A most unusual Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I don't know, however, that this was my favorite Thanksgiving.

My family decided to drive out to California to visit my nephews. (My brother and his wife just happen to live there too.) I generally like to spend holidays at home, but I guess traveling at Thanksgiving is better than traveling at Christmas.

I used a few of my vacation hours to leave work early on Wednesday, and we took off. Parts of I-80 were pretty snowy in eastern Nevada, but it cleared up in western Nevada. We spent the night in Winnemucca before continuing our drive on Thanksgiving morning. We had a motel room with very noisy pipes, so I woke up and had a hard time falling asleep again. It was not a good night's sleep.

On Thursday morning, we stopped at Del Taco in Reno. As I finished my breakfast burrito, I felt very full. I didn't think it was that big. Oh well, I thought, I just hope I get my appetite back for Thanksgiving dinner. 

(Speaking of breakfast burritos, whenever I think of them I remember that one time Jan Terri called them "breastfast burinos.")

My brother's family doesn't really do American traditions, so we decided to eat Thanksgiving dinner at a Hometown Buffet. I've never gone out to eat for Thanksgiving before, and it's not my ideal holiday, but it would have had its perks to gorge myself while visiting with my family. Unfortunately, it would not turn out that way.

As we got to the restaurant, I could tell that there was something different from just being too full. I hadn't eaten that much. I was chilly, and it wasn't that cold. And even though I hadn't slept well that night, I seemed excessively tired. I got traditional Thanksgiving foods on my plate, but only tiny bits. I couldn't even finish my roll, and I never waste food. I had to have pumpkin, pecan, and apple pies, but I could only eat a few bites of each. (They were small pieces, so I wasn't as wasteful as it sounds.) I was super tired, and I couldn't bear the thought of eating more, so I sat with my head on the table. I know that's not polite, but it was all I could do.

After we went home, I took a nap, and I felt better, but after watching Free Birds that night, I felt worse again. I went to bed with chills, so I was dressed quite warmly with lots of warm things on the bed.

At some point in the middle of the night, I was literally dreaming about Pilgrims when I woke up really warm and not feeling well. That time I could tell this wasn't going to be a go-back-to-bed-and-feel-better thing, because I was already in bed. I got up and went to the bathroom and tossed my cookies (or, rather, my Thanksgiving dinner). It was the first time I'd done so since 2004. I'd forgotten just how unpleasant an experience it is. I didn't remember that "it" ends up in your nose. However, once I was done, I was sweating--and felt much better. I felt fine the rest of the trip--maybe not 100 percent, but probably around 90 percent most of the time.

Although the Thanksgiving holiday wasn't great, it was a still fun weekend visiting my nephews--Preston, who is 11, and Franklin and Nathaniel, who will be 8 and 6 in January. Franklin is generally the shyest of the three, and Nathaniel is least shy, but among us it was almost the opposite. Nathaniel didn't bond a whole lot with us--it's not that he was shy, he just did more of his own thing. Franklin, however, loved talking with us. He loved to tickle me (I am very ticklish) and get "puppy rides" from me. The others did too, but not as much as Franklin. He loved calling me simply "Uncle," and he began calling his dad "Uncle's Brother." (It was only a year and a half ago that he learned his dad and I were in the same family, and it kind of blew his mind.) He's grown into a delightful kid.

We climbed up nearby Albany Hill, which is within very close walking distance from their apartment (their fourth dwelling since they moved to California in 2012). Surprisingly there's a significant Wikipedia article about the hill. Hopefully next time I'm there I'll be feeling better and can go on a trail run there.

 I've never seen so much graffiti as I saw in their neighborhood. Franklin spotted a "gangster tree" or "graffiti tree."

We asked Nathaniel if he would quit growing up, and he responded, "I can't, it's the life circle."

I love visiting them, but I actually am getting less sad to leave them. That's because I know they'll remember us, and they won't change as much from visit to visit as they used  to do. I just wish they would move to Utah.

***

This is the last week of Pumpkinundation Roundup. You'll have to let me know if you want me to do it again next year. Now, some people say, "Why can't you have pumpkin pie for Christmas?" They point out the lyric "Pennyslvania and some homemade pumpkin pie." Well, that song doesn't specifically reference Christmas. What about "when they pass around the coffee and the pumpkin pie"? That song is even less Christmassy, and coffee doesn't have anything to do with Christmas either. What about "Later we'll have some pumpkin pie and we'll do some caroling"? You got me there, but one song hardly makes it so. Besides, when was the last time you "rocked" around a Christmas tree?

