Thanksgiving is right up there as my favorite holiday. As a child I had always loved the Macy’s Thankgiving Day Parade and as an adult the family gatherings with turkey and trimmings were never stressful for me because I was never responsible for the success of the dinner.
The reality is, I have never been an exceptional cook, so my friends and family never held out any high expectations for me around food-centered festivities.
Since becoming a couple in 2009 with Jimmy Smith, my sweetheart and fantastic cook (both of which I am immensely thankful), we have been RV snowbirds during the winter holidays. This year is no exception. We are sharing this Thanksgiving with my sister (above left) Josam Grandin Bullock at her home outside of Austin, Texas.
Looking back on our first year ‘Snowbirding’ in 2009 we camped within a stone’s throw of Mexico in Big Bend National Park, and shared a Thanksgiving Dinner with Andrea and Vince, a young tent-camping couple from Maine (right). They had been traveling for months in a Jeep with their huge St. Bernard puppy and planned to be out for a year. That year Jimmy made his signature ‘beer can’ chicken over our small BBQ.
In 2010 we camped for a full week next to Lake Seminole on the Georgia and Florida border in the Corps of Engineers’ Eastbank Campground. As the designated cook, Jimmy spent most of the day roasting a hen in his treasured Dutch oven. He rounded out the menu with baked-in-coals potatoes, fresh green salad and store-bought pumpkin pie (my contribution).
Last year (2012) and previously in 2011, we found ourselves at the SKP Park of the Sierras just south of Yosemite National Park in California where we attended their traditional Thanksgiving Dinner in the community hall. For only $3/each we feasted on turkey, stuffing, rolls and gravy. Dinner guests were asked to bring a side-dish, salad or dessert. Hundreds of pilgrims attend each year and it is always a grand pot luck dinner.
Time for the Macy’s Parade. Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
Photos: Julianne G. Crane (Click on photos to enlarge.)
