thanksgiving road trip 2010

With just enough time to unpack from our trip to the DR, do some laundry and re-pack, we headed up to Georgia to spend thanksgiving with 3 of Mark’s brothers, nieces, nephews and their growing families. Hoping to miss the day. before.thanksgiving bottle neck on I-75 near Ocala, we left Tuesday afternoon and drove to St Augustine, enjoying a nice evening in the ancient city and an inspiring morning walk in the neighborhood around the Saragossa Inn, where we spent the night.

Mark enjoys the architecture and buildings, while I photograph just about everything… we go together like peanut butter and jelly.

We arrived at Paul and Sandy’s after an uneventful and pleasant drive from St Augustine to Augusta.

Can you tell their home and property was designed and built for photography!?

The next 39 hours were filled with food, games, and the joy of family… there were 18 adults and 8 kids.

My camera was in love with these two!

We are thankful for all God’s blessings, one of which is family…

Friday morning, while people were rushing to Black Friday sales and our hearts and bellies were full, we headed home, dreading the long drive home. But thankful we were not fighting over parking spaces or getting pushed and shoved through the superstore aisles. Taking the rainy back roads of Georgia,

was a pleasant and interesting drive, making the 9 hours pass quickly. We pulled into a college town coffee shop in Statesboro, tanking up with caffeine and sugary pastries that kept us awake as we drove past cotton fields,

pecan groves,

confederate flags, roadside bar-b-q stops, towns like Hephzibah, Hortense, and Hopeulikit (which I say hope.you.like.it, but doubt that’s correct),

and miles of empty pine forest edged county roads. Sure beats the congestion of interstate travel or mobbed malls.

We passed this sign

and I had a flashback to those childhood memories of receiving a Claxton Fruitcake from generous friends back in the States, while we lived in Suriname. The only problem was, it would sometimes take months to arrive. So instead of being a Christmas fruitcake, it would be a 4^th of July dried out hunk of fruit, albeit well-preserved with all that sugar.

Time passed quicker than expected and soon the end was in sight.

And the rain cleared up.

We are home now… thankful for time spent with Mark’s family.

Now on to Christmas… {sigh} I almost feel pushed into Christmas. I love Christmas. I just don’t like the production we tend to make it. Maybe I am showing my age.

How about you? I hope that your thanksgiving was a good one… that your heart is full and overflowing, thankful for the things that allow us to live life fully.

I know one thing for sure…

I am thankful for the way you add life to my life.

{if you are in the Augusta area,
check out Paul DeJong’s photography website!}