Takin’ Care of Business

November 22, 2007

Happy Thanksgiving! We awoke to a wonderful breakfast at The Black Bear Inn bed and breakfast. It was some sort of fritatta with sun dried tomatoes, peppers, onions and spinach. There were rosemary potatoes and fruit to go with it. The place sells a cookbook, and I’ll be bringing one home!

The Black Bear Inn was built in 1998 by Jerry and Kevin. They didn’t miss a detail in the design. It’s a wonderful, relaxing, peaceful place to stay. Every room has a cozy fireplace.

Out back are cabins. The cabin rooms differ from the lodge rooms in that they are larger, and each one has a kitchenette and private outdoor patio. Also out back are tree sculptures created by a local artist. Most are bears, but there’s also an eagle.

We planned on spending Thanksgiving with family and didn’t have a lot of time to do anything between breakfast and the time we had to be somewhere. It was a beautiful day, so we decided to drive 20 minutes to Emerald Bay. The overlook was crowded with tourists (like me) who all wanted tons of pictures. The only difference was that I only had about 10 minutes to capture it all - we had to get to Jenifer’s house.

Jenifer decided to not tell her mom (Bonnie) that we were coming. We got to Jenifer’s house around 2:30, and Bonnie showed up around 3:15. She cried when she saw all of us. It was a good surprise! She gave Sylvia the biggest hug. She also lost her husband (Uncle Tim, mom’s brother) too soon.

Jenifer’s brother Stephen was also there. He’s just a few months younger than me. Somehow, he managed to score an elk hunting license (which apparently is like winning the lottery). He decided to spend Thanksgiving with us and leave to go hunting Friday.

Jenifer decided not to spend the day cooking for everyone, and I don’t blame her! She made reservations for us at Roxy at the El Dorado casino. Dinner was great - butternut squash soup, turkey and mashed potatoes, and a yummy caramel ice cream dessert.

After stuffing myself, I had to play some slots. I do not like to gamble. I don’t like parting with my money. But Mom gave me four bucks, so I couldn’t resist! The penny slots were calling. Needless to say, from the look on my face, I lost it all. It’s so not fair.