Thanksgiving used to start in the car before holiday rush hour on Wednesday. Mom would get out of school about the same time my sisters and I would, and once home we’d claim territory in the minivan, settle in, and drive downtown to pick up Dad from work. He’d take the wheel and officially begin the annual trip from St. Louis to Chicago to visit the rest of the family. After the usual adventures of trapping family members in a car for several hours, we’d arrive in the suburbs of Chicago and spend the night with Mom’s brother and family. Thursday was spent with most of Mom’s side of the family, with an enormous Thanksgiving dinner hosted at Grandma and Grandpa’s with all families contributing more than enough food; everything of course homemade and outstanding. Friday we’d get up early and drive to Milwaukee to visit Dad’s side, have another huge midday meal while visiting, and make sure we’d also visit Kopp’s Frozen Custard at least once before returning to Chicago that night. Sometimes Saturday was spent visiting more, but either Saturday or Sunday we’d pack back up and return to St. Louis.

Families change over time, and traditions evolve. Now out of school, parent’s home, and married, Kelly and I alternate between our parent’s Thanksgiving dinner plans. Kelly’s parent’s host a delicious Thanksgiving in St. Louis, and mine still make the Chicago trip every year. While the location may change for us, Thanksgiving remains a time to set aside the trivial details distracting us from life, and spend some quality time reconnecting with loved ones.

This year, I found myself on Wednesday unable to get away from work early enough to beat the holiday traffic driving between St. Louis and Chicago. Ideally, Kelly and I hoped to leave by 3pm, but I was still tied to my desk at 3:30, and still had not packed. My parents left closer to noon with one of my sisters and her boyfriend, and my other sister was driving separately with her boyfriend about an hour behind them.

I had already talked with Mom about their progress through a winter storm that had popped in to drop rain, sleet and snow across their path, and found out how traffic was crawling. The conditions were particularly bad between Springfield and Lincoln, IL, with cars sliding off the road and running into each other. Plows had apparently so far been absent. The typical 5-6 hour drive was looking like it was going to take them closer to 9-10 hours. After chatting with Kelly and checking in on the parents with another phone call, we decided to skip the traditional Wednesday Chicago scramble and just leave early the next morning.

This Thanksgiving, I’m thankful we didn’t try to make the drive on Wednesday. A worthy story should show up on my sister Kelly’s site soon detailing their exciting 13 hour trip.

Our trip was wonderfully uneventful; the biggest hitch was briefly forgetting where the wiper de-icer button was, and having trouble finding an appetizing fast food restaurant open on Thanksgiving for a morning snack. While driving we saw plenty of cars and associated carnage on the sides of the road and in ditches from the previous evening’s weather, but the road surface was mostly dry for us and traffic was light. We were plenty alert in the morning and satisfactory land speed delivered us to join the family before noon.

Mom’s brother’s family hosted Thanksgiving this year, and we snacked on rye bread with dill dip and jalapeno cheese squares while baby kittens and football entertained.

Grandma and Grandpa arrived and food was soon served. Everything was of course wonderful and overfilling. A break between dinner and desert definitely required; naps were enjoyed (and more football I’m told). Back at the table, we sang Happy Birthday to Henry, and sat down for round 2. I think I had four different slices of pie on my plate at one time, I can’t recall. I do remember being stuffed.

More naps were had, some card games (Hand and Foot), but that evening the kids took off to see The Incredibles (again for some). I tried on my sisters new glasses to discover that they made the showtimes more clear. I was the last one to not need glasses; now I’ll have to visit an eye guy when the new year starts. After the movie, Kelly and I introduced Firefly to those interested, and watched the excellent pilot and 2nd episode (I really miss this show) before collapsing into the sofa bed we were watching from.

Woke up late Friday morning (which felt like a Sunday) for the drive to Milwaukee, but was able to change into decent before it was time to leave. We decided that we’d join my sisters in planning to return to St. Louis that night, breaking tradition some more by leaving earlier, but doing so feels like it extends the vacation. So we packed the cars intending not to return to our gracious hosts until another trip, and then left to go further north for more family visiting.

Dad’s parents look much better than I’ve seen them in a while, and I was happy to visit a little after not being up to see them for some time. We stayed at Grandma and Grandpas while waiting for Dad’s sister to show up, then we went out for lunch, taking over part of the restaurant with 14 people. Lunch was topped off with two scoops of Kopp’s Turtle Cheesecake Frozen Custard. Goodbye hugs were shared and back into the cars the six “kids” climbed for the return trip to St. Louis.

The drive was again quick and uneventful, going faster than expected. The iPod was wonderful for music since the radio is not, and I was able to get some serious music rating time in. After dropping off my sister and her boyfriend so they could go visit his family some, Kelly and I returned home to remind our cats they don’t live alone, and to get some time with the Internet. I finished this post in bed, which I only was away from for one night. This was the most efficient Thanksgiving trip I can remember.

The Thanksgiving holiday started around noon last Wednesday, at which point it was decided no more work was possible for a tired brain, and I was looking forward to some mental recovery.

I spent the afternoon with Sean as he ran some errands before his trip to Hong Kong. He was required to purchase a round-trip ticket, so he’s scheduled to return in a month. However, if he end up with a job there, we’ll have to save some money to visit if we want to see him again. Sean’s Thanksgiving involved 14 or 16 hours on a plane, which has got to be torture, though I’m sure his visit will be worth it.

This year, instead of the typical drive to the Chicago suburbs for Thanksgiving with my mom’s family, we stayed in-town to join Kelly’s parents, and officially began the new tradition of alternating locations. I can’t remember the last time I stayed in town over this holiday, it’s possible I never have — spending time travelling by car is part of Thanksgiving memory. It’s hard to interrupt tradition, and I’d be lying if I said I did not miss the annual trip to visit extended family, but marriage has added more family to St. Louis that I also want to spend time with.

Thanksgiving dinner was of course tasty and filling, and a good time was had, but I was happy to go home with Kelly and relax in our own, less crowded, space.

The remainder of the holiday and weekend we visited The Couch with Final Fantasy X-2, the laptop, two cats, and a few blankets to keep warm. Occasionally we departed for nourishment, but were soon back to continue.

We could have gone outside for get some fresh air and exercise, but not this vacation. This year was for taking advantage of no required activity. Nothing was planned, and we were pretty intent on keeping it that way. Relaxation was the only goal, and the unknown away from The Couch threatened that. I think together we put in a total of 36 hours into FFX2. We’ve both got separate games going on, so while one was using the PS2 the other had the laptop for Internet and GunBound

Before the holiday I had speculated all the things I could accomplish with the Thanksgiving free time: read Quicksilver or Angels & Demons, watch a few movies, exercise (maybe), …sleep… all had low priority next to The Couch’s offerings.

Maybe I’ll do that stuff while we’re in town over the Christmas holiday. Hopefully I’ll have reset my sleep schedule before then so I can get some work done in the meantime.