Well, Christmas was another big dose of rebuilding!
On December 15 I left Los Gatos for Pasadena to visit Lara, Scott, Madelyn and Emma. I also delivered some of the items from Mary's estate including glassware, the family cookbook and some photo albums that Mary had with pictures of the kids as they grew up.
This is Lara and Emma at their Christmas dinner table.
I was tickled to see the glassware I had delivered in this picture.
From Pasadena, I drove to Phoenix to see Tim and Charlize. Again, I had items from the estate that needed to be delivered. And I also saw my brother, Dan, who lives outside of Phoenix in Chandler.
Charlize and the jolly guy.
In both Pasadena and Phoenix, I dropped off Mary's costmetics and instruments (brushes, combs, etc.) for the grand girls to play with. Lara tells me the cosmetics themselves are probably too old but she'd take a took at them.
Scott, Madelyn and Emma after decorating their tree!
On the 20th, I flew from Phoenix to St. Paul, leaving my Honda Element with Tim. In St. Paul I saw my sister, my sister in law, cousing Mary Jo and family and Stephanie. On Stephanie's side I spent several events with her family. And, her family includes my best buddy since 3rd grade who happens to be her brother-in-law. All in all it was very, very pleasant and nice. Well, except fot the single digit temperatures in St. Paul while I was there. One (1) degree on Christmas Day!
Stephanie and Pat
With Stephanie's relatives. The gals take pictures of the group of guys.
The group of guys. My buddy from 3rd grade is in the blue and red sitting in the front.
And a mighty fine Christmas morning--1 degree at 9AM!
What is that old song,
"On Christmas Day, on Christmas Day, its one degree in the morning!"
On the morning of the 26th, I flew to Denver to visit my son, his wife Casey and my two grand children, Danny and Sarah. Denver weather was better than St. Paul and visiting Chris and his gang is always a big treat! Although I saw Erika at Thanksgiving, we missed at Christmas. She left Minnesota for Denver as I arrived in Minnesota and then we exchanged places on the 26th, missing each other again as she returned to Minnesota while I arrived in Denver. Oh, well, I'l catch her next time I am sure.
Sarah, Casey and Dan hamming it up for the camera!
Izzy is 80+ pounds but Squeakers the cat is clearly in control!
Denver just opened a new History Museum.
Sarah, Danny, Chris and Casey in a Model T Ford!
Who says flyover country doesn't have a sense of humor? Good food!
After three full days in Denver I jumped on the plane again and landed in Charleston South Carolina. This was to join the group known as the Farmers for a wonderful first week of the year on Fripp Island. A small aside is that one leg of the trip included a ride on the brand new Boeing 787 Dreamliner and I was upgraded to first class!
First class in a Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
There were 17 of us on Fripp in a 7 bedroom house with a massive kitchen and great room on the main floor. Our hosts, Leslie and Richard had a place nearby and they hosted one couple there too. So we spent our days in the big rental house and late each evening, we lost four folks to the 2nd house. The Farmers are a group from St. Johns and St. Bens (Mary's alma mater) who lived in a community housing experiment in the school year 1968-69. Mary and I have traveled with them to Minnesota, Massachuesetts, Texas and Bali. After Mary died, I've been to MN, MA, Peru and now South Carolina with the group. Good people, good times and wonderful community spirit. You know the group is working well when one of the members complains, "Every time I get up from a meal to help with the dishes, there are already three people using all three sinks in this kitchen!"
Pictures of the 17 of us in the kitchen and great room on Fripp Island.
We also visited Beaufort SC, Charleston SC and Savannah GA. Great day trips and such history of both the founding of the country, revolutionary war, slavery and the civil war. Great place to learn.
From Fripp, I flew back to Phoenix to recover my car. I saw Tim and Charlize and then headed off to see my brother in Chandler. From there, I spent two days in/near Tucson in the desert plus visiting my friend Terry and Barnes who live in the Tucson area. Saguaro National Park is clearly something special with the large population of these well known desert cactus.
Sunset in the desert.
Saguaro Cactus in Saguaro National Park
I then had a third dinner with my brother on Tuesday evening. He is moving to the Philipines soon and his house is sold and supposed to close this week. I wish him well and hope all of his expectations are fulfilled.
Some workers Dan hired load their truck to take the last of his furniture away.
(And, yes, they did strap it down tightly before they drove.)
From there, I headed home and arrived Los Gatos about 1AM today (Jan 10). From December 15 to Jan 10 is 25 days so just under 4 weeks.
It was definitely time to come home.
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