Some Other Stuff We Did While in the U.S. of A.

Bob and Merilee were hosts extraordinaire. They didn't want us to think that they spent their retirement days doing nothing, so they made sure that we got to see all aspects of their life of leisure. Let me tell you that a life of leisure is a BUSY life!! There is much to do, and even more to see. So on Christmas morning, we leapt out of bed to discover that Santa HAD managed to find a way in (despite the lack of fireplaces).

The sun was beating down upon us, and it was pretty toasty in the sun. We had a moment of silence for our friends back home who were slogging away in the cold and rain....

And then, we got on with the task at hand (which was to make a Christmas breakfast already!!) I mean, we had to prepare for this:

(which occurs every day) (in case you can't see it, it's the sign that hangs in front of Bob 'n Merilee's trailer. And yes, it DOES say HAPPY HOUR.)

But, who WOULDN'T be happy knowing that breakfast would consist of this:

And this:

(The PBR or Pabst Blue Ribbon was Mister Man's idea)..... So Bob cooked the bacon and hash browns outside.

And then, we sat down and enjoyed our breakfast. Mister Man got this awesome t-shirt from Santa. His expression kind of matches the content of the shirt, but I guess that's what happens when you stand between a Mister Man and his breakfast..... (don't tell him, but this face always makes me giggle inside...)

And then we set out to see how people pass their time in the desert in winter. It turns out that some folks like to play on the sand dunes. And while it was a quiet day on the slopes, there were still a few folks who were vroom vrooming their way to the top.

It was kind of spectacular out there - all wide open and monochromatic.

And the glare from that big yellow glow-y thing in the sky made everyone pose like this:

Best of all, if Mister Man and Merilee ever decide to release an album, I've got the cover shot.

And then, we went exploring (after we paused to rest and worship that is!)

First we paused at a teeny-tiny chapel. In fact, it might be the smallest church in the world!

And then, we visited the bridge to nowhere. Seriously. Rumour has it that it was a model bridge that was built to test the construction for the Golden Gate Bridge.

Um. Yeah. I guess it's closed!! It doesn't even go to nowhere Alaska!! But it sure made for some great photo ops!

I couldn't quite figure out what this message meant....

And it was only a matter of time before Mister Man turned into Mountain Man.

But when you've got contrasting landscapes like this, who could blame him?

I'll tell you another thing. I could get used to this lack of white on the ground!! It was the most unique Christmas Day I'd ever experienced!!!!

Let There be Light!

I know that Christmas may seem all last week to you now, but, I still feel compelled to over share some more details about our Christmas vacation in Arizona. (I have mentioned that it's my favourite time of year, haven't I???) After dins on Christmas eve, we were hustled out the door and escorted to the 55th Street Christmas Light Show and Soup Supper. Okay. There wasn't actually a soup supper, but there's always next year!

[SIDEBAR STORY: When I was a kid, local churches in St. John's, Newfoundland would do "turkey teas" and "soup suppers" as fundraisers. I fondly recall my father arriving home from George Street United Church with a cardboard box full of "turkey tea suppers", in which cold cuts were piled up on a paper plate, along with an ice cream scoop of potato salad, and a frightening glob of green jello with bits of carrot floating in it.... etc. YOU get the picture.] In any event, there was no soup supper at the 55th Street Christmas Light Show, but there were a lot of lovely lights.

There were several clues that, no doubt about it, we were in America. First of all, who knew that Santa rode a quad?

Or that snowmen could be made from sagebrush?

And then, there were the sobering reminders of where we were.... (the sign on the left of the Christmas light display says "Support Our Troops")

But there were also whimsical reminders of December in other parts of the Northern Hemisphere, in which the weather outside can be frightful...

And there were even delightful little displays that involved mechanical components. This Santa snored and wiggled his toes.

But the REAL highlight of the night was getting to spend some time with Buddy the dog. Apparently, he LOVES this time of year in which he gets to be the centre of attention night after night, appearing in costume as a reindeer.

And you thought Rudolph was the star of the show!!

Christmas in the Desert

Mister Man and I headed South for the holidays. You see, his folks winter in Arizona and we decided we'd join them for the festivities. We landed in Phoenix on Christmas Eve, rented a car, and headed for Yuma.

Neither of us had really been to the desert before, so we weren't prepared for the gorgeous wide open skies and vistas that could melt even the hardest heart. It was an amazing drive.

En route to Yuma, we pulled into a place called "Dateland" in which they - well, yes, they grow dates. When we got out to stretch our little legs, we noticed this sign:

Sure enough, there was a stand of date trees out back (a gaggle of date trees?)

I don't know about you, but the minute a sign features the phrase "world famous", my curiosity is peaked..... Date shakes?

It seemed like if we didn't try one, we MIGHT be missing out on something.

And that proved to be an astute judgement and an auspicious start for our holiday. They were DELICIOUS. Who'd a thunk that tossing a handful of ground up dates into a milkshake would be as tasty? (despite the rather mysterious "hot" warning on the lid...!)

Now rejuvenated with the sugary goodness of the date milkshake, we drove into the sunset. Literally.

And before we knew it, we'd met up with Bob 'n Mer and we were whisked off to their wee community of snowbirds (AKA Canadians who fly south for the winter).

As sunset descended, we shared a lovely dinner with Mister Man's folks before embarking on our Christmas eve adventure (in which we went in search of a spectacular show of festive lights.) There was no doubt about it: our holiday was off to a rip roarin' start.