Christmas Festivties Abound

Christmas with family & friends that you truly enjoy being with is a joy that warms the heart in a way that we find hard to describe in words.

Children & adults who are just happy to be together is what Christmas means to us. Gifts are fun, scrumptious food is delightful, viewing splendid decorations is a plus--but seeing family & friends having fun together & enjoying the moment is spectacular!!


Christmas Eve was celebrated with Lisa & her family, and as always Frank & our family have always been included. We have daughters that have grown up together & a group picture around the Christmas tree is a must.

Soonita thinks this is a backpack that is the best!! Thanks Santa for making wishes come true:)

High Tea at the Heathman for Bookclub

Christmas holidays additionally provide us with a time to get together with old & dear friends that we miss and have not seen for a while. One of the things I (Dianne) have very much missed since being on the road was the best book club ever & the relationships we built throughout those years prior to leaving our home. Granted it was not just a "book club" in the strictest sense of the word--some read the book, some did not, but it was about us--read the book or not, we enjoyed our time together. The book club is no longer, but the friendships remain--so getting together during the holidays has been an event that has been retained. In years past Christmas was always a time we manged to get together & a special "High Tea" became one of our favorites. This event has given us a time to not only be together, but to reminisce, catch up on all that is new & renew our friendships. This year was no exception, & it was a true delight-thanks Myra for pulling it together this year. We once were all co-workers, most of us have moved in different directions since that time, but I am so thankful that each of these vibrant women were a part of my life & remain my friend! Merry Christmas-Mary, Marylou, Myra, Elaine, Judy, Lisa & Ethelyn!

Home for the Holidays

Frank & I decided this year we really wanted to spend not only Christmas at home--but Thanksgiving as well. So we stored our home at Wilderness Lake in CA and drove the Jeep back to Oregon, just a few days before Thanksgiving. It was an easy drive & proved uneventful. We so missed everyone last year, and we really wanted to be with our kids & friends this holiday season.

Since our plan was to stay through Christmas, we divided our time up with family & friends, that thankfully generously offered us lodging. So as not to overwhelm any one family with our stay:)
Our 1st week was spent at our youngest son Jaemes & Brandi's home, which gave us lots of time with our oldest grandchild--Cassady who is now 14. He is our delight & has been since his birth. We enjoyed Thanksgiving at their home with the family. These two provided us with a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner & time together as family.

They also decided to do Christmas Brunch for the family as well. And what a very special Christmas this was for us. Brandi's mom & dad joined us and this made for an even more special holiday. You guys are the best!

Our second week was spent with good friends, Gary & Joyce, who were our neighbors when we had our stick house. They were always the "best" of neighbors but more importantly they remain the "best" of friends. We love spending time with these two, they are such great hosts, & quite the ever wondering travelers--so not only do we enjoy spending time in their home with them, but we love hearing about their latest adventures!

Our last 3 weeks we stayed at our longtime friends, Lisa & Larry, who graciously included us in their family's holiday celebrations. Dianne & Lisa have been "best" of friends for 30 years. They raised children together, played together, laughed together, cried together, camped together, schemed together, worked together, traveled together, prayed together & enjoyed a friendship that afforded each of them with so many special times. It was so great to have the opportunity to stay at their home and celebrate this time of the year as family! We can never thank them enough.

A visit with the "Real" Santa

We traveled to downtown Portland via MAX mass transit to Portland's Macy department store, where we had heard the "real" Santa was available to visit children who still "believed". Our family has been coming to Meier & Franks (now Macy's) at Christmas time since our oldest two sons where young (that would be back in the late 60's & early 70's). We have enjoyed breakfasts together with Santa & talked about what we hope Santa will bring.

We had to wait for our chance to spend time to visit with Santa, so the monorail system of old is on display, & which Soontia & Priveen thought was terrific, but the train display enthralled them to no end.

Santa often seems so allusive, but our grandkids seem to think they know who the "real Santa" is....and we are very happy to oblige them in their quest:) They are happy to report this was Him.

We board the Polar Express

Christmas at home with the grandkids means time to enjoy the holidays from a child's perspective. And trains definitely are synonyms with Christmas festivities. So the Polar Express sounded like the perfect opportunity to experience a special time with grandchildren, Soonita & Priveen. Gina, our oldest daughter is their aunt, and the driver behind this event. She thought Grandma & grandkids should experience this special event & include her in the fun. And fun it was. There was hot chocolate & cookies, conductors punching letters in their tickets, the Polar Express story being read as we traveled to the "North Pole", and of course Santa & his elves boarded the train to ask each child what was their desired present. The evening was rounded out by a sing along. Too much fun!!!

Getting our kicks on Route 66 as we motor west

We are headed back toward the west and decided to follow as much of Old Route 66 that we could. Dianne's family traveled this route several times on their way to visit her grandparents in MO during the 50's & 60's & she has fond memories of their travels. We thought we might be able to relive some of those past memories with a journey along the this old highway. U. S. Route 66 is the highway that wouldn't die. The last stretch of Route 66 was decommissioned by the Federal government in 1985, and the historic road was officially replaced by Interstate 40. Route 66 began in 1925 with an act of Congress. Many existing roads, from Chicago to Los Angeles, were joined to create the new highway. By 1938, it was "continuously paved." Millions streamed west along Route 66, from the Dust Bowl refugees typified in John Steinbeck's "Grapes of Wrath" to wartime job-seekers. A new generation of tourists joined them - those who traveled by automobile. National icons sprung up in their wake - tourist camps (later called motels), gas stations, diners and ever-present corny roadside attractions.

We stopped at a few museums and roadside exhibits. And quickly realized we needed more time than we could manage on this trip--so we will return for a more in depth look in the future. Seems this is an ongoing theme-- there is always more to see & do than we can fit in at any given time.

