourselves for our upcoming road trip.

Yosemite

Although I can smell the turkey and I’m looking forward to a delicious (if I do say so myself) feast for two, I am not at all focused on Thanksgiving. Instead, I am looking forward to the days ahead.

We’re a small family, just the three of us, and for whatever reason we spent many Thanksgivings away from home so it never feels quite right to be at home for the holiday.  Our holiday tradition, when our son was still home with us, was to find our way to some point in the Sierra Mountains to get our annual fix of breathing in the gloriously fresh pine-scented air that one can only find in the mountains.  More often than not we spent Thanksgiving weekend in Yosemite, truly one of our most favorite places on the planet.

Thanksgiving 2007 – Yosemite

Deep Fried Turkey

We also celebrated the holiday in the heart of the Sequoia/King’s Canyon National Park where we enjoyed our first deep-fried turkey at a local diner. We’ve stayed in the tiny town of Arnold, CA and dined at the local country club and we’ve stayed near Calaveras Big Trees and Angel’s Camp where we enjoyed a traditional Thanksgiving dinner at the historic Murphy’s Hotel.  And our most recent (and last) Thanksgiving weekend spent together was in Kern, CA where our motel sat on the banks of the Kern River.  All of our Thanksgiving weekends in the mountains were memorable and we hold them close to our hearts.

Thanksgiving 2009 – Sequoia National Forest

If we were lucky enough we’d get to enjoy the arrival of Santa Claus in whatever small town in which we happened to be celebrating the holiday.  Ya gotta love a small town parade!

Here comes Santa Claus!

Christmas at Home

Although we celebrated Thanksgiving in the mountains, we always found ourselves at home for Christmas.  Spending Thanksgiving in the mountains always gave us a jump start into the holiday season; mountain air can do that to ya!  As I said, this year I am not focused on Thanksgiving, not only because the three of us are not together, but because in just a matter of days we will be on the road again and for that I am truly thankful.  And that road is going to lead us all the way across the country to be with our son and his fiance for two fun-filled, memory-making weeks of Christmas holiday goodness.  Only this year we will be in our son’s home helping them begin their own holiday traditions and I can’t think of a better place to be.

So as I sit here smelling the amazing aroma coming from the kitchen, I find myself exceedingly thankful for all of you that have found us here at One Road at a Time, as we travel and live each day. Thank you.

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