Thanksgiving on the Farm
By Janice Suppa-Friedman, Leader

Where is the most significant place to celebrate the American tradition of Thanksgiving other than in a farmhouse on a working farm established in the 19th century?  This event brought together a multicultural group who gave thanks on the most American of holidays.  Our group consisted of folks from Guatalahara, Mexico City, Switzerland, Croatia, Russia, and, of course, the USA. 

The previous days’ rains abated and the gray skies opened to reveal an azure backdrop just as the day’s events began.  Folks entered the farmhouse where Jan’s husband, Mike, had hot chocolate waiting.  When most had arrived, Jan gave everyone an explanation of how and why the farmhouse was actually two houses with the connecting backyard covered with a roof with the sides brought down to enclose our Great Room.  She explained the concept of the community owned 300 acre working farm, that has been around for over 100 years, and aims to keep the land use for agriculture with some acreage set aside for homes.  Mike offered the group some helpful tips for farm safety.

Sergei helped Mike hook up the tractor to the haywagon, throw some bales on, and the hayride around the farm began.  Roman, Emil, and Evie and others scampered up the mountain of hay bales when Mike stopped to explain the purpose of the pole barn.  Jeannette helped Jan pick up the turkey and rest of the meal that had been cooking in Mike and Jan’s log home on the Parker Mountain ridge.  From the deck, they watched the haywagon go by.  Evie, Roman, and Michael managed to add a little excitement to their adventure by requesting rides in the front end bucket--much to Jan’s chagrin. 

The feast was celebrated in the Great Room where 11 of us sat around one large table.  Sergei and Emil were the big eaters with more than two or was it three or four trips to the big buffet set up on the farm’s pool table?  Gosh, those guys can eat! 

Polly, Enedina, and Eveling helped us in getting things to the buffet table and cleaning up. 

Michael and Evie went out in the fields to get a close look at the cattle and horses.

Evie tried, unsuccessfully, to pet a calf—even with the lure of a bucket.  Those who wanted to explore the farm more did just that.

Later in the evening, the guys staying over watched a couple of movies before retiring to their selected bedrooms in the old farmhouse.  Friday morning, some walked across the farm to Jan’s for breakfast.  Mike cooked up a big meal to start everyone’s day!

So, this Thanksgiving Holiday brought new friends together in the same way that folks celebrate with their families.  All of us can give thanks that we could have this activity, so those who could not be with family members would not miss out on this special occasion. Were we the Waltons for that afternoon?  I’m not sure, but we had great food and conversation, and it felt as if we were a family.

Comments from the group who shared this day with us:

“Thank you so much for hosting the Thanksgiving dinner at your farm.  Since I couldn't be with my family, it was wonderful to be able to be with friends and make new ones!  I had a great time, and the food was SOO good!  I appreciate all your hard work that you put into the day.  Thank you so much.  I hope that in between hosting ya'll were able to enjoy your Thanksgiving as well.”

~Evie

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Thanks, Jan.
That was a memorable Thanksgiving feast for me!

Cheers, Emil

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I'm still savoring that wonderful Thanksgiving dinner at the farm. You and Mike were excellent and generous hosts.  It certainly meant a lot to me, particularly because I couldn't be with family this time around.

Fondly,
Polly

On occasion, OASC ventures far from Charlottesville.  Check out what’s in store for 2007 so far:

Here is an adventure travel journal from the “Autumn In The Great Smokies National Park” club adventure, 10/3 – 10/7/2006, by Leader Jay Zimmerman:

Day Zero:
Let me first say, it’s truly amazing how much camping gear you can stuff into a VW Jetta. Someone forgot their boots, and another forgot sandals, so a detour to BRMS in Tennessee was in order. We did get to enjoy Satellite Radio courtesy of Trisha. We would have had so much more space if Jen hadn’t packed so much stuff to backpack with. Just kidding, everyone knows she’s the ultralight backpacker!

First ‘great’ joke of the trip:
“What does a fish say when it hits concrete?”
”Dam!”

We finally arrived at our destination: Fontana Dam, highest dam east of the Mississippi. It’s a massive concrete structure. Jen, Heidi, Trisha and I stayed at the Fontana Hilton, one of the premier shelters on the AT. The Hilton holds great views of Fontana Lake and the Smokies. We enjoyed a fine meal of Chicken Fajitas and red wine at the Hilton, entertained with Irish songs by Steve. Steve’s been section hiking the AT for over 30 years now, after taking a break traveling through Ireland and learning wonderful songs like “Oh, you’re drunk, you’re drunk…” and he owns an Irish pub in Florida.

Day One:
Took “the Road to Nowhere”, a.k.a. Lakeview Drive/Fontana Drive to our trailhead, chasing down wild turkeys on the road. We hiked four people wide on a great fire road up Noland Creek Trail. Lunch was ¼ mile from the campsite. Oh well! A group of older men were fishing for a week and camping at the same site as us. We put our tents up by a hammock they were testing out. They packed well, but more on that later.

The gals enjoyed a quick hair washing in the creek. Dinner was beef (jerky) stroganoff. Surprisingly good! Kudos to Jen for her great work on keeping us happily fed on the trail! Phil and his fishing friends (a la ‘cart’) loaned us some whiskey. This whiskey burned twice, certainly once when going down my throat and next when put onto a hot fire. Phil also loaned us a battery driven air mattress blower to help us ‘fan’ our flames to get our fire really going. It’s a bit heavy, but works well. We shared stories and read some Bill Bryson to keep entertained. We slept near a roaring creek at night, and blissfully all other sounds were drowned out.

