Had a Holly, Jolly Christmas!!

Xmas Eve Fire

Yup, had a holly, jolly Christmas - it was a great time of the year.  I love to listen to the Christmas carols, and see all the pretty lights - but sad not to be with the kids.  Fortunately we are able to spend most of the summer with them and be able to enjoy much milder Christmas temps.

We celebrated Christmas a few times this past week - a Christmas eve bonfire and a couple of dinners.  That meant turkey twice and more trimmings than one could comfortably consume in one sitting.  It was

great to be able to celebrate with friends.  And Santa even found where we were parked.  While he didn't leave a whole lot of gifts, he did leave a note that said he questioned our behaviour this past year and felt he would give to the more deserving grandchildren.  Next year, I will try to be better!  That means that the old adage is true "he knows when you've been bad or good so be good for goodness sake"!

After Dinner

I even tried my hand at being crafty this year.  I had practised making a couple of things earlier but they just didn't turn out like the photos.  This one did so I was pretty proud of myself.

We certainly have been enjoying the sunshine.  Even without really warm temperatures, a spot out of wind makes for a very pleasant place to relax and enjoy the clear blue skies.

It definitely has been a week of little activity, other than the occasional

Enjoying the sun

walk which is greatly needed after the treats of Christmas.  This week will be a repair week as we continue to search for our elusive brake light issue.  Thanks for joining us on our winter journey and I'll be back next week.  Enjoy your week!!

It's Almost Christmas

Yes, it's almost that time of the year!  It's a time that all the little ones are excitedly waiting for that fellow in the red suit and hope that they have been good all year.

This past week has been very quiet.  We spent a week dry camping just outside of Yuma and then we moved onto a lot in town.  We will be here for a month as we will celebrate the holidays here.

We went to a light parade last night.  This consisted primarily of golf carts and ATV's that were all decorated.  Some folks are so creative when it comes to the decorations.  Santa was cloned many times as the vehicles streamed past.  It was a very impressive light parade with at least fifty vehicles showed their decorations.

As the big day draws near it is time to go out and do some shoppping as well as some baking.  I think maybe that tomorrow is the day.

I hope everyone has a great week, a wonderful Christmas. In closing, I have a little poem to share.

Christmas is full of shiny things
 That sparkle, gleam and glow;
These holiday pleasures dazzle us,
 And yet, deep down, we know...

That Christmas has its special gifts,
 But our year-round joy depends
On the cherished people in our lives,
 Our family and our friends.

by Joanna Fuchs

Another Week - Another Address

Actually, it should say another week - several addresses.  Our week started by going to a huge Flea Market in Brownsville.  The day was cloudy and threatening rain so it was a great day to go and wander around and look at the many bargains that could be available seeing that most of the vendors were under a roof.  It turned out that there were many duplicates but we did manage to find some bargains that we had to have!

Some of the roadside

Easy to make a lot of miles - pedal to the medal

Then it is Monday morning and time to hit the road.  Since the day was cloudy, drizzly, and some fog, we decided to alter our plans.  Originally we were planning on going down to Big Bend National Park but because of the weather, plans were changed and on to Yuma we were headed.  We had almost 2200 kms to travel but the roads were great and soon the weather cleared and we were just a-motoring.  Diesel has really dropped in price so travelling is becoming fairly reasonable - a great offset to the decline in the value of our dollar.

As we often do when travelling straight through, the

nights are often spent at Wal-marts where every spot is a pull-through - great asset when towing a vehicle.  So in Del-Rio we listened to Christmas carols all night long.  I did say they were convenient, not necessarily real quiet.  We did arrive in Yuma Friday evening so now it will be time to relax, visit, and enjoy Arizona.
Since all week was spent on the road, their isn't a lot to say.  Our touring consisted of following that yellow line down the road.  I am often amazed at the designs that are on many of the overpasses - some are really quite colourful so I have included a couple that were particularly attractive.

As everyone prepares for the holiday season, I hope you have a great week! 

Another Week in Texas

Another hour down the road and we arrive at our new address - Rockport, Texas.  We check into our campground, get settled in and it's time to go exploring.  We drive along the shore and see these trees that look rather peculiar.  Well it turns out that they are oak trees and are simply responding to the prevailing
winds.  Obviously the prevailing winds are rather constant and fairly strong.

We stop to see some sculptures near the marina and then take a drive over to Corpus Christie, along to Padre Island, Mustang Island and back to Aransas Pass.  It is a great day

Pelicans waiting for lunch

and a wonderful drive.  Being along the coast, we cross many long and marvelous bridges.  Then we are to take a ferry.  Fortunately, we drove up to the ferry and drove right on.  We get out of the jeep and get ready to enjoy the ride, but oops - it's over.  It was quite a surprise to be on a ferry for such a short ride.

We went over to see the "Big Tree" which is an oak tree determined to be over 1,000 years old.  What a huge, gnarly tree.  Nearby were several other old oak trees that have branches all over.  We remarked on what wonderful climbing trees they would make as they have huge branches that often hang down almost to the ground!!

Now it is time to move again and off to Brownsville we go - a three hour drive.  Along the way we discover a problem with out brake lights so we stop along the road trying to determine the cause.  Well we had no luck so off we go and check into the River Bend Resort.  The campground portion is very small - about 10 sites and it is a lovely campground.  While here, we spend some time trying to determine our brake light problem to no avail.  We will try again!!

The weather is hot and humid.  This morning at 10:00 a.m., the temperature was 23C (74F) and the humidity was 91% - nothing will dry but when there is a little breeze, it is very lovely weather.  We went over to Port Isabel and South Padre Island.  It was a beautiful day for sightseeing.  We climbed to the

Recognize this guy??

top of a lighthouse (74 steps).  Once we reached the top, the balcony is not accessible but it was a great view at the top (although somewhat like a sauna).  We drove over to South Padre Island and toured a couple of beach areas.  This is an area where RV's could park along the beach.  While there was very little wind, there was quite a high surf.  I don't think I would enjoy listening to that surf pound endlessly.

Sand Castle on South Padre Island

While in thearea, we watched a lighted boat parade.  Unfortunately there weren't very many boats but the ones that

were there have a great display of Christmas decorations.  And what a great evening to sit out and watch a parade - just a light breeze and mild temperatures.  On our way home we decided to make a quick stop at Chick-fil-A for a quick bite to eat.  Now this is a fast food place but the service was better than many restaurants.  We must have looked a bit puzzled as to what we should order so we were asked if this was our first visit.  Since it was, perhaps we would like a sample.  The next question was where we were from - we said Saskatchewan (brought a bewildered look) so we said Canada.  Well one of the staff members was from Canada - over he comes to say hello.  He was a very nice young man who used to live in Victoria and moved back to Texas with his parents.  Then they proceeded to bring out our order, get the ketchup and napkins, check to see if we need anything, and then at the end of the meal bring a hand wipe and a mint.  As we leave they say good bye and thank us for coming - if this is typical, it certainly makes one plan on stopping back.

The ant trail!

As we went for a little walk we came across an ant colony.  They created a very visible trail to and from the ant hill - something we had not seen.   Who would have thought that they too create a game trail.

As we start a new week, we hope that everyone has a great week so until next weekend - enjoy your week!!