Thanksgiving Day 2009

Happy Turkey Day!!

What a great day! Beautiful sun, pancakes and bacon while we watch the Macy's parade live from New York, a bit of the Westminster Dog show then off for a drive in the sunshine.

We drove all the way to Yosemite, partly on the back roads...the 'scenic route' it was lovely and not a far as we originally thought.

When we finally arrived at the park gates (not surprisingly) the 'toll booth' was closed so we made ourselves right at home. When we reached the Mariposa Grove (of Giant Sequoias) we were quite shocked to discover that it was a zoo. There was not a parking space to be had so we ended up in the 'commercial bus' parking area....feeling rather certain that there wouldn't be any buses today.

We took the pups for a short walk up into the Sequoias which are breathtaking...or maybe it was the steep path...there are some photos on Flickr and a couple posted below. Then back to the car for the drive out of the park and back to Fresno.

As it was getting late we decided to forgo the trip through to Yosemite Valley and head back the way we came. Much to our surprise, the gates were now manned and the fee being collected....AND there were three buses waiting to get in! Imagine the surprise of the folks parked in the bus area!!

The scenic drive back to Fresno was through Olive, Walnut, pomegranate, persimmon and various other orchards as well as miles and miles of vineyards...beautiful. We sidetracked through Madera sort of looking for the Quady Winery (home of Quady Elysium and Quady Essencia--but more about that later) but our directions were faulty so we never found it.

We decided to try Marie Callendar's to see if they were serving turkey dinner and they were! It was very reasonable, and very tasty...but way more than we needed! We took the pie 'to go' and that will be enjoyed later!!

It's Black Friday tomorrow and the mall actually opens in just over three hours from now!! Santa's hours now switch to 10AM to 8PM so we have to move a little quicker in the morning! I dread the idea of the Black Friday crowds but Santa is sort of looking forward to it!!

It will be interesting to see what happens but in some malls there are few children on BF because of the crowds....sooooo tomorrow will either be really busy for him or very quiet...we will let you know!!