26 November 09

Thanksgiving Mix

Having taken care of all of our familial Thanksgiving duties a week-and-a-half ago, we were free to do what we much prefer for the holiday, to have a mellow day on our own. These past several years we’ve had a little tradition on Thanksgiving to go on a walk up Mix Canyon Road, which is a steep road that goes right up to the crest of the Vaca Mountains about 25 miles west of here. We never make it into a big hike, rather we just enjoy being in the canyon in late fall with the chestnut-colored buckeyes rolling down on the ground and the bigleaf maples in color. Alas Pica didn’t make it a hike at all today: she slightly wrenched her knee looking at a Nuttall’s woodpecker within 50 yards of the car, so she stayed put and drew while I walked up the canyon a ways where I was lucky to see a couple of pileated woodpeckers.

We wanted to have the traditional Thanksgiving meal of going out for Chinese food — I was especially craving hot-and-sour soup — but none of the Chinese places we looked at in Davis were open. Happily, the Nepali restaurant Kathmandu downtown on G Street was open so we now have a new tradition of having palak paneer and saag chana masala thali plates on this day.

Posted by at 10:38 PM in Nature and Place | Link |
  1. It sounds like a lovely day except for Pica’s wrenched knee. You must have left early for the Vaca Mtns. Ben and I got into the car intending to go there for a hike as well, and instead encountered the I-80 West parking lot. We said a prayer for the travelers inhaling exhaust while their families waited in those western regions for their late arrival. Then we turned around and made our way to the Arboretum where we admired the oaks and acacia, visiting Ben’s mom’s ginko tree along the way. Happy Thanksgiving, friends! I hope your knee is better, Pica.


    virginia    27. November 2009, 00:30    Link
  2. Thanks, Virginia. We took one look at the I-80 parking lot (an advantage to living where you can see it) and took the back way, which was delightful.

    Knee seems okay, but coming down hill for 1.5 miles was probably not going to be the answer…


    Pica    27. November 2009, 07:37    Link
  3. Sorry to hear about the knee – hope delicious Kathmandu food helped ease the pain!


    rjhall    30. November 2009, 14:50    Link

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