Reno for Thanksgiving Part 1

We arrived home from Houston Monday night and Kris packed for our trip to Reno. Tuesday I took her to work and I washed clothes and packed myself. I picked her up at 12:30 and delivered her to Dr. Pain. While she was being "adjusted," I went to Costco for gas and some bread for Anna. I picked Kris up again and we headed for IKEA for an unsuccessful search for some folding chairs for Rob and Anna. The trip wasn't a complete bust because we had lunch. With our bellies full of meatballs, etc., we headed to Elko for the night. Northern Nevada was true to form with the most spectacular sunset that, because we were driving into it, lasted from Wendover to Elko.

Yesterday morning we finished the journey on what turned out to be an equally spectacular day. The clouds and light were exquisite! It was a beautiful journey. Arriving in Reno we warmly greeted the Hastings and Youngs and proceeded to a local Taqueria for a delicious lunch. That afternoon the ladies went birthday makeup shopping with Lucy Jane and the men worked at home. I made cranberry salad and sauce. For her birthday dinner, LJ chose BJ's. It had the potential to be good but the service was abysmal. Oh well. We finished the evening with ice-cream pie and brownies with hot fudge in honor of Lucy Jane's birthday, which is actually today, 22 November.

Northern-Nevada light show

The daytime version the next day

Some of the binkers waiting for lunch

Lucy opening gifts

With lots of help from Beckham et al.

These were a free gift for purchasing perfume --

we are excited to have some martinis

Clara with her new tiara -- Katy, she put a bird on it!

Lucy spent several productive minutes torturing Siri

on my iPhone

Decent food, not such great service

Happy Birthday to Lucy!

A beautiful Reno sunset over Mount Rose

We will certainly let you know all about Thanksgiving, but that's all for now.

OXO

D.

A Celebration in Okingwoodo

On Friday, 16 November we awakened in the middle of the night for our flight to Houston for Alison Gibb's wedding. It was delightful to spend time with the extended Gibbs family. Landing at Houston Hobby, we picked up our little rental car and made our way to the Hobbit Cafe for lunch. Heading north to Kingwood, we checked into our hotel and rested before driving deep into the "Livable Forest" to Debby's house. The entry sign in Kingwood is decked out for Christmas and the wreaths turned Kingwood into Okingwoodo (we pronounced it aw-king-WOOD-o), which we called it for the duration of our stay. Friday evening, Debby stuffed us with Texas barbeque.

Saturday we drove to the temple for the sealing. A lovely wedding luncheon followed at Raffa's, a very nice restaurant on Lake Houston in Okingwoodo. The reception followed and all was wrapped up by 4:00 P.M. Several of us spent the evening viewing Lincoln at the local movieplex.

Sunday we went to Debby's ward and then returned home to prepare a pot-roast dinner for about 24. There were also a few games of hearts before Michael took off for NY.

Monday we went to see Argo before heading to the airport to return the car and fly home via Las Vegas. 

 This is what we left behind

 KBT and KTC arriving at Houston Hobby

 The Hobbit Cafe

 Okingwoodo

 Almost ready

 Alison and Gordon Reese

 Hugs of congratulation

 The ladies

 "Matchmaker, matchmaker..."

 Dickie, Deb, and Kris

 Gibbs, Taylors, and Browns

 These are silly sausages

 Raffa's

 Delicious salmon

 Guest tables

 Delicious cakes!

 Debby's tribute

 Mike and Linda: In My Life

 Lake-Houston setting for the reception

Hearts

This was a great weekend filled with wonderful food, friends, and films. Now we are off to Reno for Thanksgiving and we will let you know what happens, but that's all for now.

OXO

D.

The Final Leg of the Journey

Tuesday we headed home. We were ready well before our driver came to pick us up, so Conner (the new Elder Boynton) took us for a walk along Swan Lane near their home. One block and you are in the country: fantastic. At 11:30 our driver picked up Rod, Vic, Kris, and me with our luggage. The rest of them piled into Matt's car and we headed up the M25 to Heathrow Terminal 5 where we said our goodbyes. Conner was taken to one of the other terminals where he caught an interminable flight to New Zealand via Los Angeles. Everything went relatively smoothly and we flew home through a 10 hour sunset. Chip picked up the Boyntons and Gavin picked up the Taylors. We spent two nights in Arizona before making another 10-hour journey north to Provo/Orem. All went very well and it is more or less nice to be home. Home always feels good, but we love and miss England. The trip was great. Everyone, including aged and crippled participants, did very well. It was an experience we will remember with great fondness.

A lovely morning walk

First frost on the grass

Kent: "The Garden of England"

Last blackberries of the season

A glimpse of Matt and Kim's house from Swan Lane

Goodbyes all around

Heathrow's new Terminal 5

A little reading before bed

Beck's breakfast

Harry ready for school

Lunch at Denny's in Page

A beautiful sky over Mount Baldy in Beaver

We slept through the night last night, so it seems the jet lag is almost gone. Things will be a bit boring after a steady stream of posts from England. But if anything interesting happens, we will keep you posted. That's all for now.

OXO

D.

Borough Market

Since Conner is being set apart tonight and won't be able to watch TV afterwards, we watched the final episode of Downton Abbey this morning. It felt like "drinking before 5:00" because one never watches period dramas in the morning. It was a great season and almost everything was resolved, leaving us wondering if there will be another season. Around 11:00 we took the train into London to have lunch with Matt at the Cooperage, a very old pub under the train arches at London Bridge Station. With all the redevelopment at London Bridge, the pub will be forced to shut down after Christmas. That's a bit of a tragedy, because it has been in business in some form or another since 1801. The make a mean burger! After lunch we wandered through Borough Market before returning home to Edenbridge. This evening we had one last supper at the Swan across from Matt and Kim's.

 The Cooperage under the station bridges

 Good eats

 Southwark Cathedral

 Borough Market

Remember Neal's Yard at Covent Garden (near

the bag Nazi)? -- this one is at Borough

The Monty Python boys could never say "Not much of a 

cheese shop" in this place: this is where Wallace and 

Grommit would want to be

Market and Cathedral

 

 A beautiful Georgian door on St. Thomas Street

behind London Bridge Station

 We love The Swan

Tomorrow we will return to the land of our births and leave our ancestral home behind. As Colette might say, "Oh sob!" We will, however, be very happy to be back in the bosom of the family and see you all again. That's all for now.

OXO

D.