Labor Day Tradition

As far as holiday tradition goes, Garrett and I don't have much that we do the same each year. We've spent a Christmas in Colorado with friends, a Christmas by ourselves in Utah, and a Christmas back home with family. I feel like every year we're asking ourselves what we're going to do, 'cause it's never been the same. 

But there's one holiday that we automatically know what we're gonna do. No question about it. 

Labor Day. 

For the past four years, we've driven the long road North to Brad & Sharon's in Calistoga. (Brad is one of Garrett's older brothers) They have two girls that we adore, and they live in a small town where the pace is slower. All the locals know each other, and they know who the tourists are, so we usually get asked where we're from. The weekend is always so relaxing, a nice break from the much more crowded Southern California. It's a place riding bikes to the store, or to a bakery in the morning for fresh coffee and quiche is the norm. On our way in to town this year, as we rode behind Brad, Sharon and the girls on their bikes, Garrett and I looked at each other and said, "We've got to live in a small town." We love it. It feels so very right. 

In the summer months, May through October, there is a local farmer's market in town where townies bring their delicious foods, crafts, flowers, fresh fruits and vegetables (the list goes on) to a parking lot where they set up canopies and sell these delights to the crowds that gather. There's usually music playing in the background, and it's so fun to walk around with our four year old niece, who takes her money to the tamale tent and orders up her regular. She knows so many people in town, and they all smile at her and say "Good morning, Monica!" as she makes her way around the temporary thoroughfare. We enjoyed some tri-tip kabobs, a tomato/mozzarella/basil/oil salad, and blackberry pie. 

Brad, who owns the town's bike shop, usually stays pretty busy while we're there, as Labor Day is a great weekend for business. He does sneak away as much as he can to join us for whatever little adventure we're doing. This year we spent a couple of afternoons at the pool, where Monica has become quite the little swimmer. She's jumping off the diving board now, with no floaties, swimming to the edge of the pool, climbing out and doing it all over again. 

We also always come knowing that we're going to eat some very good food. This year we had all kinds of stuff, from tuna steaks and delicious salads, to gourmet burgers and sweet potato fries, broccoli salad, grilled pizzas, guacamole, corn on the cob, and many more mouth watering treats. For dessert, Brad whipped up a delicious strawberry/blackberry topping for vanilla ice cream that I just couldn't get enough of. So good. 

The drive is long at 7-10 hours (depending on traffic), but it's so very worth it. The company is great, we always get lots of good time outside, biking or hiking, running or walking around town. And it's just nice to be with family, even if it's a quick trip. 

Here are some pictures from the weekend. So fun. 

Vineyards in Napa Valley. It's beautiful this time of year. The grapes are almost ready to go! 

A castle at one of the vineyards! 

Uncle G throwing Mo in to the air! :)

Makin' silly faces with Myka and Monica

Sweet girls. 

Mykie was a little wary of Uncle G at first, but when she discovered that he was the only one who could teach her how to shell peanuts (we all pretended we didn't know), she eventually warmed up to him and ended up sitting on his lap the last day we were there! Win! We think the beard throws her off.

Already lookin' forward to our next trip up! :)

A somewhat different Thanksgiving

What comes to mind when the idea of "Thanksgiving" is tossed into a conversation? The essentials; turkey, sweet potato casserole, rolls, green bean casserole, numerous pies and ice cream. Oh....and most of the time family! But this year was a little different for the southern California Suhr household of two. Instead of spending the holiday fighting traffic driving somewhere or loads of moolah flying home, we decided to spend it camping in a tent in a little place called Yosemite. Lodging? A cabin with a nice bed, fridge full of food and hot showers, right? Nope. Not even that. We went for the camping experience and it turned out to be a good one. We had 3 nights of freezing (literally) temperatures, but thanks to our numerous ground mattresses, blankets, and queen size sleeping bag we slept like babies! And our food....was goooood! Beth suggested "pigs in a blanket" for thanksgiving dinner and so that's what we did. Here's how. Roast a hot dog over the fire. Once it is done cooking, take a thin slice of cheese and place it around the hot dog and then wrap it in croissant dough (from the can), and finally in aluminum foil. After you roast it over the fire some more it starts sizzlin' and boy does it taste great! Oh...and speaking of fires, we had roaring fires at night. They kept us nice and toasty as we cooked and ate out meals and waited for the uneventful sighting of a bear. They were supposed to be in camp every night but we didn't hear or see any sign of them. Beth's beginning to think that animals don't exist where people say they do. On our honeymoon in New Hampshire we looked and looked for a moose for a week and a half and never saw one. We were up in the Boundary Waters canoeing for a week and didn't see one up there either. Now, no bears in Yosemite?! She might me on to something.

The interesting part of camping though at this time of year in a deep valley, is that the sun sets around 4pm and it's dark by 5. The game then becomes, "what can we do to stay awake for like 4 more hours till it's bed time?". The answer was NOTHING! Ahh.....going to bed at 8pm was actually a treat. We got about 12 hours of sleep each night.

During the days we hiked to gorgeous water falls via hiking trails that were near vertical. I looked at the hikers guide and it said that the hikes would be strenuous and then very strenuous, but I didn't believe it. But let me tell you, it's not 3 days after the hikes and we are both still so sore from it! The people on the trails were very friendly and everyone was wishing each other "happy Thanksgiving!" and we even got to hike with a man from San Francisco for a while. His wife and girls were staying down in the valley for the day and so we some good company for a while. One thing that seems to happen on our hikes is some sort of miscommunication. Beth says something, I don't hear it right for some reason and then the aftermath leaves us trying to sort out what happened. Neither of us like it, but it happens each time we go out! Every couple I talk to says that communication is the hardest part of a relationship....and I'll agree whole-heartedly on that one. A constant tension that we'll be learning about for years to come.

Back to the end of the trip...we came home and relaxed friday evening after thanksgiving and it was so nice to be warm, clean and sleeping with a down comforter! Saturday ended up being a huge day for us as well. We made our first, all by ourselves, thanksgiving dinner for us and 6 others! It was a hit and the people that came loved it. We really enjoyed the evening with our friends and just wish it could have lasted for longer. The day ended with a slice of pumpkin roll and some sparkling cider and laughter in the living room!
That was a different thanksgiving, but one I'll remember for the rest of my life. I'm going to put a few pics up just so you can see where we were for our fall holiday!