Thanksgiving and Afterward with Craig & Liz

We’ve been enjoying our time with Don’s son Craig and his wife Liz, who are visiting Benson in their motor home. They arrived a few days ahead of us and spent some time on cleaning up our RV lot as we’d been traveling since April 11. We had hired someone to spray the weeds while we were away, but that just killed them and left dead weeds, so we had some removal to do.

There were a few dead cactus due to the ‘deep freeze’ the area had last February. By the time we arrived, Craig and Liz had taken care of them. We also decided to quit fighting some of the other cactus that kept overtaking the fence and gate, and simply dug them up.

Craig did a lot of the heavy lifting and digging, while Don repositioned pavers and removed big chunks of the plants.

Liz and I did clean-up, and she also helped with loading plants in the back of their truck.

When we finished, there was a big load to dispose of!

After several attempts to find a place to get rid of the debris, we finally discovered that the park has a way of disposing of such things. They brought in the big tractor! Dennis, the park manager, positioned the scoop under the truck’s tailgate, and Craig and Don shoved the cactus in. Our big load didn’t look so big then!

With that job done, Craig and Liz fixed dinner for us at their site in the campground.

And we watched a nice Southwest sunset.

For Thanksgiving, Don smoked a 20 lb. turkey in the Orion charcoal cooker. Here it is, brined, rubbed and stuffed with rosemary and lemons, ready to be cooked.

I was too busy helping prepare side dishes, then eating all the goodies to get pictures of the rest of the dinner. It was a beautiful day and we all had too much to eat, including Shadow, who took a rest on the couch beside Liz.

Another thing on our “To Do” list was to hang Christmas lights. We were so grateful for Craig and Liz’s help, especially for Craig climbing the ladder so Don didn’t have to.

It took a little coaxing, but Shadow is starting to enjoy his own little patch of grass that we bought him in Wyoming.

Later we enjoyed relaxing by the fire in our little chiminea.

It’s starting to look a lot like Christmas!