Thanksgiving Day at Lone Pine. 11.24.16

This morning was sunny but quite cold.  As we were eating breakfast at the hotel, I noticed the flashing billboard in front of our Best Western showed 23 degrees.   The nights get cold in the desert!

Determined to get in some steps before we headed to Burly and Love Note’s, I took a walk in the neighborhood.  It is definitely fall here too but surrounded by mountains, Lone Pine has a frontier feel.  The best way to show you what I mean is through a few pictures.

Around 10 we went to Burly and Love Note’s house. They bought the house about two years ago and it is a work in progress. In spite of it’s unfinished state, it made a very warm and inviting place for 10 adults, 2 babies, 2 dogs, 8 puppies and a chicken named Cocoa.

But I am getting ahead of myself. At first we met Dan, Love Note’s Dad. Before the rest of the company arrived, Kate took us to the Alabama Hills. The area was named after a Conferderate warship that fought bravely and mightly in the civil war. This is an area very close to the house and is noted for filming westerns. Once we arrived I understood exactly why.   You could just picture a cowboy hiding behind one of the boulders with a gun! We took a hike to Möbius Arch.

Once back at the house, we met Linda, Love Note’s mom. While Linda and Love Note worked on the turkey and various fixings, I got to entertain 7 month old Juniper. She decided I was okay after all so I had a pretty easy assignment.

The next guests to arrive where a couple that Love Note and Burly have gotten to know in Santa Barbara. Their baby is just three weeks older than Juniper. With two babies in the house, things certainly livened up. Conversation is pretty easy with two adorable baby girls to steal the show.

Then the real excitement arrived. Love Note’s sister Katie came with her dog Topaz and her 8 four week old puppies and her chicken named Cocoa. Cocoa stayed in a cage in the bathroom. I never used the john with a chicken watching before. Like I said, today’s Thanksgiving provided lots of first!

You would think that getting all the food completed with such a house full of guests might have been difficult, but not so for Love Note and Linda. Around five we sat down to a delicous turkey dinner with all the trimmings. Juniper stole the show by fisting her food down with loud grunts of delight. We didn’t think she would ever stop eating!

All in all, Thanksgiving 2016 turned out to be a wonderful time with our daughter and her hiker “family”.    And for once, daughter Kate wasn’t the youngest one at the table!