The Great Thanksgiving Freeze Out

BRRRRR

...and a great, big thanks (insert sarcasm here) to my sister for bringing a digital thermometer with a remote sensor which sat on the picnic table for the whole trip. That way we knew what temperature it was inside & outside at the same time. Apparently, "f 'ing freezing" wasn't good enough for her- she wanted statistics!

Thanksgiving, 8am= 37 degrees outside, 57 degrees inside (thank goodness for little space heaters!)
9am= 39 degrees outside, 49 degrees inside (why the *&#$% did we turn that damn thing off, anyway!)
9:30am= 40 degrees outside, 56 degrees inside (ahhhhhhhh!)
Noon= 73 degrees inside & out (now we know why the "layered" look is so popular!)

Friday was much the same. Saturday it was warmer by at least 5 degrees in the AM (hey, it helped!). Sunday was fairly warm as I used my A/C on the way home.

The weathermen got it right- freezing cold temperatures. Only they said for 2 days, not 3! Also, we were warned for days that Saturday and Sunday were going to be rainy. So, we changed our plans and my sister did a lot of packing up on Saturday. Mama did a lot of rearranging and I sort of pre-packed my truck bed. What happens? No rain! But, based on the rain when we got home we're glad we decided to "bug out" early on Sunday- or we'd have been unloading in a downpour! See, these things do work out well...

Mama's Thanksgiving dinner was superb as we'd expected. We pigged out for two days on it. We skipped pizza on Saturday and did barbeque instead (yummy!). My sister's vegetarian so she just got sides but enjoyed them fairly well. Saturday included a trip out for ice cream, too.

This was a very lazy trip (once we were on it- Mama was working like a demon for 3 days prior to it). We all learned to play Dominoes and taught Mama to play Uno. I read a whole magazine one afternoon. My sister took a few power naps and some walks plus, I think, two drives. Mama puttered around and zonked out in a chaise lounge with the boy a few times. Did I nap- silly question! You betcha!

I'm a little better backing up the Covered Wagon. My sister's trying to help me but the way she uses to figure out how to turn the wheel makes no sense to me. We think differently- she's much more analytical than I am. I just work at it until I get there. I've finally learned that it takes barely easing off the brake for my truck to go 6-8 inches. I think that was part of the problem as it idles so fast it just wants to move! As long as I make it creep vs. roll I can control the C.W. much better.

Our friend made it out to see us- last time we were here she'd come out, too. Tug was much better this time as he usually goes nuts since he adores her. We had a great chat all afternoon but my poor sister napped through part of it. She hadn't slept too well and we'd all gotten up early. She did make them all coffee and we'd saved our friend one of Mama's biscuits from the dutch oven. Those aren't easy for some people to get right but my sister's so good at figuring out the heat based on how many charcoal briquettes are used and Mama makes such good biscuits that theirs turn out fabulous every time!! (I hope I didn't just jinx us!)

Most of the camp sites were taken up by RVs on our circle of the campground so it was pretty quiet. They can hook up to the shore line so the only noisy ones are the ones with outside TVs watching football. The bath house was never even under siege, really, which was great for us. This was the second outing of the new Throne Room (with the full sized portable potty) and we were in a corner site and kind of exposed. This meant everyone saw the tent it was in and asked about it. We would explain it was a shower/changing room tent but we had a portable potty in it instead. EVERYONE loved the idea- even RVers! Of course, we were across the street from the bath house so it kind of seemed weird until I'd point out that in such cold weather even a dash there in the middle of the night was an iffy proposition. Everyone understood that, too!! LOL

Last time out at this campground Tug and I had lived in the screen room (boy, were we bored). This time it was so cold the 'squitos were survivable even for me and we never put it up. It was nice not to have to take that back down and stow it away to leave. We took five packages of wood and burned 'em all- we even burned charcoal briquettes in the fire pit as there was an "open flame" ban from 11am-6pm due to low humidity. Charcoal isn't as bad so we'd start that at 5pm when the sun set and we started to freeze. The temperature plummeted 20 degrees or more each evening...

Thursday am we kept hearing this really loud bird flitting all around us. It was part coo and part warble. We hadn't been able to see it until I looked straight overhead. It's geese flying in formation and they're so high up we only see them in silhouette!!! Those suckers must be LOUD.

I was laying on the ground, reading my magazine (actually I was lounging on a pad since it's part concrete/part gravel in the camp site) and Mama had Tug inside for his nap. She was just resting. So, I'm on my stomach and they come out and Tug naturally makes a beeline for me as I'm at his level. He comes over to rub himself against my face like a cat and his curly little "piggy" tail catches the chin strap of my sun hat and pulls it off my head as he passes. Then he sits on my magazine. Great! Now I have a dog butt hat AND a dog butt magazine...

Menu:
Wednesday evening- deviled eggs, potato salad.. gee, I've already forgotten what else was there...wait- baked beans from a can!
Thursday am- cereal, yogurt, fruit
Thursday evening- turkey from our favorite BBQ joint for me & Mama (with a jar of gravy), dressing, sweet potato casserole, corn casserole cooked in the dutch oven, canned asparagus with white sauce and cheese Goldfish on top (so amazingly yummy!) AND home made cranberry sauce!! Actually, everything was home made except the turkey and the jar of gravy & can of asparagus.
Friday am- biscuits fresh from the dutch oven
Friday late afternoon- left over dressing
Friday evening- weenie roast!! Mama and I had beef dogs and my sister had soy dogs (plus, buns and condiments and tortilla chips and dips)
Saturday am- grits and eggs
Saturday late afternoon- barbecue take out
Saturday pm- ice cream cones!
Sunday am- McD's for breakfast and then we headed home
(Sunday pm was Chinese take out from our favorite place- fast becoming a staple dinner for the nights we return home from camping)

Next up: this coming weekend we're going towards the Gulf Coast. We are not, however, cooking! Just trying something different this time. We're going to be within a short drive of Tarpon Springs and if Greek food interests you at all you must eat there. So, a simple sandwich dinner on Friday, lunch at Tarpon Springs Saturday and we'll bring something back for dinner, too. Then something simple for breakfast on Sunday to come home.