After having a rough couple days with family issues, I didn't feel much like cooking a Thanksgiving meal. So instead, my dad, sister and I ate at the restaurant my sister works at. I'm happy we did because it was really good. At first, I felt bad that we were eating at a restaurant for Thanksgiving, but it turns out that it's pretty common nowadays. My sister said that her restaurant was sold-out of reservations throughout the day. People want to spend more time with family and less time in the kitchen, which was perfect for me this year.
(Black) Friday
Geoff got up for work early around 5:30 am (poor thing had to work that day). Half an hour later I got up and went to Target for their Black Friday sales (for more detail, see "Black Friday" post below). After Target, I headed home to pack my stuff and pick up the rental car for my short trip to Sacramento with Geoff to visit his family. After picking up the car, I headed back to Irvine to pick-up Geoff. We stopped by the store to grab some drinks and munchies and then hit I-5 freeway to drive all the way up to Sacramento. The I-5 is a very very long freeway, but we made pretty good time. We actually drove to Gridley, a small town an hour north of Sacramento, where Geoff's Aunt Sandy and Uncle Barry and grandpa live. When we got to his aunt and uncle's house, we were greeted by his aunt and Sean, his brother, who drove up several days before us and was also staying there. Geoff's parents left a couple days before us and his sister, Erin, and her husband, Erick, left the day before us and were all staying at their grandpa's house nearby. We would've all left together, but, due to everyone's work schedules being different, we all had to take separate cars. Anyhow, after getting ourselves situated at aunt and uncle's house, we went to sleep right away.
Geoff driving us up to Sacramento.
Driving on the dreaded Grapevine.
Saturday
Geoff woke up at the butt-crack of dawn to play golf at a nearby course with his dad and uncle. A few hours later, I woke up and had breakfast with Geoff's aunt. After breakfast, I called Ginger (Geoff's mom) to see if they were awake and ask what the plan was for the day. She suggested all us girls go shopping and have lunch, which we did and enjoyed doing. When we got back, the guys had returned from golf and the entire family had dinner together. Geoff's grandpa came over and so did his cousin with her two little daughters. After dinner, the cousin and her kids left and Geoff and I went for a short walk. When we came back in the house, the whole family was setting up to play the dice game. I was hesitant to play because, the last time I played, everyone won a round except for me (and I hate losing). But, since the whole family of 10 people were playing, I didn't want to be left out of the fun and decided to play. I'm glad I did! We all had such a fun time and laughed so much! We played two rounds and Geoff's grandpa came in 1st both times. I came in 3rd on the first round and 2nd on the second round. I realized that the dice game is not exactly a game that requires a whole lot of strategy. It's a game of luck. After the game, Geoff's grandpa, parents, Erin and Erick went back to grandpa's to call it a night. However, Geoff, Sean, Sandy, Barry and I still had some energy, so we put on our swim suits and relaxed in the hot tub, looking at all the stars in the sky and chatting. When our skin started looking like raisins, we got out and all went to sleep.
Sunday
We got up early -too early, if you ask me- to load up the car and head over to Davis to meet Geoff's other Aunt Jackie, Uncle Tom and cousin for breakfast, and then begin our drive south back home. Geoff and Sean packed-up the cars, Erin and Erick met us over at the house so that we could all leave together, and we all said our goodbyes to Sandy and Barry. Then we all got in our cars and drove our small convoy over to Davis. We met everyone at Cafe Italia and had a nice breakfast with Jackie, Tom, and Geoff's cousin Tim (whose wife was sick and couldn't make it). Jackie and Tom talked about and showed me and Geoff their pictures from their recent trip to Machu Picchu, since they know we're planing a trip there. We had a short breakfast with them, but it was nice all the same. After more goodbyes with Jackie, Tom and Tim, we all gassed-up our cars and headed home, trying to keep our little convoy together. Well, that goal was soon shot down. We drove into so much fog and traffic that we all lost track of each other. Somehow, Geoff and I ended up being 45 minutes ahead of Sean and an hour and a half ahead of Erin and Erick. I think it's because we made only two short stops of 5-10 minutes each. Sean, Erin and Erick all made longer stops.
From L to R: Sean, Erin, Erick and Geoff deciding what route to take back.
Taking a picture of Erin in her car from my car while driving on the 99 fwy (Erick was hiding in the passenger seat). She's flashing the peace sign, not flipping me off like it may look...or is she?? =)
All along the freeway, in the central area of the state, there was traffic on both sides of the 5 freeway. The fog just made it worse. After what felt like the longest drive EVER, Geoff and I finally got home. We ate dinner, unpacked, watched the movie "Elf" and fell asleep immediately after.
The fog and traffic along the 5 freeway. We're going south, the other side is north.
I had a good time over the Thanksgiving weekend, but it went by way too fast. I'm very much looking forward to the college closing for winter break next month and I get my two-week Christmas vacation!
No comments:
Post a Comment