"Cabin sweet cabin" in the woods - Thanksgiving Weekend..

Thanksgiving, an American holiday to give Thanks or so it used to be. These days it's mostly a food festive where families and friends come together, only to wait for Black Friday. Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving and a day that stores give huge discounts up to 90% discounts on their products, a day people stand in line, knock each other over and fight till 
'death' to get what they want. It's not just a day anymore though, there's whole week for Black Friday deals and Cyber Monday to shop shop shop some more, most of the shopping can also be done online, so less need to knock each other over in the stores anymore. Something we skipped this year to go off the grid, a weekend in a cabin in the woods. 

Thanksgiving day was celebrated though, started with me and Amy going to the movies; Hungergames Mockingjay part 1, what other way to start my $6 Thursday movie day off with?! Unfortunately because it was a holiday, the $6 deal was off! But I got even by snuggling in some snacks in a sweater and even a bottle of OJ in my pants haha, thanks for that Simone ;)! After the movie, we headed home for a Thanksgiving lunch/brunch/early dinner, my aunt Simone had been preparing for. It was us, my aunt, cousins and me and Auntie Anne (Amys godmother) and her sister. A festive feast and not a traditional dinner, although there was stuffing and turkey. After we emptied the plates and filled our bellies, we crashed a party for dessert. I was especially looking forward to my friends Fireball caramel pie, you couldn't taste the alcohol in it, so why not take a sip of the fireball drink she also brought with her. We mostly chitchatted about everything and even made plans for 2017 to see Scotland together! Who knows...

Black Friday didn't start off quite how it would for most. For us it meant getting up early, packing our stuff and getting ready to leave for a cabin in the woods. A magical place Simone found this year and super remote to anything. Off we went, about a 3hour ride and it was beautiful. It's on the lake, where you can go kayaking or canoeing (of which I neither did) or just sit by the water. The dogs loved it too, Simone's got two, a tiny gremlin chihuahua named Peppi and a bigger, cuddlywuddly beautiful dog Roxy! The cabin is up the stairs made out of wood (of course). Very peaceful, but since it was so cold outside, we watched Medea..haha! I pulled out the pull out couch, the kids and Simone had the bedroom, and slept alright :).

Saturday wootwooot...I was soooo excited because I was going to BUSCH GARDENS! I have been wanting to go for EVER but it was always too far to go and I was able to borrow the car today and drive just another 40 minutes for it! It's an amusement park combined with a zoo, something I've done in Hong Kong too (Ocean Park). And the best part, since Thanksgiving was over, it was already decorated for CHRISTMAS!!! The park opened at 9am and closed at 9pm, of course I was there at 8.45am! I had purchased my ticket online before I went so didn't have to stand in line, haha..like there was a line at 9am ^_^.  We had to wait till it was 9am, I looked at the map, trying to come up with a good strategy, but I already found the map very confusing...so I figured I'll just go and do as many roller coasters as I can before it gets busy! Just 2 more minutes..."Ladies and Gentlemen, our national Anthem"...Are you kidding me?! Easy to spot the tourists though haha. Off we went! I just started walking and got to my first roller coaster, the were still testing it and I had to put my bag in a locker, paid 50 cents, jeez on top of an 80 dollar ticket (90 incl. taxes and stuff) and 17 dollar parking, they dare asking for more! Fine! First roller coaster was a GO! And I just kept going and going and going until I'd done them all! I must say, they've got some awesome roller coasters. My favorite was Sheikra, which broke some world records and since it wasn't busy, I was able to stay seated and ride twice in a row! And everything was 'christmassie' so happy day for me! I finished riding all the coasters before noon! So I had the rest of the day to see shows, the animals, the Christmas decorations, ride the train (which transformed into the Christmas Sing a long train at night) and the gondola (brought over from Swiss), maybe it was good planning but probably just luck that I saw the last minutes of the sunset from the gondola :)! And the entire park was lit with Christmas lights at night! They used over a million lights and started planning this in July! 

All and all a LONG, exhausting day, but beautiful and thrill seeking! I LOVED IT! Funny, cause it's my 3rd day this year that I spend 12 hour in a row in an amusement park hehe...Walibi Summer nights, Moviepark Germany Halloween and now Busch Gardens, Florida (oh and a regular day in Thorpe park, London)! I was walking around all day and was glad to be on my own, I don't think anyone could have and wanted to keep up with my craziness, but I got to do, see, experience it all! And yes, I even had time to sit down a few times for a bite to eat!

Drove back to the cabin, but not before I went to Taco Bell for rolled chicken taco's, something I'd seen on TV and looked like egg rolls. It was not an egg roll though, haha, the outside was a corn tortilla, but wasn't bad. Got back to the cabin "Cabin sweet cabin", told Simone about my day and asked about theirs over a cup of tea.

The next day, we enjoyed the last couple of hours at the cabin, had lunch by the river, packed all our stuff and got in the car to go home. Only to receive a phone call that the turnpike and I-95 (major highways here) were blocked due to Thanksgiving traffic and accidents, so detour after detour and slower roads, we made it home 2 hours after expected (so about 5-6 hours in total). Home sweet home!