thanksgiving 2010

was spent with my husband and kids at westmoreland state park in montross, va. it was fun. i would do it again. it could quickly become a family tradition. come take a stroll with the family and allow me to narrate, so follow the sultry sound of my voice....

common sense says that i should have taken a pic of the park entrance, but, well, what can i say? i didn't, so let us begin at our cabin for the holidays, #16. it was quaint, circa 1950's with screened in porch and rockers, updated with corian countertops and lovely thrift store finds, quite the mix.

the living area with the country blue action. please the note the extremely sturdy, yet utterly uncomfortable "this end up" furniture.

the master bedroom with its color coordinated husband, not included, but could be arranged.

bedroom number two, with the two standard mental hospital issued twin beds for my crazy children, very fitting indeed.

travis loved the bathroom and was fascinated that there were two faucets, rather than just one. it has a shower, no bath, no biggie.

the gourmet galley...it worked for me, mostly, but i will gripe about that later.

there is a nice deck with a picnic table, built in bench and grill off one side of the cabin.

 i know i am being very sarcastic, well that is just me, overall i have to the say the cabin was good, not fantastic, but state park budget good. it was immaculate, but there were things i just didn't like, such as having an oven knob with all hint of temperatures completely gone. i mean completely, so your biscuits end up looking like this....

i was not happy, thank goodness my turkey breast had a pop up timer, so i just covered it good with foil and let her rip! it was fine, but i can not say the same for the crescent rolls. also, there was no potholders!!! what? all linens were provided, so there were a coupla dish towels to use, but not the same people. hello, vdcr, ya need some potholders not to mention a good potato peeler, a hook on the back of the bathroom door, some platters, a non-cremated spatula and a few sharp knives, but overall, you did a great job, so let's continue on our stroll of this wonderful park....

the kids loved the beach on the potomac river with its shells and views of maryland, so cool.

the boat house, closed for the season.

the olympic size swimming pool and snack shack, closed for the season. i loved this time of year, no people, just a lone fisherman and two lone kayaks.

a cool picnic shelter with a rock fireplace all facing the potomac. i would have my birthday there.

some serious steps, straight up. no thank you.

starting our stroll to fossil beach....

okay, jamie was way up there and all i could think was that if he fell, i was drinking his coffee. i regret not catching his bear grylls descent, too funny and not to mention scary.

almost to fossil beach where....

we found no fossils only....

beautiful views and one annoyingly yappy dog.

we took a shortcut to rock spring pond by heading down the ravine behind our cabin. i was a little slower than the others. those leaves are like walking on ball bearings people. i was nervous.

we made it, walked back the long way and made a stopover at the playground.

where i gave the zip line a go. ow, painful. then jamie had a go, but with much more flair.

we ended our day with a yummy thanksgiving feast chock full of tryptophan, carbs and a token vegetable. oh, and a beautiful homemade leaf runner compliments of mother nature and my kids, just perfect.

happy thanksgiving and now where to visit for christmas? enjoy.

ps-i wanted to add that bird dog's country store, right outside the park's entrance, has the best hot chocolate on tap!