Christmas 2011 is upon us:)

Some years we are traveling, but not this year. We are home with those we truly love--family and friends!

Our family tradition at Christmas is to do a Christmas morning brunch, allowing all family members to visit their respective family later in the day. Family members bring their special dish to share, we eat, open presents, then do an adult Christmas game.

Everyone brings a $5 gift and someone reads this year's "game" theme, passing gifts as the game dictates (right-left). And in the end we are "rewarded" with the "gift".  Sometimes funny, sometime a bit unusual but more than often a usable one, but more importantly the game leaves all of us laughing and bonded!

Revisiting the Nutcracker Ballet

One of my favorite ballets would have to be the Nutcracker. When our girls were young we went several years at Christmas--it was one of our family traditions.  They are all grown now, and it had been well over 10 years since I had had the opportunity to attend. This year one daughter said "oh how I wish we could go to the Nutcracker, can we make that happen"?  Well, that is all that I needed, a yearning to revisit the past and yes we could make that happen. Both daughters wanted to go, but unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately one could not, but volunteered her 8 year old daughter (my granddaughter) to experience the wonder of this beautiful ballet.

The day arrived, we dressed for the occasion, headed to downtown Portland and arrived early enough to find good parking. Prior to the play we took several pictures, learned more about this particular performance and finally were seated to watch and listen as the play unfolded. Oh my it was just as I had remembered, and both daughter and young granddaughter were in awe as well.

Thanksgiving in Oregon with Family

We have not had the opportunity to spend very many Thanksgivings in Oregon with family since going on the road full-time, but when we do get to--we love it!'

This year was the year we were home once again and family was at the forefront of our activities.

Our children, our grandkids and our friends in the NW were our priority for this season, and we so appreciated the time we spent with each of them!

It is on to Yuma

Although we must return to Oregon much earlier than we would have wished, we are so glad that Yuma and Boomer friends are on the way!! We spent several months in the spring here and know we will very much miss all the many Boomer happenings that will transpire this winter.

We have so enjoyed these events, but unfortunately, not this year as Frank must return to OR and finally have his needed knee replacement. But for now we are in Yuma and spending time making the most of our time.

And we are thrilled that Halloween is at hand on our stay. Dan and Jenny hosted a wonderful party--guest had the option of being in costume or not--most chose to honor the child within!

The weather was warm, the food proved, as usual, to bring the best of the best to the party---but company was the highlight!!

A wonderful visit with family in TX

It was finally time to leave MO after 3 weeks in Neosho with Dianne's mom and brother Ron, we needed to head south to TX. We looked forward to again visiting with Dianne's sister (Vickie's) daughter, Jackie & family. Jackie and her husband, Russ, have 3 beautiful daughters and we haven't been able to visit with them since the youngest, Avairya, was born in March of 2009. As might be expected the girls have grown and have so much to share. We loved having time to spend

with the girls as well as Jackie & her family!!

On to Missouri

We headed east to Missouri from Las Vegas, to see Dianne's mom and brother. We usually try to come every year but were unable to make the trip last year, so we were so glad to finally be able to return to Missouri to see family.

Dianne's mom turned 86 this year and we were happy to celebrate this event with her, which included her wish to do it up big in Branson. This gave all of us the opportunity to do several shows that she wanted to see, as well as a train ride that showcased the long history of the area. The train ride is narrated and allowed us to understand the past

of the area, as well as enjoy the sights along the hour and half of rails.

Our 45th Anniversary Celebrated in Las Vegas

We are not big fans of Las Vegas, having only been there twice before, but heck it was our 45th anniversary and we wanted to do it up with good entertainment!! We had heard wonderful reviews of The Jersey Boys, and wanted to see this musical play up close and personal. And we were not disappointed.

The story is a true based story of four blue collar boys from Jersey trying to make it in the music world. Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons and their 40 year friendship through the ups and downs.
We we were very impressed by the entire show, their acting, the story line and the music was fantastic. Of course we grew up listening to this stuff, but it was so interesting to us to go "behind the scene" so to speak. We would recommend this play to those who like good old time 60 music and a good storyline.

Finally Yosemite National Park

We have traveled south from Oregon for 8 years, but we are usually too late or way too early to visit Yosemite National Park--but not this year. We made it a point to spend some time here at a park that has until now been elusive to us. We stayed at the Escapee Park, Sierra Nevada in Coarsegold, CA just a few miles from the south entrance to the park. We took the Jeep and explore south to north, west to east and now know that we did not give ourselves enough time to truly explore this most wondrous of this national park.