Day Two:
Breakfast Cous Cous. Phil was kind enough to top off our white gas (well, they were just going to have to cart it out after all!). After breaking camp, we lost the trail about 100 yards, but soon regained it. After that, we were up and away, climbing like mad from roughly 2400 feet. Everyone in the gang is strong hikers, with very few breaks, and a great pace. We encountered a trashed site at the intersection with Forney Ridge Trail. Lunch at 4900 feet. Continuing to climb, past another abandoned, trashed site, hog enclosure and then onto Andrews Bald. This Bald was a bit of a maze when it came to the trails. We started seeing hikers and managed to find our way to Clingman’s Dome as clouds approached. We all took liberty of using the restrooms near the top, refilling water at the parking lot. Us “hikers” chatted with the car tourists walking up to the lookout atop Clingman’s. We, weighed down as some of us were, still passed most of those tourists. We ran into an Israeli couple, and I talked with them at the lookout. The Israeli man says “You must be a Mormon, with your three wives!” Nope! Just a lucky guy!

There was no view from the lookout when we were there as the clouds blanketed the surrounding areas. Clingman’s Dome is 6643 feet, highest point in Tennessee and one of the highest in NC, second highest point east of the Mississippi. Our group then hiked down the AT to Double Spring Gap. We saw the mountains in nice autumn colors- reds, oranges and yellows highlighted vistas on this ridgeline hike.  A delicious Gato Gato spaghetti dinner at the shelter. We set up camp just down the trail at Jenkins Knob, at a quiet spot at around 5500 feet, with a thunderstorm approaching. The coyotes sang to us before the storm. The thunder shook the ground around us, but we stayed dry. We gained around 4500 feet today, with over 10 miles hiking!

Day Three:
Late start today. Breakfast of oatmeal at the shelter. Off in the rainy, cool, cloudy weather. Turned off the AT to Welch Ridge and hiked through an enchanted forest. As we dropped down, blue skies appeared, the sun dried us off. We were making great time. Lunch was at campsite 71 and dried out the tents. While crossing a stream we spotted the most amazing, astounding red crayfish. We followed Forney Creek Trail down and we were at our next campsite by 4:30. Today was just over 12 miles (I think), and mostly downhill.

The sun was hidden behind the next ridge when we arrived at our site. I was boiling water for dinner. Heidi, with great aplomb, said, “A man cooking, the way it should be.” We all had a laugh at that. Dinner was too much cous cous. Had to pack it some of it out. Read more Bill Bryson out loud, then off to bed. Tomorrow, the final day, would be an early start.

Day Four:
Up before dawn, ate breakfast and broke camp, hiking with headlamps along Lakeshore Trail. Finishing our trip, we went through a long tunnel just before arriving at the trusty Jetta. Organized everything in the trunk again, and off to Nantahala, the land of the midday sun. We got there a little early, warmed up at the local café. Got ready to go rafting on this dam released river. Not nearly as exciting as I remember it being when I was 13 or 14! Country Ben was our guide, and he told us all manner of jokes.

Ben- “What the difference between a catfish and a river guide? I’ll tell ya’; one has whiskers and smells bad, the other’s a fish!”

For lunch, we dined at the riverside café, then a nice drive to a campground north of Asheville. The campground, strategically arranged, had hot showers. Not the most user friendly, but good enough to get us clean and head into Asheville for the night.

Day Five:
The drive home was uneventful, but everyone looked forward to a roof over their head and on demand, continuously running hot water! Breakfast at the Waffle House, a new experience for several people on this trip.

Got the travel bug? Several OASC members have enjoyed Intrepid Travel’s deeply-cultural, small-group, low-cost adventures to foreign lands throughout the world. Club members have traveled with Intrepid to China, Egypt, the Galapagos, Peru, and Vietnam. Testimonials include “This trip was great. I love Intrepid's culture-consciousness, and the way in which they included activities rarely made us feel like ‘tourists.’ It was well-planned and the free time was great. I would definitely use the company again.” and “Intrepid was fantastic. The trip may have been the best I've ever done.” OASC members receive a 5% discount on most Intrepid trips. Contact us for further information and brochures.

OASC Group Charters are going strong. In December Matt Rosefsky and Kevin Kersten had two caving charters booked: one for a boy scout group from the Virginia Beach area, and one for a church youth group from Fredericksburg. Do you have a group of people who would enjoy a caving, canoeing, outdoor rock climbing, hiking, backpacking, or any other type of outdoor adventure charter? If yes, please contact Matt. Please note that we can tailor OASC group charters to be team-building adventures if desired, for Matt specialized in organizational behavior while at UVA’s Darden Business School.



If your plans change for any reason and you can’t attend an adventure you’ve joined, please login and click “withdraw” on that adventure and “continue” to confirm.  Then the website automatically will bump the first waitlisted person onto the adventure, making that person very happy.  This is in part what turns into reality the estimated 90% odds of getting off of a waitlist and onto an adventure.
        
    If it is past the withdraw deadline, please both call and email your Leader as soon as possible to let him/her know you can’t come.  S/he may still have a chance to pull someone in from the waitlist.  Not showing up is selfish and upsetting, because everyone else who showed up on time will be waiting around for you, and it can throw a major wrench in the finely-tuned plans the Leader has volunteered to create for everyone.
       
     Thanks in advance for being thoughtful of your fellow members and Leaders.  The good karma will return to you in the form of your getting off of a wait list in the future.

One other note: as the Leaders are serious about their caring for their trip participants, please answer any medical questions seriously, and save the jokes for the comments/suggestions question asked when joining an adventure. Thanks!