Thanksgiving with the Hayeses

 We spent Thanksgiving week with my grandparents and extended family in Los Osos, CA.

This little section of the California coast boasts some spectacular flying. The San Luis Obispo Soaring Association is a small but active and very welcoming bunch. They’ve got dunes, drive-up coastal ridge soaring, and a few inland thermalling sites.  Patrick Eaves and Tim O’neil and friends are always awesome hosts.

I’ve been visiting family here my whole life, and flying along the way. It’s kind of my little California home-away-from home. This time around I was able to take my 16-year old cousin Jimi and my Uncle Patrick tandem. Jimi has been flying multiple times with both of us in Jackson but never at home in California and Uncle Patrick was a first timer. I’m so thankful the wind gods cooperated and allowed me to share some smooth Thanksgiving air with my family. It’s one of the reasons I started flying tandems in the first place—to share the sky with people I love.

Besides a few flights at Cayucos, pretty much all we did for 4 days was eat, play Cards against Humanity, and walk on the beach.  We discovered that no game has ever been better suited for the Hayes family and that my grandma (aka Yaya) is a Cards Against Humanity wizard.

We also enticed the family to help us chalk up the van. One of our favorite parts of having it is seeing what others’ come up with to draw!

 
San Luis Obispo Chalkvanart from Cade Palmer on Vimeo.

An unfortunate side effect of our wandering lifestyle is that we rarely get to spend quality time with our families. We cherish these occasional opportunities to slow down, enjoy good meals, and laugh with our amazing relatives. We hope all of the Americanos out there enjoyed your turkey day, wherever you may be. And those of you from the rest of the world, we know Thanksgiving doesn’t make sense, but it’s a great excuse to spend time with the ones you love.