I had a quick jaunt out to Ruskin (a section of Maple Ridge, BC) for the Thanksgiving weekend. It was a trip I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to take at first. Reason: Too much work, and too tight deadlines to allow it.
Deadlines changed. Whether they changed for the better remains to be seen…
The flight to Abbotsford was easy. That’s why I like flying there instead of Vancouver. Alex was already on the coast, having spent a week visiting friends in Victoria and Vancouver. Borrowing a car, she was picking me up at the airport before heading over to Ruskin. It had been only a week, but I was so happy to see her again.
Jean had dropped her car off at the airport, which we were to pick up. As Alex was driving a borrowed car to another location, we were a mini-caravan for a little while. Sandra’s car (which Alex was driving) was going to her parents’ place, also in Abbotsford, so the trip was quick and easy.
After dropping off the car, we stopped briefly at the farm to drop off our things before going to Maple Ridge to get the turkey. I honestly can’t remember what the heck we did for dinner, though.
The next day, we visited with Joel and Michelle. For all the times we’ve been to Ruskin already, I felt bad for never dropping by. So we planned it this time. It wasn’t anything grand or whiz-bang, but it was a great chance for them to meet Alex, and a chance for us to catch up … in their hot tub. (It reminded me to get ours cleaned and running again.)
We picked up dinner at Bruce’s Market, which really amounted to lentil soup with cubed ham. Dirt simple, but surprisingly tasty. We picked up Allen and Jean from the airport, returning to sample our home-cooked meal. There were no leftovers.
We had Thanksgiving dinner on the Monday. Alex was on pie detail. I made cranberry sauce and worked on some of the vegetables. Meanwhile, the household was invaded by various family members all ready for dinner. We even got Audrey to come over (Frank was a given — he loves turkey). Dinner was at 15:00.
Dropping Nichole off at the bus stop, Allen took Alex and I back to the airport for our short flight back.
