With heavy traffic, and a few other delays, it took us hours to get out of Jersey. But soon we were among the Amish in Pennsylvania, and feeling thankful that we don't belong to a religious group that forces us to ride bicycles in 30 degree weather in the dark of night. We were finally within minutes of Shady Maple, a smorgasbord we'd been planning to hit for Thanksgiving Eve. Noah remained panic-stricken that we wouldn't get there before closing, though it was only around 5pm, and the restaurant wasn't scheduled to close that night until 8. We ate until we thought we'd injured ourselves, while we observed an obviously gifted woman entertaining her parents with her belching abilities, while they dined together. Afterwards I ran into the market next door, to purchase several local delights, including my favorite- shoo-fly pie. In fact, everything looked so good, I purchased several cakes and pies... for 4 people. No big deal, I figured. I remained confident that with several days of binging, our family could take them out... and we pretty much did.
So we got to the campground, where we ran into some complications. First of all, this was our first time camping without water and sewage hookups. It's so stinkin' cold up here, that they have to shut off water in the colder months. So we filled the reserve tank at the entrance, and then went to our site. Minutes later, I'm on my knees watching water flow freely onto the ground-- our precious water supply. But we found out we were supposed to shut off a valve and soon the problem was fixed. Now we had no water though. So Steve hooked back up and went back up front and refilled the tank, then had to go thru the process of backing into the site, and carefully weaving thru trees, yet again. I stayed inside the camper during all of this to continue unpacking. As the camper rocked and swayed, I jumped around, catching things as they fell. I figured my first priority should be saving the desserts which were sliding around on the bar. I couldn't help but think, none of this would be happening at warm, sunny Myrtle Beach!
Our neighbors had been watching all of this, and probably thought we didn't know what on Earth we were doing, but they had no idea who they were dealing with! So the guy came over and was all beaming with pride when he announced, "WE are going to cook a feast, and fry a turkey tomorrow... outside." With pity, he added, "Let us know if there's anything we can do for you." So Steve says, "Thanks. We're gonna SMOKE TWO turkeys tomorrow and cook a giant feast too." "Oh..." We sensed that he felt somewhat defeated, but he hadn't seen ANYTHING yet. We'd not even inflated Pedro. You know when he saw this 6 feet of handsome turkey goodness, he knew it was over. He was competing with the best of celebraters. We weren't just some lame Thanksgiving amateurs...
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| For days, the kids danced with him, sang songs about him, and chased each other around him. Everyone should have a giant illuminated turkey. The only trouble he caused wasn't really his fault. Noah was told to take the box he came in, that said "Inflatable Turkey" to the dumpster, but he couldn't find a dumpster and unbeknownst to us, just dropped it by some trash cans at someone else's campsite. An investigation into who illegally dumped trash on someone else quickly led to us, given we were the only super cool people displaying inflated poultry. With that kind of evidence stacked against us, we had no choice but to accept responsibility and admit we were the turkey-box trashers. But the nice campground people realized what had happened, so everything was ok, and Noah learned a valuable lesson about covering your tracks better. |
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That night, Elizabeth learned how to brine a turkey, and was super stoked about being the one to remove the bags of guts from the turkeys' cavities, creating yet another interesting thing to burn up in the campfire. It was an exciting time. Soon morning came, and we were all busy cooking, smoking, building fires, hauling in more water, and setting up.
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| We had to purchase a new smoker/grill because we left ours in SC when we didn't have room to bring it. We thought we would be happy without it, but after weeks of depression as Thanksgiving approached, we decided we should get a new one so we could have joy once again. |
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| We shove apples, onions, fresh thyme and rosemary into our turkey butts. |
I'm sure you could smell the birds smoking, all over the campground. Once they were going, Steve and Noah set up our dining room.
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| I don't know this for certain, but I'm pretty sure the neighbors died when they saw this, which could be why I never smelled that alleged frying turkey... |
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| Nothing says, "A happy family Thanksgiving in the woods" quite like whimsical owls emblazoned on your dinnerware. In case you noticed the spoons incorrectly placed on the left, I'll just say, I obviously didn't do that... |
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The turkeys cooked for many hours, and then we made the sweet potato casserole on hot coals in the cast iron Dutch oven. I only make it one day a year, since the recipe boasts a whopping 3 cups of sugar, and 3 sticks of butter! But it's the best there is.
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| This was one of our first times using this cooking method, but as you can see, it turned out amazing! Don't you just want to dive into this deliciousness and smear it all over yourself? .... Maybe that's just me. |
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| nomnomnomnom |
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| The kids called that little turkey cake, "Pedro Jr." He was a hit, but I thought his head looked a little disturbing. |
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| Later we had dessert and watched football. Then Steve continued to watch football while I pulled turkey off the bones, and the kids burned things in the campfire. |
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| I thought the paper lanterns were a nice touch. |
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I didn't go Black Friday shopping this year, which was a first. I've lost interest as I've begun to feel that the retailers' greed is ruining Thanksgiving. We did go to a Bass Pro Shops that night so the kids could purchase more hunting camo... But mostly we just relaxed and enjoyed nature and each other for the rest of the weekend.
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| No, Pedro!!! NOOOO! Speak to me, Pedro!!! |
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| Me singing and doing a weird dance. |
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This has been a hard year for our family. Not because we live in Jersey now, but because we've faced trials that I never could have imagined. So we thought this would be the worst Thanksgiving we've ever had, but it actually turned out to be the best one of our lives. What a blessing! I highly recommend taking your family camping for Thanksgiving. It brings everyone together in a way that you just don't get at home. For us, it's the new tradition, and we already can't wait until next year! But for now, I must get busy and lose the 5 lbs I gained...
1 Chronicles 16:34 O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.
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