One of the parks we stayed at, was an original stop for travelers along the route in the 50's--Enchanted Trails was a trading post with a roadside motel & campground.

Friends always seem to find you--thank goodness!

It seems no matter where we travel, other traveling RV friends always seem to find us, & we are grateful for this. It is definitely nice to see a few friendly faces along the way.

We were blessed by Dave & Elinore's presence again. They were visiting Branson, which is not far from Dianne's mom home, & they thought we should get together at least one more time before they traveled on to Florida. So we met up at the "Bass Pro Shop Outdoor World" in Springfield, MO. If you haven't been there, do yourself a favorite and put it on your "places to see". What a hoot.

Of course we had to finish our visit with a "goodbye dinner", and it just so happened that Lambert's (home of the throwed rolls) was just down the street. Again fun, good food and too many laughs with good friends!!

A few days later more Boomer friends--Gloria & Charlie Goss happened by this remote part of Mo, with their friends--so of course we all just had to go out and eat...... Doesn't it seem as if eating is on the agenda no matter where we are at--now why is that?? Oh yeah we love it!!

Thanksgiving in October

Unfortunately, we are rarely able to be with Dianne's mom & brother during the holidays--but fortunately for us our family can choose to be thankful whenever it is convenient. And Thursday, October 29th was the Watson's Thanksgiving Day!! Thank you Ron, you out did yourself!

A most wonderful visit with Mom & Ron

We have finally arrived in Neosho. Dianne's Mom and younger brother Ron, reside in this quaint mid-western town in southwestern MO, within the Ozarks. One of the benefits of being full-timers is being able to visit family wherever they may be. We were able to celebrate Dianne's mom 83rd birthday at her favorite local Chinese dining spot.

Mesa Verde NP, CO

This is such an incredible park to view & spend time in. So much of what we saw was beyond description. Thousands of years of an Indian culture--their homes, lifestyle & their very existence on the cliffs of an area so remote. Yet viberant and growing at a rapid speed--only to stop--why??? The cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde are some of the most notable and best preserved in the North American Continent. Sometime during the late 1190s, after primarily living on the mesa top for 600 years, many Ancestral Puebloans began living in pueblos they built beneath the overhanging cliffs. The structures ranged in size from one-room storage units to villages of more than 150 rooms. While still farming the mesa tops, they continued to reside in the alcoves, repairing, remodeling, and constructing new rooms for nearly a century. By the late 1270s, the population began migrating south into present-day New Mexico and Arizona. By 1300, the Ancestral Puebloan occupation of Mesa Verde ended--leaving us to wonder why??

All of this would have been lost if not for President Theodore Roosevelt who in 1906 established Mesa Verde National Park to "preserve the works of man," it was the first national park of its kind. Today, the continued preservation of both cultural and natural resources is the focus of the park's research and resource management staff.

We often found ourselves trying to see "in our mind's eye" what this way of life must of looked liked--what did day in and day out bring???
We hiked into some of the ruins and were treated to a tour once we desended into the Ancestral Puebloans homes. We learned they made Mesa Verde their home from about A.D. 550 to 1300. For more than 700 years they and their descendants lived and flourished here. So much of what we saw left us wondering & yet in awe of all they acomplished.

Now, Mesa Verde National Park preserves a spectacular reminder of this ancient culture. The park contains over 4,000 known archaeological sites including cliff dwellings and the mesa top sites of pithouses, pueblos, masonry towers, and farming structures. Use the links below to learn about some of these archaeological sites. We of course were only able to view a small faction of what is available & preserved.

Riding the Rails in Colorado

As many of you know, Dianne loves trains--and more importantaally loves to ride a train. One of the trains she has wanted to ride is the the Durango-Silverton train--and finally the time was at hand.

What a wonderful train ride this was & we were so happy that Elinore & Dave Barry joined us on the trip. The Durango-Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad winds through spectacular & breathtaking canyons in the remote wilderness of the two-million acre San Juan National Forest. We were able to experience the adventure of traveling by a coal-fired, steam-powered locomotive on the same tracks miners, cowboys and settlers of the Old West took over a century ago. In Silverton it had been snowing just prior to our arrival, and gave us a photo opportunity of our 1st snowfall of the season. We were very happy we had reserved an indoor car-the outside viewing cars were a bit cold;)

Arches National Park UT

We woke up early today, energized after a good nights sleep and ready to explore our next National Park, Arches. This park is such a fascinating place with it thousands of sandstone arches, spires, balanced rocks, pinnacles and fins towering above the desert. It is without a doubt a sightseer's mecca.

The park lies atop an underground salt bed, while earth above it is compress rock and so millions of years of erosion by water, ice, extreme temperatures, and the underground movement of salt, which is much softer, gives way it created these spectacular arches and rock formations. Even now new arches are being formed and old ones destroyed, and it was cool to see evidence of this throughout the park.

Elinor and Dave again joined as our visit to the park and we all found trekking around this park worth the tried bones & sore feet we experienced later that evening. Seems age can sometimes catch up with you when your not looking. Funny that way that happens, huh?

Dead Horse State Park is a definite must see!

We were advised by fellow RV’ers that we should not miss Dead Horse State Park, and I must admit we were not ill advised! If you are in this area don't miss going to this statepark. Y0u will feel as if you are on top of the world. It is only thirty minutes from Moab, at a turn off on the way to Canyonlands, It is most certainly worth a 1/2 day side trip. This really is a must-see location. It is, without question, one of the most spectacular vistas in the American Southwest as you stand on the rim of the canyon and overlook the Colorado River & Green River meandering below with a very up close and personal view of a spectataular view below.