Tim and I left for California the day after Thankgiving and flew with skybus. We bought tickets with them like months ago and only had to pay $75 a person for a direct flight to LA (we knew flying to fly standby the day after thanksgiving was a bad idea). We only bought one way tickets with the plan of flying back standby with USairways. So anyway, we made it out there without a problem at all and overall, it was a good experience. For those of you that have never heard of skybus, it is a newer airline based out of Columbus that sells the first 10 seats on their flights for $10 and then the seats gradually increase in price as they sell. But then you also pay for everything else...for instance, $5 for a checked bag, $2 for a bottle of water on the plane, and the flight attendants walk down the isle during the flight asking if you want to buy stuff like backpacks, cologne, chocolates, etc....Kind of strange, but that is their money maker. But anyway, yeah, it was a good experience and we would probably fly with them again.
So, we made it to California by 8:30 in the morning on Friday morning and Tim's cousin was there to pick us up. We got to see Aunts and Uncles and cousins that we hadn't seen for a long time, one of which is overdue with her first baby, so it was fun to see her and her basketball belly.
Then, we headed up north to central california to go to Tim's parents house. Saturday is the annual deep pit barbeque at their house and so we started preparing for that. This is like a 22+ year tradition that Tim's family has been doing. It used to only be for family, but then they started inviting close friends and some people from their church and the growds have been as large as 80 people. We had 67ish people on Saturday. It was awesome. For those of you that don't know what a deep pit is, let me explain (I didn't know either). You start with like this 4'x5' hole that is about 5' deep with rocks in the bottom and then build a huge fire over the top of the fire. The coals then fall into the pit filling it up with hot, VERY hot coals. Once the hole is filled with hot coals, you make a mini pit in the coals for the meat to be placed in. The meet is in a baking bag, wrapped with several layers of aluminum foil and burlap and then tossed in. It is then quickly buried with coals, then tin is placed on top, then again, quickly covered with dirt. Let me show you some pictures to help you understand...
So, we made it to California by 8:30 in the morning on Friday morning and Tim's cousin was there to pick us up. We got to see Aunts and Uncles and cousins that we hadn't seen for a long time, one of which is overdue with her first baby, so it was fun to see her and her basketball belly.
Then, we headed up north to central california to go to Tim's parents house. Saturday is the annual deep pit barbeque at their house and so we started preparing for that. This is like a 22+ year tradition that Tim's family has been doing. It used to only be for family, but then they started inviting close friends and some people from their church and the growds have been as large as 80 people. We had 67ish people on Saturday. It was awesome. For those of you that don't know what a deep pit is, let me explain (I didn't know either). You start with like this 4'x5' hole that is about 5' deep with rocks in the bottom and then build a huge fire over the top of the fire. The coals then fall into the pit filling it up with hot, VERY hot coals. Once the hole is filled with hot coals, you make a mini pit in the coals for the meat to be placed in. The meet is in a baking bag, wrapped with several layers of aluminum foil and burlap and then tossed in. It is then quickly buried with coals, then tin is placed on top, then again, quickly covered with dirt. Let me show you some pictures to help you understand...Step One: Dig big hole
Step Two: Put in large rocks
Step Three: Build big white man fire (see pictures below)
(notice how large the fire is compared to my 6'5" husband on the right)
Tim on the tractor thing getting ready to push some brush into the fire...
Step Four: Wait for fire to die down
Step Five: Make indentions in hot coals for meat to be placed
Step Seven: Bury meat with remaining coals
Step Eight: Place large pieces of tin over coals
Step Nine: Bury quickly with dirt before burlap around meat has a chance to burn
) and Enjoy!!!And this is seriously like the most tender meat you will ever eat...it literally falls off the bone. We had a home grown and butched turkey, a HUGE ham, and a HUGE chunk of beef. It was absolutely delicious.
Here's some other fun pictures of the event...
So that was the deep pit...Tim also had some fun by shooting a kayote...
I learnd how to drive a manual...sorry no pictures
We had a blast!! It was one of the most memorable trips to California we have had I think. And next year, we are going to talk Joel and Cynetta in to coming with us. Right? 
And, we got to watch Tim's dad with his new and desperately needed helmet for his three wheeler...
We had a blast!! It was one of the most memorable trips to California we have had I think. And next year, we are going to talk Joel and Cynetta in to coming with us.
Right? 
