Giving Thanks: VA Style

I'm alive and well. I left my home at around 7am on Wednesday and arrived in Virginia around 3:30pm. I took a few breaks so it wasn't a straight, long, endless drive (including surprising my father-in-law for a chai tea and scone break!). And overall it was a good trip, my first long solo road trip...despite a near fatal collision with a very determined buck at around 7:15am, getting turned around twice, and debating stubbornly whether my little car really COULD make a 300+ mile trip on one tank of gas (I don't think it could...I didn't really give it a chance though...I didn't let it run down as low as it could have...so...maybe it COULD!! It was definitely close. I guess we'll never know...). Overall I enjoyed the drive. There wasn't much traffic and the scenery was definitely awesome. When I surprised John's dad, he took me to a local coffee shop called Captain Buzzy's which was awesome and full of character. Back on the road, once I started getting closer to my destination, the scenery was definitely very Vermonty. I arrived, got inside and within 2 minutes my sister-in-law arrived right behind me! We enjoyed catching up for several hours before the in-laws got home and we all enjoyed spaghetti together. Emily and I watched the tail end of Aladdin and then Beauty and the Beast on tv that night. Yes. We are awesome. We also shared pictures and I showed her a few of my videos of my kitties which I was later pressured into showing to their neighbors when they came over. I'm sure they think I'm mental now. ;) The next day I slept in and got to talk to John as soon as I woke up. I ended up carrying the laptop downstairs and his parents and sister Emily got to join in on the video chat too which was great and full of laughs. They all got to see John's mustache for the first time. I don't know what it was but something about being there felt like Christmas. Which was encouaging. I worried that being somewhere unknown for the holidays would make me feel numb and like it wasn't Thanksgiving at all. Maybe it was the colder weather and turned leaves and the reminiscent Vermont-like scenery. But it definitely felt holiday-ish and I loved being there.
Thanksgiving dinner was around 4 but before-hand Emily and I took a walk in the crisp air around the neighborhood. When we returned everything smelled amazing. I had little opportunity to help prepare the meal because they were sneaky and prepared most of it while I was still asleep. Mom and Mark's neighbors came over for dinner and it was a great meal and great time full of old and new stories.

The next day Emily and I went on a mini hike close to her parent's house. (This is me demonistrating the Ministry of Silly Walks...or something...) John had taken me there once before but it was fun to take the longer hike than we took last time......and take silly pictures together. The view was amazing. Later we headed over to her friend Jessica's house. It was nice to finally meet Jessica after hearing about her from John and Emily. We dominated a few Wii games and after getting somewhat wiped out, we went home. The last day Emily thought of the brilliant idea of spending the day in DC at one of the museums. We ended up going to the National Museum of Art which was amazing. It's definitely not the sort of place you can over in one day. Wayyyy too big. But we did a pretty good job at covering ground. Beforehand, while digging in our bags for change for the parking meter, I hacked a paper cut in my finger that proceeded to bleed everywhere. John's mom had a bandaid but it literally bled through the entire bandaid and started leaking blood all over the place so I ended up ditching the bandaid and holding a paper towel all day to stop the bleeding. I know. Battle wound! Definitely random and definitely the worst paper cut I've ever had.

The museum was amazing. I could have spent the night there. And the gift shop was ridiculous. As big as an exhibit. For dinner, they took me to one of their favorite Thai restaurants and I broadened their Thai food horizons by introducing them to Massaman curry, mango sticky rice, and papaya salad. They were awesome sports and really enjoyed most everything. The papaya salad turned out pretty spicy...even for me. ;)

The next morning I got up and got ready around 5:30. Emily was AWESOME and got up with me and we drove to Starbucks and enjoyed a hot cup together before I hit the road around 7am. It meant a lot to me that she was willing to get up with me. She also signaled me toward the freeway entrance I'd need to take.

The ride home seemed much shorter than the drive there. Maybe because I was ready to see my kitties. Maybe because it was a beautiful day. I'm not sure. All I know is this is what met me when I got home and all this face says is "WHY DID YOU LEAVE ME???" Lots of fur and snuggles ensued.
Did I have a good Thanksgiving? Yes.

Photos: ALL MINE MWAHAHA!!