Thanksgiving in the Mitten

Oberlin only has 2 days off for Thanksgiving, officially, but people seem to cancel the Wednesday before classes as well, or at least make them asynchronous days. Starting Zara's junior year Oberlin will be piloting a 3 day Thanksgiving break, but even so if Z left Tuesday after their last class (usually a lab so 4:30) and went directly home, and ignoring potential traffic, they'd be home around midnight. That gives a solid 4 days to hang (W-Sa) and then a potentially BRUTAL Sunday return trip of 7+ hours. I guess they could leave Saturday for maybe some better travel vibes, but 14 hours for 3 days at home, especially when they'll be home for a 6 week stretch about 2.5 weeks after break seems like a lot.

Conveniently we have both friends and family just a few hours away, so while the rest of us still have a bit of a nightmare travel sitch, Z's got it pretty swanky. This year we all went to On the Rocks so the kids could get a climb in before our trip up to MI, drove up to see Wes' family and had Thanksgiving with them, went down to A2 to see our buddies Caleb and Melissa and their kiddos, spent some time with Clare and Elliot (who are moving (back) to Australia - SOB), and then some time with Johanne, Carl, Gabi and Nick, and THEN a quick on our way out fo town brunch with Stu, Fiona, Eilidh and Chris - before dropping Z back in Oberlin and then making our way back to C'ville, EV style, and all that entails. We packed a lot in a short period and somehow took pictures of almost none of it. Instead you get to see the kiddos climbing (well, standing), the cousins playing soccer in the freezing cold, Z and A at the table during some food but I don't think it was Thanksgiving proper, and me, doing my favorite thing when visiting the land of much flatter than C'ville - my own personal Turkey Trot. It was cold enough I needed mittens and covered ears, but I clocked 5 miles and it was delightful.