Hello friends!
I hope all those that celebrated enjoyed a Happy Thanksgiving and managed to make it home alive if you braved the shops on Black Friday! Personally, I can think of nothing worse - I hate crowded shops, loathe queuing even more and if I had my eye on something specific would much rather order it online from the comfort of my sofa with a glass of wine - much more civilized! Don't get me wrong - I love a bargain as much as the next person, however, the timing of Black Friday always seems rather comical to me when I see pictures on TV of hoards of people trampling each other (literally to death a couple of years ago!) and fighting in the aisles over cheap goods just hours after being thankful for what they already have. No thanks. I think I'll wait for one of the other 927 sales that seem to happen here almost weekly.
This year, as Ethan's 'Fall Break' coincides with Thanksgiving and Mr B has had another crazy schedule of traveling over the last couple of months, we decided on a relaxing week in a cabin up at Pinetop, a small town up in the 'high country' of NE Arizona to do nothing but spend time together as a family - eating, drinking, playing games and getting outside to enjoy the fresh cool air of the White Mountains (a welcome change from the record heat we have had for the past 6 months) - just how every 14 year old boy wants to spend his school holidays right?! Lol.
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| What?!? ... no signal?! My life is over. |
We have actually stayed at this resort before. 6 years ago in fact, whilst on holiday from the U.K. Never in a million years did I think that a few years later we would be making our home just a short 3 hours drive away! You never know what's around the corner do you, which I think is what makes life such a fabulous adventure.
On our first morning we looked for somewhere to continue our Sunday brunch ritual and were directed to a place called Darbi's, 5 minutes down the road. It was a very homely place and clearly popular with the locals - one of whom seated at the next table to us was also proudly displaying his right to the 2nd amendment. I have to say I didn't feel entirely comfortable gazing at a holstered pistol whilst trying to enjoy my breakfast, however, I did find it slightly hilarious when the waitress delivered his order to watching a large gun toting cowboy sitting alone at a table tucking into .... Desperate Dan size steak and eggs? Bacon, sausage & grits (bleugh by the way)? ... No. A bowl of yoghurt with granola and fresh berries! Obviously a healthy cowboy.
I opted for the more traditional eggs, bacon & hash browns, which came with a choice of biscuits & sausage gravy, toast or pancakes. I thought I would go with the biscuits and gravy as I haven't had these yet ... and I can report that it is unlikely that I will be having them again! Whilst the 'biscuits' themselves were ok (a cross between a scone and a dumpling I guess), if a little on the dry side (hence I suppose the gravy), the 'gravy' was more like a luke warm tin of Campbells mushroom soup poured over the top ... ugh! (and probably not too far from the reality as tins of Campbells soup seem to feature heavily in a lot of recipes I have seen here!)
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| Bleuugghh! |
The Teen decided on a breakfast burrito - a flour tortilla filled with cheddar cheese, scrambled egg, green chilis, hash browns and bacon. From being a toddler, Ethan has always turned his nose up at eggs and would never eat them. Since we moved here though, he surprised us both by announcing one Sunday that he would try an omelette, promptly pronouncing it as 'delicious'! He had refused to expand his egg repertoire any further though until today's breakfast burrito.
"Oh. It tastes just like omelette!" he announced after the first tentative bite. Well, who'd have thought. **face palm**
After we had finished stuffing out faces we embarked on our first hike of the week along the Mogollon Rim Trail. Ethan kept us entertained by reading out each informative sign we came across in the voice of Brian Cox, complete with northern accent - hilarious! Interestingly, it seems that the Ponderosa Pine, which featured heavily on our walk, has the largest population here in Arizona of anywhere in the world. No small feat for somewhere you automatically associate with the desert.
Also, co-habitating happily beside the pines were both Aligator & Utah juniper trees (I immediately thought of you Donna!) which is unusual apparently as both types of tree generally require very different types of habitat.
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| Aligator Juniper |
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| Utah Juniper |
Anyway, botony lesson over.
The next day we woke up to pouring rain so after a lazy morning catching up on some reading and Mr B's obligatory visit to the gym **rolls eyes** we decided on a trip to the local cinema to see Fantastic Beasts & Where To Find Them followed an early dinner at the local steak house.
Well, when I said we went to the movies to escape the rain, that wasn't entirely accurate! Halfway through the film there was a strange noise that got louder and louder. I looked across at Ethan who clearly thinking I had morphed into some neurotic old dear, whispered "it's ok, it's just rain on the roof". A few minutes later, very realistic sound effects of a full blown waterfall could be heard coming from down at the front of the theater ... I was confused ... there was no water scene in the film? After another minute or so I realised that it was an actual waterfall as rain poured through the roof! Nobody else seemed to bat an eyelid though - weird! The film was great viewing by the way although don't go expecting it to be like Harry Potter. It is connected yes, but is quite different and as this is the first of reportedly a series of 5, it builds up the story gradually leaving you ready for the next one - especially after the introduction of one of my favorite actors at the end (I won't spoil it for you if you are still planning to see it but he was made to be in this series!). Afterwards, we stopped off at Charlie Clark's, the local steak house, for an early dinner. Hmmmm ... disappointing to say the least ... but then as I am not easy to please as I love to cook and love to eat, and therefore am really fussy when I eat out. I really resent paying a fortune for something that I could have made better myself at home for a fraction of the price (but clearly I wasn't at home and just wanted to eat a tasty dinner that I hadn't had to make myself). The salad tasted of stagnant pond water, the steak had a very odd earthy flavour, my mashed potato was cold and the peppercorn sauce which accompanied it was a lukewarm congealed mass with a skin on top which wobbled in the gravy boat it arrived in. Yuk! I can feel a Yelp review coming on as we speak ...
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strange rocks that looked like giant sandcastles (called 'the teepees')
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| and rocks covered with ancient petroglyphs ... |
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| created by Puebloan people living along the Puerco River between 650 and 2,000 years ago! |
The petrified forest finally gave way to the area known as the Painted Desert, which was equally beautiful and well worth a visit if you are ever in the area (but maybe not if you are a 14 yr old boy!)
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Painted Desert
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Finally, on Thanksgiving itself, we attempted a full roast turkey dinner, cooked in the tiny cabin kitchen which turned out surprisingly well considering the limited cooking utensils and amount of space available! Just before dinner Marcus popped across to the Resort Reception to see if he could get more dishwasher detergent (a must after a big roast!) and came back to advise that Christopher, the young duty manager, was working until 7pm and then going home to spend the evening in the company of his 14 yr old dog :( We all felt a bit sorry for him and so as we probably had enough food to feed the entire resort (Northern habits die hard!) I plated up one extra and sent Marcus back with it. Hope he liked sprouts! :D
Now back home to reality, 4 loads of laundry and a week's worth of mail to open ... oh look another letter from the IRS addressed to Ethan.
"Dear Mr Barlow, unfortunately your request for a Tax Identification Number has been rejected due to insufficient identification records ..... "
OMFG!!!!!!!! What is wrong with these people?!? To be continued no doubt after Mr B wastes another half day trying to get through to someone with half a brain on Monday morning ...
Have a good week friends and see you next time
TTFN
Bev x
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