Thanksgivng

For our Thanksgiving dinner we drove to the Chart House in the Redondo/Herondo beach area.  Most of us ordered the traditional dinner.  Nathan and George found some vegetarian options.

It was delicious.

The Chart House from the outside. 

After lunch we walked along the boardwalk. What a fun area.  Lots of cool things to see. 

We walked as far as the bicycle place to check it out.  Maybe we will bike on another day in the morning when it is cooler.

Taking a rest break before heading back to the car.

Pam took a selfie with me.

a parking structure

Once we got back to the car, we headed home.  We had a relaxing afternoon.  Some people took naps.  

We took a walk to the grocery store about 1/2 mile away.  We had left-overs for dinner.  Then we looked for a movie on netflix, which we all would be willing to watch.  Hard with 6 people.  We ended out with a Chinese martial arts movie with subtitles which was very loosely based on a real person, "Ip Man".  We left our car in front of Jamie & Pam's place so that we would not have to pay the $18 a day parking at the hotel.  We were going to walk back to the hotel, but Jamie very nicely offered to give us a ride.  It is only about a mile away.  

Wednesday, November 22

George and I are flying to be with Jamie (my brother)  and Pam for Thanksgiving.  Nathan will meet us there as well.  Linda (Jamie and Pam's daughter) will fly in from DC.  Nathan timed his flight to coincide with Linda's flight into LAX.  There were to arrive around 10 pm.

Our flight to Burbank was scheduled to leave Portland at 1:30 pm,  I got a message from Southwest saying that the flight was delayed and would not leave until 3:30 pm.  Luckily, Joyce could shift and get us to the MAX at the later time. We got to the airport in plenty of time.  The flight was uneventful, I got a free drink because it was nearly Thanksgiving. 

These were taken from the airplane window as we were coming into Burbank.

Once we had landed it did not take us long to get our rented car, go to the hotel and check in. We drove over to Jamie and Pam's home just in time for dinner.  Pam made a delicious vegetarian chili and salad. We spent a relaxing evening waiting for Nathan & Linda to arrive.  They were at opposite ends of the airport so it took them a while to connect.  They took a Lyft car to Jamie and Pam's.  They got there about 11:30 pm.  Once they arrived we headed back to the hotel.

Home

Today was a day of everyone heading off in different directions.  I have heard that Sue made it back to Morristown.  Last I heard Rebecca was in Newark and getting ready to head off to Mumbai.  Nathan left Juneau to go to a conference in Denver.  He got as far at Ketchikan and they were delayed due to mechanical problems.  He spent the day in Ketchikan.  He was supposed to get to Denver at 10 pm tonight but now it will be 10 am tomorrow.  The airlines will put him up in a hotel in Seattle tonight.  Jamie and Pam made it safely back to Glendale yesterday.  Steve was dealing with his vehicle today.  I have not heard the final word on that.

We hung out in the hotel until 1 pm when we had to check out.  We had lunch at Applebees on our way to the airport.  We got gas and then returned the vehicle.  We left Albuquerque on time. It was a clear day, cool but warming up.

We had a 3 hour layover in Las Vegas.  What a different feel this airport has. Slot machines, noise, neon lights, glitz, and hand sanitizers every where. 

We arrive on time in Portland.  I ended out having a free drink on the plane.  Not sure why but that was nice.  The Portland airport felt refreshing after Vegas.  Calm, open, quiet ...!  We got home at 11 pm and I was in bed by 11:15.  I was tired.  

PS. I have heard now that Nathan arrive safely in Denver.

Relaxing day

I was up at 4:30 am so that I could walk to Starbucks this morning with Rebecca.  There is not a Starbucks at the Albuquerque airport.  Rebecca treated me to a coffee.  Then George and Sue pick us up at 5:15 to head off to the airport.  Come to find out that they were on the same flight to Denver.  Then Rebecca went on to Newark and Sue went to Knoxville.  We saw them through the security.  They stopped Rebecca and searched her bag.  Apparently all her Starbucks Via packages were suspicious.  It is always something. 

