We felt we had to do some exercise this weekend to work off the excesses from Thursday, so we headed up to the ski fields today.

Crystal Mountain is less than two hours from home, which meant we didn't have to be up at sparrow-fart in order to get a decent run on the slopes. It's in the same area as Mt Rainier, the one we can see from the car park at work . Crystal is also the largest ski area in Washington, so there's no shortage of runs to choose from.

This was our first time back on skis since we were in the UK, so nearly five years ago! Andy's also had a knee reconstruction since then, so we took a little while to find our snow legs again. Probably a little ambitious in deciding to head up the mountain for our first run, rather than doing a couple of laps of the beginner basin ... after spending half the trip down on our tails , we stopped for a coffee and a rethink and headed back to look for a green run.

Andy found it a bit frustrating at first, but after a few laps of the bginner slope he was starting to regain his confidence. Once he started heading straight down the slopes rather than across them he was ready to head back up the mountain again.

Unfortunately this was about the same point when it started snowing again - we did a couple more laps but the snow got worse, so we decided to call it a day and head home again. We've got the taste again now, so I'm sure we'll be back again before long!

Today was our first Thanksgiving in the US - Andy had experienced the festivities during a trip last year, but it was all new for me. We volunteered to host a gathering at our place, and had a lot of fun planning the menu - thankfully everyone was quick to offer to bring a plate, so we weren't faced with spending night and day in the kitchen beforehand.

The main attraction on offer was the Turducken - a traditional Thanksgiving turkey, stuffed with a duck, stuffed with a chicken ... when one type of bird is just not enough! I'd heard about this last year on a radio 'only in America'-type segment, and thought it was just another internet myth ... uh-uh, they're real! We also discovered they're rather popular up here, after we tried to order one in to our local supermarket and ended up having to ring around the Eastside just to track one down. Note to self - next time, buy the first one you see!!

The preparation went surprisingly well, none of the horror frozen bird stories you hear about here - only one tripped circuit breaker when we were cleaning up (and discovered the vacuum and the turkey roaster didn't like being on the same circuit!). We also had to do a little improvising at the last minute when we realised we were one seat short at the table - Andy counted 'us' as one seat rather than two, so we rustled up an extra setting. Now we know we can fit eleven in the dining room!

Following with tradition, we had waaaay too much of everything -there was a bit of maneuvring required to get all the dishes around to everyone at the table. Everything was fantastic - pumpkin soup, roast veg, ginger green beans, twice-baked sweet potato, turkey and gravy, lots of stuffing, turducken, smoked ham, cranberry sauce, and home-made apple pie for dessert. Yummo!

Good food, good friends and a bottle or three of wine - you can't ask for much more than that. Happy Turkey Day everyone!

We've been meaning to catch up with our friends Troy and Deb all year, but here we are in November and they head home next month! Unfortunately Andy's home in Adelaide for another work trip, so I decided to venture down on my own for a quick visit - or we were going to miss out all together.

Troy was nice enough to drive into LAX to pick me up, so I didn't have to brave the Los Angeles traffic or navigate myself out to their place. Didn't seem quite so daunting after having lived in the US for nearly a year now, but the roads and freeways are still a little busier than I'm used to in Seattle. Saw the famous Joshua trees - apparently they only grow above a certain altitude - and was amazed how quickly the city fell away ... it wasn't long before the suburbs thinned and vanished. Reminded me a little of the drive between Melbourne and Adelaide, just over the border into South Australia - long straight road, and not much to look at outside.

It was great to see Deb again, and after a bit of a chat we sheepishly realised it was about eight years since we'd caught up ... at their wedding! Geez we're slack . They'd had two daughters since we saw them last, so I also got to meet Chloe & Olivia for the first time.

Deb kept apologising there wasn't much to do around town, but we did pop up to Mt Whitney for a look around. Mt Whitney is the highest mountain in the 'lower 48' - so not quite as tall as Mt McKinlay in Alaska. Distinctly colder outside once we got up to the last car park - even this far south there was still some snow (or really thick frost!) around the waterfall nearby.

Troy and Chloe drove me back to LAX again this afternoon, so I'm back to work again tomorrow. It was great to finally meet the extended family - with a bit of luck we'll end up in Newcastle when we go home to Australia, so it'll be easier to visit!