Thanksgiving odyssey

Whew!

We're back home after our Thanksgiving odyssey to the Detroit area. Over 3 1/2 days, I put nearly 1,200 miles on the car. That's a ton of driving.

But it was a good trip. The weather was fine--no problems at all--and we got back home around midnight on Friday. I was able to rest for much of the weekend--most of my stories were done, and little stuff came in while I was gone. As expected.

We left late Tuesday afternoon and spent the night in St. Ignace. On Wednesday, we finished the trip to the Detroit area, stopped at the motel and then drove to my son and fiancee's apartment for dinner and a visit.

The main event, of course, was the big Thanksgiving dinner at a place out in the country--about an hour out of the city. There were about 20-25 people at the dinner including lots of kids--that was a treat, seeing the little ones around.

It was the very first time we met my son's fiancee's parents, and they turned out to be very nice. We got along well, even while watching the Packers-Lions game. They are, of course, Lions fans, and I am, of course, a Packers fan. But I am not a blind fan--I can look at my team and the other team objectively; their strengths and weaknesses. And, for what it's worth, I wore khaki cargo pants and a light blue polo shirt--"Honolulu blue" is the Lions' color. Her dad and I mostly talked about football--it's a common interest, and we seemed to think the same way, even if we root for different teams.

During the second half, as the Packers took control of the game, I took care not to gloat. It wouldn't have gone down well.

After the game ended, it was time to eat. The fiancee roasted one of the turkeys, and I had some Tom Turkey along some stuffing, cranberries, a little rutabaga, mashed potatoes and gravy. We ate well.

After the dinner (late afternoon) we drove back to the kids' place and spent the evening with them. He worked on Friday, so we had to deal with Black Friday on our own. More about Black Friday later. We did some shopping and then (about 1 p.m.) started the 500-mile drive home.

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On this drive, the new car's nav system really showed its stuff. Usually, I am driving in areas that are fairly familiar. Not this time. For instance, the Thanksgiving Day dinner was way out in the country, and we hadn't stayed at that particular motel before. But before the trip, I stored those addresses in the nav system's memory, so they would be ready later. As a result, it got me through a totally unfamiliar area with no problem at all.

It was like that all through the trip. The nav system was very handy in finding my way through an unfamiliar metro area, finding the correct off-ramps and on-ramps on the freeways, telling me when I had to prepare for an exit off the left side of the freeway, when a roundabout was coming up. Even when a "Michigan left" was coming up.

I tell you, I wasn't absolutely sure whether I would use the nav system that much, but it sure proved to be a major blessing on this trip.

****

I also wanted to write about our Black Friday shopping trip. For six straight years, of course, we had a Friday morning date at the state football finals, so there was no time for shopping. Last year, our team lost in the semifinals; we stayed home for Thanksgiving.

We were not about to get up super early. But after a brief breakfast, we stopped at Best Buy, then Barnes and Noble and then at one of the big malls. David did all the shopping there--my wife and I only went as far as the food court, where they had a Subway.

My wife wanted to stop at a Target store, too, but we decided instead to just hit the road--it was getting late to start a 10-hour drive. But I know why she was interested in Target. First, there aren't any Targets in our area. Second, Target's pre-Black Friday TV ads.

In one, this gal was working on an exercise bike, set at maximum difficulty so she could get her thighs ready for the demands of Black Friday. And the other was a classic: The same gal was shown holding a Target print ad and screaming in ecstasy. Just hyperventilating and screaming, "It's here! It's here!"

What Black Friday special got her screaming in joy louder than she probably ever has in bed? Who knows? The ad did not reveal that little secret. Not a single Black Friday special was shown. They just showed her screaming.

I know, I know. It's just marketing. They want you to spend all your money at their store. But really!

Give love. Not things.