We were back at the hotel by 6:30 am.  We showered and then headed downstairs for breakfast.  We checked outside to see if any balloons were up.  There were several

We pretty much hung around the hotel. We turned in Rebecca's key for her room and we requested late check out for our room.  We have until 1 pm.  I guess we will plan to go to lunch then.  After that we will probably head out to the airport and hang out there until our flight time.  

Steve is having to deal with his car today, plus he wants to be able to spend some time with Ross and Perry.  Jennifer is sick.  Probably as a result of the wedding stresses. So that is why we are on our own. 

Sandia Tram

We had a leisurely breakfast in the morning.  Then Jamie and Pam left to head home.  We went to church at Rebecca's previous church.  She reconnected with some people she remembered.  After we got back, Rebecca had stuff to do before going back to India, so we left her at the hotel and Sue, George and I headed off to the Sandia Mountains to ride the tram.  First we stopped for lunch at the Sandiago Grill at the Tram.  We had a very nice light lunch.  

The view from the restaurant patio.

2nd longest suspended tram in the world.  The last time I was on it, it was the longest.  Kris, you would have LOVED it. 

It was the perfect day to do this.

Passing the other car going down as we were going up.

It was very windy at the top and 44 degrees.

As we were standing by this sign we overheard someone saying that we were 3 miles up.  Not sure where they went to school.  We did not stay at the top long.  Waited for the next tram to go down.

Here comes our tram.

Some people having fun on the rocks.

Then we drove back to the hotel.  No one was inspired to do anything else so we relaxed and chatted.  Nice to reconnect with Sue.  

We went down for happy hour and a small snack to tide us over until dinner.  Rebecca connected at Starbucks with a previous coworker from Menaul School.  We met Steve at Amore Pizza.  It was very good pizza. We shared a meat lovers pizza and a vegetarian pizza.

This oven was sent over from Italy.  Cooks the pizza at 1000 degrees.  They put the pizza in for 90 seconds.  That is what Steve says.  It was good pizza.

Then we went up the street for dessert.  I did not want any.

It is going to be a very early morning for Rebecca and Sue.  They each are flying out at 7:30 am on different airlines and going to different cities.  We are aiming for 5:15 am. It was nice that they coordinated their flights.  

Wedding and All Kinds of Weather

At 4 pm we met to head out to the Prairie Star in Santa Ana Pueblo for Lia & Chance's wedding.  We were hearing weather advisories for the area with rain, tornadoes, floods!! We had some rain on the way there. This is the same place where Steve and Jennifer were married.  It is a very gorgeous setting with a backdrop of the Sandia Mountains.

Almost time for the wedding

No one wanted to go sit yet until the very last second because of the sprinkling that was going on.  They handed out paper towels to wipe off our seats before sitting down.  

I finally got to use my travel raincoat.

The wedding started about 10 minutes late.

Avery, on the left, was especially adorable.  (Ashley & David's daughter)

Lia with her dad

The pastor cut out a lot of what he was going to say, because of the weather.  We did have a brief time of no rain. 

Lia & Chance Cohn

We then went inside and had appetizers while the formal pictures were being taken.

Jennifer

The photographer was having a problem getting everyone arranged for photos. Note Lia's veil.  Yes, it was very windy. 

Ashley & Lia.  Because of the weather many of the professional photos were done indoors.

Then the storm hit.  What a storm!  Wind, hail, rain ... the works.

That is hail!!

The driveway was turned into a river.

post wedding

Lia, Aidan and Chance

And then the sun came out.

a rainbow

The photographer wanted to get a picture with the rainbow.

Then the sprinklers came on

Once all the pictures were taken we had dinner.

It was very good.  2 salads, green beans, mashed potatoes, chicken, ravioli and bread. I did not have the ravioli or bread.

Ashley and David

Time to cut the cake

Jennifer and her siblings: Tabb's wife, Jennifer, Rebecca, Danielle and Tabb

After the cake was the bouquet toss and garter slinging (it got caught in the rafters) and then the dancing.  We left soon after the traditional dances were done.  Because it was dark and everyone was moving, my pictures did not turn out.  

Jamie, Pam, Sue and I relaxed at the bar once we got into more comfortable clothes.  We sure had every kind of weather today.