A Thanksgiving to remember

We started late. It took us much longer to get errands run and everything packed then we expected. Things were going wonderfully until we past Beaver. We saw a person that we thought needed some help with food so we made a 20 minute detour only to find out that he didn't want food but cigarettes. We were nearing Green River when things went really bad. We had only 40 miles to go and the battery light came on. After that the power steering failed and then the coolant system in quick succession. We only got about 10 miles closer to Green River after the battery failure when the car completely died. We did our best to push the car a ways before giving up and unpacking our bikes. We had just started walking our bikes up a steep hill when a very nice family on their way to Grand Junction offered us a ride into Green River. We were able to contact Mom and Dad in Moab as well as a tow service once there. The highway between Richfield and Green River is terrible for cell phone reception. We were so glad to see Nathan and Dad arrive. It was a late night for all of us.
Thanksgiving was much better. Brian got the Wii all set up and we had a fun time having everyone try out the fitness program after breakfast. I started making rolls but quickly discovered that I had misread the recipe and had to start over again. Thankfully the turkey still had lots of time to cook so we weren't set back. Tommy, Mom and I made some pomegranate jello (pomegranates stain your fingers a dark maroon color I found out) while Dad, Brian and Nathan played a Find it game on the Wii. Dinner turned out great. We finished the evening walking 4 dogs and teaching Dad and Tommy the game Dominion.
Friday we packed up 6 bikes and headed out to a bike trail that Dad knew of. Apparently it follows and even includes some of the old highway that surrounded Moab. We rode 9 miles through a red cliffs to finish near the Courthouse Wash Trail. We followed that trail a ways in to sit by a very muddy river and have some lunch. We finished the day by looking for and recovering 3 wayward dogs.
Saturday Brian, Dad and I drove to Green River to see if our car had been a simple fix and ready to drive again. We had been hoping that it was just the serpentine belt that had broken. We weren't so lucky. It turns out the engine block had cracked due to severe overheating. We are very lucky and thankful that we have the money to be able to pay for a replacement engine. It was an interesting 40 mile trip from Green River back to Moab since we had to tow our car. It was my first real experience with rope towing and I can't say I want to try it again any time soon. Brian and Dad did terrific though. We spent a couple of hours after getting back to Moab making phone calls and trying to figure out how we were going to get a dead car back to St George. Once again we were lucky. A friend of Mom and Dad from church in Grants knew of a friend in Moab who was heading our way and had a trailer that could transport our car. It was a Thanksgiving that when everything looked darkest, we were blessed to get the help we needed. It was a thanksgiving that we will remember a very long time.