Basically I consider pumpkin pie and all other pumpkin things to be a fall thing, not a Christmas thing. That could change, but that's how it is now.

I didn't really have anything new this week, except that I made a smore with pumpkin spice marshmallows and candy corn Hershey's. It was better than the one I had with candy corn marshmallows. I also had pumpkin pie at Hometown Buffet, but I was in no mood to take pictures.

I'm going to do a recap of all the pumpkin and candy corn things I consumed between September and now, with ratings on a five-star scale. Arby's pumpkin cheesecake shake wins the distinction of the worst pumpkin thing I had. I can't pick a favorite, but I loved the Spiced Pumpkin Pie Clif Bar, Pumpkin Pie Pop-Tarts, and Taco Time Pumpkin Pie Smoothie. All candy corn items have three stars (except for Brach's Autumn Mix).

Nature's Path Pumpkin Flax Granola***
Planters Pumpkin Spice Almonds****
Calley's Favorites Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies****
Pumpkin Spice Frosted Mini Wheats**
Pumpkin Spice Oreos***
Pumpkin Pie Pop-Tarts*****
Spiced Pumpkin Pie Clif Bar*****
Kashi Pumpkin Spice Flax Granola Bars***
Sunbelt Bakery Pumpkin Spice Granola Bars***
Dreyer's Slow Churned Pumpkin Patch Ice Cream****
Kneaders spice cupcake***
Quaker Pumpkin Spice Instant Oatmeal**
Chobani Pumpkin Harvest Crisp Greek Yogurt**
Eggo Pumpkin Spice Waffles****
Pumpkin Spice Peeps****
Pumpkin Puffins Cereal **
Hershey's Pumpkin Spice Kisses**
Pumpkin Pie Blizzard*****
belVita Pumpkin Spice Breakfast biscuits***
Archer Farms Pumpkin Corn Tortilla Chips***
Kodiak Cakes Pumpkin Dark Chocolate Minute Muffin****
Homemade Argentinian pumpkin soup****
Homemade pumpkin waffles*****
Pizza Pie Cafe pumpkin dessert pizza****
Arctic Circle pumpkin pie shakes*****
Nielsen's Frozen Custard pumpkin concrete****
Dark Chocolate Pumpkin Seed barkThins  ***
Homemade pumpkin pizza dough***
Nestle Toll House Pumpkin Spice Chips***
Fiber One Pumpkin Bars***
Thomas Pumpkin Spice Bagels****
Kneaders pumpkin chocolate chip cake*****
Sara Lee Iced Pumpkin Cakes ***
Little Bites Pumpkin Muffins***
Taco Time pumpkin pie smoothies*****
Taco Time pumpkin empanadas****
Great Harvest Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread****
Homemade panfried pumpkin with tomato sauce**
Homemade pumpkin chocolate chip cookies***
Hostess Pumpkin Spice Cup Cakes ****
Kneaders pumpkin spice steamer**
Entenmann's Pumpkin Donuts****
Kneaders pumpkin cheesecake***
pumpkin bread at a Halloween party***
Homemade Pumpkin Black-Bean Turkey Chili ****
Corner Bakery Pumpkin Whoopee Pie *****
Corner Bakery Gingerbread Pumpkin Bundt Cake****
Wilton Pumpkin Spice Candy Melts **
Various pumpkin pies**** (they're all basically the same)
gooey pumpkin butter cake*****
Stephen's Pumpkin Spice Hot Cocoa***
Arby's Pumpkin Cheesecake Shake*
Franz Baker Shoppe Pumpkin Filled Pie**
Atlantis Burger pumpkin eggnog shakes****
 QuestBar Pumpkin Pie Bar***
 homemade pumpkin chocolate chip bread (I didn't make it)***
Village Inn pumpkin pancakes ***
Arctic Circle Pumpkin Oreo shake*****
 "bite-size" pumpkin chocolate chip cookie****
pumpkin cake donut****
 Kneaders pumpkin bread**** 

Candy Corn Peeps ***
Lofthouse candy corn cookies***
Jet-Puffed Candy Corn Marshmallows***
Hershey's Candy Corn bars***
Hostess Candy Corn Cup Cakes***
Charms Candy Corn Pops***
 Candy Corn Taffy***
 Brach's Peanut Butter Cup Candy Corn***
 Starburst Candy Corn ***
Candy Corn M&Ms***
 Brach's Autumn Mix ****

I could continue doing a roundup, like gingerbread, peppermint, or eggnog, or in a couple of months red velvet. But for my own health, I don't think I should do that.