Thanksgiving came early for our family as one couple was leaving for some beach time in Thailand.  So we had a feast for eight on Sunday, November 24.

On Tuesday we dropped the travelers off at SeaTac Airport and continued north to Canada.  We had discovered a really lovely cross country ski area – Sovereign Lake Nordic Centre, in the Canadian Okanogan – a few years ago.  It is in the British Columbia Silver Star Provincial Park.  The elevation is 5400 ft/1650 m elevation and the snow arrives a lot earlier there than in the Washington Cascades.

It is the first time I have tried skiing since foot surgery last spring, so I was a little worried.  On the first day I learned that my surgically remodeled big toe does not like bending much, so I have to keep my kick and glide crisp.  No more pushing off on bent toes, but otherwise I had no problems.  On the second day we tried a “back country trail,” but it required much more flexibility than my foot was able to contribute, so we returned to the wider, groomed trails.

The temperatures were right around freezing, the snow was great, and the trails well groomed.  We were skiing on weekdays, so the Sovereign Lakes’ trails and lodges were pleasantly uncrowded.  The trail system features a lodge with snack bar in the parking lot and a warming cabin (with a well stocked woodstove) accessible by a combination of green (easy) and blue (intermediate) trails.

On our last day there, we remembered to ask a Canadian couple to take our photo:

        Skiing at Sovereign Lakes

In the past we have been challenged to find a turkey dinner in Canada on Thanksgiving Day.  This year there was a Denny’s Restaurant near our hotel in Vernon with turkey dinner a standard on its menu.  It was fun to eat our classic turkey dinner (all but the green bean casserole) in a family restaurant, surrounded by a wide variety of families with children enjoying dinner out.

The culinary highlights of the trip were the Little Tex Restaurant in Vernon and lunch at the D’Anjou Bakery beside Highway 2, between Wenatchee and Cashmere, Washington.  Little Tex has an amazingly varied menu that starts with Tex-Mex (like their décor) and ventures broadly.  The bakery is a family favorite in Central Washington and has expanded to lunch prep fairly recently.  The baked goods are delicious!

While we were in Canada I realized that I needed to send Thanksgiving greeting cards to a few long-distance relatives I usually talk with on holidays.  To my amazement, Americangreetings.com has a turkey volcano card!  How could I resist?