Daisy has a tradition of spending every Christmas with her siblings. As her husband, last year was my first time to be an addition to this merry mix. It is a little over 1000 miles from our southern base here in Texas to brother-in-law Don's house. It is winter and we were closely watching the weather patterns as we approached our designated departure date the week before Christmas. Our intent was to drive via Arkansas so we could check out our house to make sure that I did turn off the water and leave the heat on. A storm hit the week before we left, but it appeared that the 10 inches of snow that fell on the mountain roads were of no issue by the time of our travel. We were off!
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| The tree we saw at Don and Maggie's house |
We dressed in sandals and short-sleeved shirts for our departure and after 600 miles we stopped overnight in Sherman, Texas. The next day we arrived in Arkansas to check out our house, wearing jeans, sweatshirts, jackets, and socks. The house was in great unoccupied shape. I had turned the water off and set the desired temperature on the thermostat. After a short visit with our next door neighbors, Jim and Val, to catch up on local gossip, we spent the night with our buddy Carol who lives 1 mile away. She provided a delicious spaghetti dinner and we enjoyed her beautifully decorated home.
We only had a 5-hour drive remaining to our Christmas destination, but we had to experience a little more of winter to get there.
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| Frost and ice covered the road sides. |
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| I am a wimp. It was 75 when we left Texas. |
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| Snow covered Don's yard when we arrived. |
The smells of homemade cookies, candies, and roasting turkey plus the warm hugs and laughter of being with family overshadowed any earlier weather worries.
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| and coffee cakes... |
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| Maggie baked pies... |
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| and made a variety of candies |
When growing up and in my previous relationships, going to church for Christmas services has been a cornerstone tradition. Daisy's siblings do the same. We attended the Christmas Eve candlelight service where Daisy's nephew Frank and his wife Lindsey were key elements in the music and worship program.
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| Don, Ann, Lindsey, Frank, Mary Lee, Rick, and Daisy after the Christmas Eve service |
We had two gift opening times due to work and family schedules.
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| Daisy's brother Don and sister Mary Lee |
Attendees included:
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| Heather and nephew Daniel |
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| Niece Laura and Lauren |
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| Prance the kitty |
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| Cliff and niece Ricka |
Everyone had a task to do.
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| "Now sister, I will hold the bird and you catch all the drippings". |
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| The gravy lady (Daisy) did her thing under the eye of the roll lady, niece Ann. |
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| Don gave me the honor of carving. |
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| Sister Mary Lee and her husband Rick lead the plate fillers |
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| All the good ole standard stuff...even oyster stuffing |
As they say, a good time and a full belly were had by all.
Smiles were everywhere
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We had an uneventful trip on dry roadways back to the southern Texas Rio Grande Valley. Unfortunately we arrived back here to find cool weather and a forecast of rainy days to come.
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| A Christmas gift: "vinderhosen" to clothe a wine bottle. |
This is the last blog for 2013. There will be more to come in 2014 if God is willing and the truck keeps running!
So to sum it up...
Total nights in the truck camper: 129
Other travel nights away from the house or 5th wheel: 48, plus 8 cruise nights, plus 3 nights in Las Vegas (flew there)
So to sum it up...
Our travel from July 2012 through December 2013:
Total nights in the truck camper: 129
Other travel nights away from the house or 5th wheel: 48, plus 8 cruise nights, plus 3 nights in Las Vegas (flew there)
Total miles on overnight car trips: 16,099
Total truck camper miles: 23,798
Total car and truck camper road trip miles: 39,897
Happy New Year
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