Chipmaker Coherent: The Golden Anniversary Road Trip -- part 3

Day 3 (Thurs. 11/27) -- Thanksgiving

Atop a mountain in Angel Fire

I was the first up. Normally this is not at all unusual, but Dickie Joe is a rancher of long standing and used to rising in the early-early morn, and I actually beat him! He was, however, second up, and I had just gotten the coffee started. While the lodge is appointed with just about everything, it sorely lacks a tea kettle. I made do with boiling a pot of water and using a large serving spoon to make my morning tea. This of course works, but it just isn't the same as having a kettle, and while using the microwave also is another option, that's really cheating. Meanwhile, Dickie Joe went right to work starting the fire, which he had going in minutes.

Third up was Mike, because the phone rang. It was the lodge owner, with advice on how to re-enable the satellite television, which worked out fine, and let football fans indulge later in the day. Soon after, various folks started popping out of corners and creches, and the lodge came fully alive.

Outside, it began snowing.

Carson and Amalie wanted to go outside, so Val bundled them up in cold-weather gear we brought and some small pairs of boots that she found in the lodge. I had been outside already -- it was plenty cold, and the snow was continuous, though small-flaked and not accumulating much on the ground -- looking for the antenna for the Sirius satellite radio receiver in the lodge. Ideally the Sirius would broadcast to the in-house FM receiver, but it wasn't working well, very staticky, and I was determined to sort it out. (It did not help that the receiver had a burned-out display, making tuning to specific frequencies very difficult.) Finally I concluded that the Sirius was apparently working well, but the receiver was not, and with nothing more to be done, stopped fussing with it. Luckily, with the satellite TV back in commission, a holiday-oriented music channel provided thematically correct, grandmother-approved background noise later in the day.

The kids go for the white, puffy, slushy stuff.

I went outside with the kids, jacketed, and helped them with snowballs. There is a very small pond near the house, and I walked them over to it to deliver a Standard Dad Lecture on the dangers of playing near frozen water. We heaved a few snowballs onto the pond -- they were mostly composed of the crusty, icy snow -- and then wandered down the drive, along the lane to the dead end adjacent to the ski slope, and edged around (me), under (Amie), and through (Carson) the gate. We walked about 50 yards up the slope, during which I explained the snow-making cannons, and then over the short walkway bridge directly back to the lodge deck. We entered the back door mudroom, dressed down, and went inside to thaw and enjoy the warmth.

A massive breakfast had been prepared -- scrambled eggs, hash browns, biscuits and sausage gravy -- which went down a treat, along with hot coffee for the big people. And then the football games began, which Grandpa Jack enjoyed at full sprawl in one of the overlarge comfy chairs, along with general loitering-about. Aunt Jenny agreed to escort the kids back out for more snowball practice.

It's good to be the king, even for just a weekend.

The day passed -- the fire was built and stoked, games were played, coffee sipped. Some folks went out for hikes, up or down the ski slope, which is still mostly grasses or mud, the skiing season not yet begun. It's like a gigantic slumber party.

Carson gets backgammon lessons from Ashley.

Thanksgiving dinner got organized. Most of the primary cooking was pre-arranged, but strong arms were conscripted into service as needed. No one told me I was needed in the kitchen, and so kept my distance. Downstairs, an X-box game system provided Guitar Hero for most of the older grandkids, who attacked it in earnest. I found it interesting to watch, particularly that it uses well-known recordings of famous guitar songs -- the licensing must have been very expensive, though apparently it has been recouped in spades.

The feast was delicious -- turkey (standard and smoked), ham, yams, mashed potatoes, rolls, green bean casserole with cracker topping, cranberry sauce (berry style and, my preference, jellied), and gravy. Wine was available, and sparkling apple cider for the younger diners. Very traditional, and satisfying. Later, there were pies -- a huge pumpkin pie (it filled a 9" x 13" pan), apple, berry (super delicious), and caramel apple. With coffee, it filled out the empty corners nicely. A quiet evening of game-playing, mostly cards and Sudoku, let everyone drift off at their own pace.