"Thanksgiving Recap"

Well folks, I'm back in Milwaukee after a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend spent with family. Turkey, laughs, and hugs were aplenty, and my total distance traveled clocked in at a respectable 425 miles -- all of it by car and bus.

On Thursday -- to start the weekend, Kelli and I drove from Milwaukee to Cambridge (WI) where my aunt, uncle, and younger cousins live. We arrived in time for the morning church service (my uncle is the pastor there), and then hung around for the traditional turkey feast in the early afternoon. The food was great (as it is every year!), the atmosphere lively, and my aunt/uncle/cousins got to meet Kelli (in person) for the first time. It was grand!

Unfortunately, though, we couldn't stay in Cambridge for as long as I have in past years. This year, the next stop was in Tomah, WI -- where Kelli's family resides. Her family had already eaten their feast by the time we arrived a few hours later, but they did save dessert, so we enjoyed some pie. After getting settled in, we spent the rest of the day visiting.

On Friday we hung out around Kelli's parents' house (where we were staying while in Tomah), and in the evening drove across town to spend the evening with Kelli's younger sister, husband, and two young sons. We had pizza and watched the Tomah Christmas parade -- which just happened to go by in front of the house. It was dark by this time, so the parade floats (all decked out in lights) twinkled cheerfully as they drifted by.

On Saturday, Kelli, her parents, and myself returned to Kelli's sister's house, and again spent the afternoon visiting. We had spaghetti for dinner, I played with the older son (my 4 years old nephew), and we all enjoyed good company and conversation. By mid evening, we were back across town, and turning in for the night. Kelli wanted to leave early in the morning so as to avoid the inevitable post-Thanksgiving traffic later that day.

As a result, I was up at 4am Sunday morning, and we were on the road north (to Brillion, WI -- where Kelli lives) fifteen minutes later. We arrived at her apartment by early-to-mid-morning, and spent the next few hours relaxing. By 3:30pm, I was 20 miles east in Manitowoc, boarding my Greyhound bus bound for Milwaukee 80 miles to the south.

After an hour and a half on the road (which seemed to go by fast, as I was in happy conversation with a blind man the whole way), I was back in Milwaukee. I caught my city buses from the Greyhound station to my apartment, and was home by 6:30pm.

In the end, it was a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. I'm not always a fan of long distances traveled, and 425 miles is a lot for one weekend, but the destinations were well worth it, and I had a beautiful woman there to keep me company. It's Monday now, and I'm back to work. But the memories of my last Thanksgiving as a bachelor will not soon be forgotten.

If you're interested, I'll be posting some photos within the next few days. I had my trusty digital camera with me over the weekend, and a few of those photos will go online. Stay tuned; I'll let you know when they're up!

For now, though.... it's time to resume my day.

I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving too. Lots of food, family, and fun. Enjoy your last day of November, and I'll see you.... next month! ... [wink]

Your happily blogging friend,
-Jon
posted by Jon at 10:03 AM  I   I  0 comments