Oma Approved

January's adventure involved a road trip to see my Oma. After meeting all of Connor's family, we felt it was important that he meet more of mine. Plus, he needed to be Oma-approved. 

We drove up our usual route with the traditional pit-stop in Weed for ice cream and french fries. Mount Shasta had a good dousing of snow since I'd last been by. 

We had a great time driving up. I had hoped that Christopher would be the driver when we reached the Oregon state sign because I knew he would be willing to pull over on the highway. Mum allowed us one take before we all ran back to the car. Thank goodness we got it on the first go.

I had a feeling Oma would like Connor, but I didn't realize that she would be an enthusiastic supporter. They hit it off. Yay!

Also note that Oma is wearing the sweater I made her. She didn't know we were coming. She wears it because she loves it. I think it suits her quite well.

After a few days of visiting we drove back down, although this time we took the coastal route. I knew that this would all be new to Connor. What I didn't realize was that Christopher hadn't seen much of the coast either. We stopped to see the cobra plants. Of course at this point Christopher had to imitate the "Purple Cobra" thing from the Dodgeball movie.

As it turns out, not only do Connor and Christopher get on well, they egg each other on. Their bromance went to 11 on this trip. I almost felt like the third wheel.

 Just look at these guys.

We continued on and stopped by the Trees of Mystery. This time around we realized two things that no one in the family had noticed before:

1. Paul Bunyan is not wearing a black shirt. It is his chest hair. 

2. You won't see it in this picture because Connor is in front, but Babe is definitely a male ox. 

Shenanigans continued as we stopped for dinner in Eureka.

And they didn't end the whole trip. We weren't sure anyone was going to get any sleep that night in the hotel. There was far too much laughter.

Christmas In Kentucky

Back in December, I flew out with Connor to spend two weeks in Kentucky with his family for Christmas. After landing, Connor's brother picked us up. Unfortunately we took a wrong turn and accidentally ended up in Indiana.

We took advantage of it and had a look at a nearby fossil bed that was along the Falls of the Ohio State Park.

It was a work trip for Connor, but he still had a few days off to spend on adventures. His brother, cousin, and I went to Natural Bridge on a particularly beautiful day. But, I got to spend plenty of time with different family members while Connor was working. An adventure that stands out is the day Connor's brother and cousin took me out on an excursion that ended with me falling into a river (because of my own pride). Luckily I had packed extra clothes. Also, there aren't pictures because I had enough sense to leave the camera in the car so as to keep it dry.

On a different day, Connor's Mum and I went off to Buffalo Trace distillery. It was fascination to learn about how the distillery was one of three that was allowed to remain open during Prohibition in order to manufacture alcohol for "medicinal" purposes. We also learned that there are remnants of laws from Prohibition that allow pharmacies to sell liquor because of its medicinal qualities.

Last year was the first year I ever had a Christmas tree. But this year I joined the family to cut down one. It was quite an adventure. I fell into a creek during that excursion as well...

I also learned how to chop wood. Connor told me it would be tough because much of what we had to chop was Hedge Apple. I chopped and chopped. Eventually I looked at the axe and noticed that it was pretty flat. I told Connor, "I'm no expert, but is the axe suppose to look like that?" To which Connor replied, "That is the dullest axe I've ever seen." 

We told his Dad about it later and I was asked if Connor had been hazing me. Connor replied that it was chopping wood on "hard mode."

I had a fantastic time out in Kentucky. The only thing I missed was snow. The day we left the temperature dropped. Ah well, I'm sure I'll get to see it in the future.