Thankfulness

We had a lot to be thankful for this American Thanksgiving. We arrived in Charlottesville VA on Tuesday where we would be hosted for several days by close friends of ours - the Lievers. Upon arriving at their place, we bid a glad, albeit temporary goodbye to hotels, restaurants on the road and our daily "drive-hotel-drive" routine.

Virginia reminds us a fair bit of Chilliwack - a nostalgia-inducing observation to be sure. There is an abundance of greenspace and farmland surrounded by rolling hills. Granted it lacks the pointed peaks of Cheam & Slesse, but hey, Chilliwack lacked some things that Virginia has - like the Lievers. On our first day, they quite wisely decided to focus our tour closer to home. They took us around UVA and the quaint Charlottesville downtown - stopping for lunch at the "Five Guys" (who know how to make a fine burger) and for desert at a store that specializes in cupcakes (Brent likes the sparkles).

The next day found us preparing for Thanksgiving dinner. Jenn, of course, was the brains of the operation as she led us all in a flurry of peeling, chopping, mashing, slicing, cork-screw popping and table setting. It was great fun and reminded us of working in the Galilee kitchen. We took a couple of hours in the afternoon for the mandatory Thanksgiving hike - which is also a great way to work up an appetite.

Our first American thanksgiving will be fondly remembered as we enjoyed the Turkey and all the fixin's along with one of Brent's co-workers. If you have never tasted Jenn's brined-Turkey, you have never really had turkey. In fact, if I was a Turkey, I would insist on being prepared in this way. You'll have to ask her for the details, but I think it involves soaking the entire turkey in a sugary/salty brine for 12 hours before roasting it in the oven. The result is delicious and the white meat is the moistest I have ever tasted.

The next day found us at the Luray Caverns. After visiting Carlsbad, we were expecting to enjoy the visit very much but did not expect to be completely blown away for a second time. We were wrong. The Luray caverns are quite a bit smaller and closer to the surface than Carlsbad, but they are intricately and densely decorated, is better lit and has more natural pools which together create a spectacular effect. Because you are moving from room to room, rather than traversing a single one for 30 minutes, the scenery is constantly changing and you move very quickly from wonder to wonder. The final room on the tour contains a stelac"pipe" - an organ where the various tones are generated via mallets striking the rocky stalactite and stalagmites in a large chamber. A sign in the room declares that this represents the hand of God and the genius of man in perfect harmony. Truly amazing to hear the rocks sing in those echoey chambers.

These are just a few of the adventures that we had with the lovely Lievers family. Many other stops, laughs and enjoying of each others company was had. It was with sadness that we bid goodbye to them this morning and struck due North for the first time in three weeks...home stretch. We didn't want to overstay our welcome though - we mighta tired them out ;)

Today was a good but frustrating day. We spent over $30 on toll booths and occasionally had to wait in line for almost an hour for the privilege of paying the toll. Most of the trip was spent in fairly urban areas with cars speeding along overly narrow lanes. However, this is not the usual path you'll be taking if you plan on visiting Brent and Jenn from Ontario (we don't want to discourage you), we were taking a bit of a sidetrip to Philly. One of our youth group friends from Ottawa has been quite unwell and is hospitalized in Philadelphia. It was a short visit, but wonderful to visit and pray with him and his family at this challenging time. We felt like we were representing so many of you who would love to be there but can't because of the distance.

We are spending the night in a ssssshwanky hotel (thanks Hotwire) in Reading Pennsylvania. Tomorrow...CANADA!!!

Livia quotes:

1. When being prompted to thank Jenn for supper: "Tank ooo for supper. Aaa-men!!"

2. "Lettuce please" - she's very insistent about this one - we're still not sure exactly what she wants.