Where did November go?

Wow, I certainly never thought it would be over a month between posts this fall!

We had a very rainy Halloween.  How do I know?  Well I was escorting a squirrel through the neighborhood as he trick or treated his way to a full pail of candy.

Soccer season ended the following weekend with Pete's team getting to the second round of the tournament before ending their day.


Homeschool classes wrapped up too.

But then we got ready for our much anticipated trip west to go see my parents in Colorado.   We drove to Miami, OK our first day on the road.  Our first local geography lesson of the trip - it's not pronounced like the city in Florida or the college in Ohio.  It's pronounced the way the Native Americans for whom the town is named call themselves - My- am- uh.   We stopped in Tulsa for breakfast and then continued south and west toward the Texas Panhandle.  Coming from a state that is considered flyover territory, this next comment might see presumptuous: but there is a a whole lot of nothing between Oklahoma City and Albuquerque, NM.  But Texas takes the prize on non-stop wind.  We got into New Mexico ahead of the winter storm, though the drive from Santa Rosa to ABQ was mostly done in snowy or icy roads that had been well sanded/salted.

We didn't do what we had thought we might do in Albuquerque ( bike and enjoy some sunshine) but we did check out Old Town and the aquarium and botanic garden at the BioPark on a cloudy and cold
weekend.  My mom filled us in on the alternate route to Colorado; so we left NM via Cortez, CO and then on to Monticello and Moab UT and then back around to Grand Junction CO and Montrose.  Longer mileage wise, but on a day when the San Juan mountains were totally obscured by snow and clouds, the lower altitude was worth it.

We hung out, we visited.  We took a family picture.   We fixed food.  My mom REALLY fixed food.  Her Thanksgiving table always groans under the weight and this year was no exception. We were joined by my parents friends Bill and Linda, who are the usual guests.   And on Friday morning, in lots of low-hanging clouds, we departed for points east.

The clouds lasted until east of Paonia when we began climbing into the Rockies and left the fog behind in the valley.  The whole trip home was clear blue skies and warm temperatures.  We spent the night in Kearney, NE and made a brief trip to the Mormon Trail Historical site near Omaha.  Then on through the I states, Iowa, Illinois and Indiana, all in one fell swoop.  We were home that night.

Mike's brother Tom called us this past Friday night to say he would be in town on Saturday and Sunday.  We had Saturday night pizza and Sunday lunch with him and his mom.  Now, on toward Christmas!