Not just a grand Valley...but a shrine to human foresight, strength of granite, power of glaciers, the persistence of life, and the tranquility of the High Sierra. Yosemite National Park, one of the first wilderness parks in the United States, is best known for its waterfalls, but within its nearly 1,200 square miles, we discovered deep valleys, grand meadows, ancient giant sequoias, a vast wilderness area, and so much more. We found this and more…beauty, tranquility, history, hiking trails, and photo opportunities everywhere we turned.

The history includes that the Ahwahneechee lived here for generations, followed by the arrival of Europeans in the mid-1800s. The rugged terrain challenged many early travelers, with just a few—only 650 from the mid-1850s to mid-1860s—making the journey to Yosemite Valley by horseback or stagecoach. By 1907, construction of the Yosemite Valley Railroad from Merced to El Portal eased the journey, thereby, increasing visitation. Today, 3.5 million people enter the park’s gates to explore and it is now necessary to protect the fragile environment from those that just want to witness this beauty up close and personal. We learn from the stories of those who walked Yosemite’s trails before us, allowing appreciation of their lasting footprints that led to conscious preservation.

The Oregon/California Coast

1. Traveled south on Hwy. 101 from Winchester Bay toward California. The weather was at the peak of goodness.

We stopped at several waysides, overlooks and sightseeing vistas--wow oh wow--what a great decision on our part--truly a wonderful bit of "eye-candy" for us.

South to California

We haven't been able to travel Hwy. 101 this far south for several years, but have always wanted to again return to enjoy the Redwoods, the history of the area, and of course revisit Eureka so that we could again partake of the goodies at the Samoa Cookhouse, the last surviving cookhouse in the West, continues the tradition of serving, lots of good good - as advertised--lumber camp style. They serve

breakfast, lunch, and dinner, all family style and found that we never leave hungry! The you can take a step back in time while visiting the onsite Historic Logging Museum and gift shop full of relics and photographs from the old logging and Cookhouse days.

Winchester Bay 2011

 We decided on our way south we would again head to Winchester Bay--Crabbing

Nirvana for those who love crab in any recipe or just by itself, which is my favorite. This year the crabs are just waiting to be caught, and thankfully several friends have caught over their limit and willing to "gift" us with their overages:)

Since both Frank and I love crab, we are more than willing to accept their gifts. We now have several pounds frozen in our freezer awaiting the next tasty meal to be consumed by us, family members and/or friends who also love the taste of fresh crab.

The weather was truly beautiful. Sadie (formally our daughter's pet) is now on our journey, and seems to like the adventure. We parked on the bay and were fortunate to be able to sit each night on the bay over looking the marina.

RV Classic Outing in Tokeland WA

Our site was oceanfront, the weather was wonderfulland the weekend was full of activities that we had not done before. We went to a new museum,,http://www.nwcarriagemuseum.org/ --learned about  the "horseless carriage" era --so very interesting.

Papa has a brand new ride

As many of you know Frank loves those cars of old--but for some reason the Oldsmobile--well the muscle car OLDs holds a special place in his heart. He has been looking for awhile for a project and today he finally found "IT". A 1965 442 OLDs that will hold his attention, allow him to explore his creativity, build his dream and well give him an outlet to enjoy his passion.

Boomers in Washington--we united as friends.

 

We traveled north for a few days to the Escapee SKP park in Chimicum,WA just outside Port Townsend to visit with Boomer friends Diane and Brent, Dave and Elinore who we hadn't seen for a few years, as well as several other boomer friends who all assembled for an eventful mini-boomerang. 

The boys went out on Brent's boat to fish and crab, yeah it was a successful catch--fish were reeled in and crabs were trapped, so dinner was more than yummy! Thanks Brent and Diane for making our stay memorable.

Dan and Jenny Sheppard came over on the ferry for the day--Jenny whispered sweet nothings into Frank's ear--yep nothings:)

It was Coho Days at the park, so there were lots of activities and fundraisers.

One of which was the "pie auction", which draws a huge crowd and lots of competitive wagering. Diane was up to the challenge and made her wonderful Key Lime Pie for the event--make that 2 of her pies. Now remember there are many, many choices, but Diane's pies garnered more than $200 totaled--oh yes it went to a good cause, but goodness what a haul.

Then there was the special Wine event with door and raffle prizes. Dianne entered and won two prizes, beautiful wine bottles with mini-lights stuffed inside that give a glow that warms the motorhome.

We have traveled full-time for 7 years, no stick house, no rental, not even a storage shed, but this year we decided to do a "temporary studio apartment" at our son's home. Frank remodeled the downstairs of our son's home,

hardwood floors, one room was redesigned into a living/dining room/kithen combo and the other room into our retreat bedroom. Then Frank thought he might want to gift his wife with what he knew his wife would love--a deck over looking a pond that give us a a great view of wildlife-beavers, heron, eagles and so much more. So he build it and yep--his wife "loves-loves it"!