Happy Thanksgiving!

Hello! We're back from our tv-less, laptop-less, stress-less four day weekend in Hood River.

Sigh.

See the train right there? (yes, that one just to the left.) Yeah.

Now, I've rented my fair share of vacation rentals in the past. We've wound up in houses with holes in the furniture, houses that looked so much better in its advertisement picture you wondered if it was even the same place, and one time we even rented a house with slatted interior doors on all the rooms. Including the bathrooms. But never have I rented a house where the company neglected to mention that there was an extremely busy train track, oh, 30 yards from my bedroom window. Yeah. That might be something you might want to ask about next time you ponder vacation rentals via the internet. I'm just saying.

And actually, the only reason it deserves a mention (except for the lack of sleep part) is that one of the reasons we were supposed to go to Hood River for the Thanksgiving holiday in the first place was so that the kids could ride on Mt. Hood Railroad's Polar Express train. Until, of course, the track washed out. Which is what made it so funny (!) to be bombarded/accosted/surrounded by giant trains every 20 minutes. For three days.

Okay. So maybe I started out on the wrong track. Ha!

In all honesty, we had a great time with a great group of people. Cameron ran around and played with his friends Mia and Joey while the adults caught up and relaxed in one anothers' company. Some of us got some shopping in. Jeromy went to the Civil War game (the Beavers won, of course), we all ate our weight in turkey and mashed potatoes. And so in the end all was as it should be. We even attempted to cut down a Christmas tree on the way home, but had little luck finding the perfect one.