Almost Christmas

We've been home one week today. It's been very busy with the finishing up of shopping, visiting, parties, etc. Last Saturday was Dick and Linda's annual event that was quite spectacular as usual. We even stayed up into the early morning hours for that one. We don't do that too much anymore.
In 2 days Kristin will be up from Austin for 5 or 6 days. That will add a new wrinkle to the works. But she did promise to help me with the batch of Bock Beer that I brewed back in October just before we left. It's pretty good if I do say so myself!
Saturday is when things really get busy. Our daily schedule is as follows; Saturday we're at Keith and Sheilas, Sunday we're having our Christmas Day open house, Monday we're at Josh and Brynn's, Tuesday we're at Keith and Sheila's again, Wednesday and Thursday is prepare to head south, and Friday we're back on the plane to Phoenix. PHEW!! Hopefully the weather warms up a little more down south for our return, and hopefully the weather stays dry here until we leave. Surprisingly there has been very little rain this month, and none of the other four letter word, snow. This has been the driest December on record. Something's bound to happen. I'll be making a visit to the driving range Thursday morning to attempt to hit a few.
We don't have any pictures to add this time, but we'll make up for it with lots of Christmas pictures next time. Merry Christmas to all.
Ernie

Disneyland in December

Disneyland Entrance

Walt Disney and the Mouse statue in front of the castle

Woody

Us at the Haunted House

Mickey's Galore

Last Tuesday we took a drive to Anaheim California to spend a couple of nights and visit Disneyland. We checked in to our Worldmark condo in the afternoon, then checked out the local area and had dinner at the Cheescake Factory. Tuesday morning we headed over to Disneyland. The park is all decked out for Christmas, and was really pretty. We had anticipated small crowds. Wrong!! We thought with the schools still in session that it wouldn't be too crowded. Wrong!! I've never seen so many strollers in one place. But, after the Christmas parade at 5:30, the crowds thinned out. We were there from 9:00 a.m. until about 9:00 p.m. with about a 1 hour break in the afternoon to go back to the condo to change to warmer clothes for the evening. We rode several rides, watched the fireworks show, and checked out a lot of shops.
Thursday afternoon we returned to Apache Junction. Our Seattle friends, Ron and Jan came down on Tuesday for a week. We will be on the same flight to Seattle on Tuesday the 13th. We've been hanging out together the past few days. But, in a couple of days it will be back home for a busy 17 days.
Today we had a Barbecue (ribs) for 10 at our site. We decided to get together with the other Washington people in our section of the park. We had a good time, and probably ate too much. Tomorrow will be one last round of golf for me until next year. Hopefully the weather will hold up, as the forecast is for showers. It should be in the mid 60's, so a rain shower or two shouldn't be a deterrent.
Until next time, stay dry,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Ernie

December Again (or) HO, HO, HO

Once again December is upon us. And, the way the weather has been the past few days, it feels like December. Daytime highs have been struggling to make it to 60, with nighttime lows dipping down to the mid 30's. According to the local weather people, this would almost be considered an "Arctic Blast." We've even had a shower or two to prepare us for our return on the 13th. Last Thursday's hike was even cancelled due to the threat of rain. The weather hasn't put a damper on my golfing "attempts" though. That's a whole story in itself. It's up and down like a yo yo. I'll be spending more time at the driving range!
Last Tuesday we met our friends Joe and Lindy for dinner in Mesa. We went to an Irish Pub called The Harp. The food was very good, and the restaurant wasn't very busy, so all of us (even me) could hear each other. We will be getting together again in January for barbecued ribs at our place.
We will be taking a 2 day journey to Anaheim on Tuesday for a Disneyland visit. We've never been there without kids, and were able to book our Worldmark timeshare. It's about 350 miles from here, so no big deal. We've been there during the Christmas season before, and it's a great time to go. Mid week before Christmas break, the park shouldn't be crowded, and the weather forecast calls for sunny skies with temperatures in the mid 60's. We'll be back on Thursday.
That catches us up again, and next weeks edition will have some pictures. (We haven't taken any this week.)
I'm about half way on my "wax the motorhome project", and will have it completed before we head north on the 13th.......Ernie