Orphaned Thanksgiving

Being 2000 miles away from family at the holidays is hard. This Thanksgiving was especially hard because it was the first one I have had away from home in 24 years. Not only that but Sam not only got sick but couldn't fly out to visit because airline tickets are so expensive. So instead of spending it with Ember Addie invited me up to the Grand Canyon to spend Thanksgiving with her and her park ranger friends. I also go several invites from coworkers and a woman from the dog park!

Ember and I rode up to the canyon Wednesday after school and met up with Addie at her new house! We had a great Mac and Cheese dinner with Addie, her roommate Jo, her dad, and Marty, another park employee. It was nice to sit and chat and catch up with everyone. Joe helped puppy sit Ember when I was hiking Zion and Marty was part of the Tuesday crew, I met him when we were standing on a corner in Winslow, AZ.

Thanksgiving day Addie had to work so Jo and I tackled the 23 pound turkey that had been sitting in the fridge, dry rubbed, since Monday. It was a very large and heavy bird. The V rack it was placed on to put in the oven kept falling apart when ever we moved the bird. After wrestling the bird for a little while we got it in the oven 10 minutes ahead of schedule! We then cleaned everything and set out some snacks around lunch time for the people who were working to come and eat them at lunch. Then cleaned up and got ready for dinner. At 2:30 Addie was giving a tour of the Kolb Studio which not a whole lot of people get to see so I headed to the rim, met up with Addie and got a private tour of the Kolb Studio.

After words we wondered around the rim for a little while. Addie got stopped and asked questions, which tends to happen when in full Ranger gear. It was fun to walk around and talk, then we went back home for dinner where the place was hopping! The bird was out of the oven resting and there was a mad dash to put side dishes in the oven to ensure they were ready for dinner. There were a ton of munchies to keep everyone happy. Jo made a great speech and we all ate.

After dinner there was dessert, to go boxes, and cleaning. All in all it was a great day and a fun experience.