Anyhow, we drove up and had a lovely Thanksgiving up at Rich's grandparents place. I helped Rich's mom make the yams and managed to top them with...well, a lot of marshmallows. Since it was a deep pot, we figured we should make sure there were enough to go around.
Strategically, however, the marshmallows failed to melt and get gooey, so it was kind of a bust. It's always kind of disappointing when there are a lot of leftovers of what you take to a potluck.
Anyhow, it turned out that after a last minute and very spontaneous conversation with Jotham, that we decided to go up to Bend, after Thanksgiving. This decision was met with surprisingly little resistance from Rich's parents who took the opportunity to go to the coast...where they had the weather they had promised we'd have when we went camping in October.
So off we went. The drive along the north side of Crater Lake was remarkably straight. So straight that I felt compelled to take a picture.
I think this is Crater Lake, as viewed from the long straightaway.
We arrived in Bend in time to catch Jotham, Dana, Cassie, Jotham's parents, Joanna and Craig, and Jotham's brother and his family, Damon, Jillaire, Adah, Maggie, and Gunner. The kids had a blast, running around. Drew had Adah and Maggie to play with, who were older and around his age, respectively.
Shortly after arriving, we hijacked Jotham, Dana, and Cassie for a walk down to downtown Bend for some catching up, taking in of the air, and a libation break at the Deschutes Brewery. We hadn't had lunch, so Drew and Rich were in desperate need of food by this time. I think it was around 2 or 3. I followed Jotham and Dana's recommendation and ordered the beer sampler and some kind of tasty artichoke and spinach dip. We shared a couple of appetizers and I ended up needing help with the beer. I had 4 ounce samplers. But there were like eleven beers. It ended up being WAY more than I expected, although Dana did point out what a deal it was for only $10 or something.
Having not had lunch, going for the sampler was perhaps not the best way to go. I had a lovely time. The beer was excellent. The walk back was pretty good, too. Right up until we decided to take the steeper and shorter way back. I even almost made it up that, too. I was holding Drew's hand and Jotham and Rich were hauling Cassie in the stoller up the steep switchback-y trail. And well, I almost passed out when I made it to the top. Literally two houses from their house, I had to stop and try to keep the blood in my head. I think Rich realized how close I was for a while there.
When we made it back to the house, I spent most of the next hour on my back with my legs up on a chair listening to Jillaire and Dana chatting. I tried to go talk to Joanna while she was making dinner, but that didn't last long. The blood flowed straight to my feet and I had to go back to the floor.
In my defense, Bend is high desert. The altitude gain in addition to the alcohol was a little much. And besides, I didn't lose my lunch or anything.
Rich's friends, Matt and Aria live in Bend, so we arranged to go see them later that afternoon as Jotham's brother and his family were staying only the one more night. Joanna planned to feed us, though, and made an amazing pumpkin soup for everyone which was beautifully presented with a piece of toasted brioche and some carmelized onions. It tasted wonderfully velvety. The kids were not as appreciative. Joanna told me that all the prep for that soup took a cumulative forty hours to do. We then discussed whether it was worth forty hours.
We excused ourselves and then went to see Matt and Aria and their girls, Kiley and Jaya. Drew took to them fast, even with all of Matt and Aria's family around. We arrived towards the end of an evening of post-Thanksgiving family dining. The family left after a while and we were able to hang out with Matt and Aria and talk. It was nice for Rich to hang out with his friends from college. He always has to put up with me and my friends and while we've gotten much better about not getting too clique-y when we're all together.
Matt and Aria were lovely. And their girls had fun playing with Drew, who had as much with their toys as he did with them. Trains are a surefire Drew-occupier.
The rest of our stay in Bend was pretty mellow. Rich and Drew went to a movie on Saturday with Craig, Joanna, Damon, and the girls, while Jillaire went shopping with Gunner. I ended up staying at the house with Jotham, Dana, and Cassie, which was nice. I spent some time talking with Jotham while Cassie napped and Dana decompressed from all the people. It was fascinating to see what he was up to with his business and what he had done to the house. That evening, I ended up staying up late to watchi Across the Universe, a musical with lyrics from the Beatles. I was a hard sell, but ended up really liking it.
Our drive home on Sunday was nothing less than brutal. Somehow an eight hour drive from Bend seems infinitely longer than the six hour drive from Grants Pass. And Rich drove most of it.
We are homebound for a WHILE. No more road trips.
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