My Thanksgiving week was pretty terrific. My son, Mike, and his family came up from Austin for a few days, so I got to spend some good times with them. Then on Thanksgiving day, another son joined us for the day and we ate a great meal that my daughter-in-law prepared. Yeah Corina.
The next day, instead of Black Friday shopping, we went hiking. Apparently, that is one of the traditions of my son’s family, and that suited me just fine. I have never participated in Black Friday shopping, so that was no great loss to me.
It was a lovely warm day here in East Texas, so we went to a state park to enjoy the great outdoors. One of my daughters and her husband joined us for the day, and we all had a grand time.
Some daring folks even took the hiking to another level by climbing up rock beds.
![](https://maryannwrites.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/11/matt-paul-corina-mike-kat-Thanksgiving-park.jpg)
![](https://maryannwrites.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/11/paul-corina-kat-at-Thanksgiving-park.jpg)
![](https://maryannwrites.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/11/Mike-Paul-Corina-park-thanksgiving.jpg)
I found out that my youngest son, Paul, likes to go rock climbing and spelunking. Didn’t know that about him before this. He tried several times to go down a rocky incline, but gave up, thank goodness, because he didn’t have any rock climbing equipment, or the right shoes.
Actually none of us had hiking shoes, and the trail was a bit challenging at times with mud, large rocks, and tree roots to trip us up. Luckily, none of us fell victim to the obstacles.
After walking the trail for about a mile, we stopped by a picnic table where there was a lovely view of the lake and just sat, enjoying the company and the warm breeze. The Fall colors were just coming out on some of the trees.
![](https://maryannwrites.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/11/craggy-shoreline-at-black-friday-park-2.jpg)
From Wednesday on through the weekend, I was disconnected for the most part from news and social media, and that felt pretty good. I think it’s a good idea to disconnect sometimes. What do you think?
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There are still a few more days to enter the thriller giveaway at Book Hub for a chance to win a bundle of books and an Amazon Gift Card. The contest ends November 30. I’m one of the sponsoring authors, so you could get a copy of One Small Victory, as well as several other thrillers. Have you read any of these? I’ve read High Crimes, which is quite good, and I’m intrigued by several others, so I may be doing some shopping soon.
That’s it for me, folks. My son, David, who missed the Thanksgiving dinner because he and his wife were at the Dallas Cowboys game, is coming for lunch so I need to get ready. David will help me finish off the turkey and dressing and pumpkin pie.
Have a great week.