Christmas Preparations in Santee

      Frost on the pumpkin!  Yes, believe it or not, this is the 2nd morning in a row where temperatures have dipped below 32,... and we don't think Mother Nature is very funny! Yesterday morning, we were 7 degrees warmer than the boat launch at Chateaugay Lake, and that's just wrong!  But in defense of So Cal, each day, by 10 AM, we've had to open the windows and cool Big Red off, as the morning sun visited us through the front window of the bus.  Nothing like sitting in a nice warming sun, enjoying that morning cup of coffee.

      The Christmas tree is up, inside and outside, and decorations are visible all through the park, as Grammie goes into Christmas mode, in preparation for Santa's arrival in just a few days. No one enjoys Christmas more than Grammie, and even though the entire extravaganza is starting to tone down, basically because of lack of space, Grammie continues with the traditions that make this time of year so special.

     And I think Grammie is having a special time, passing those traditions on to Joanne, and their special little helper, Liam.  Nothing says Christmas like cookies, and with just a little preparation, Liam was ready to go.  If you check with Liam, he'll tell you that apron is a hand me down from his father.  And Debbie loves to continuously remind me about the long line of pastry chefs on the Lagasse side of the family!!

     It didn't take Liam very long to figure out what sugar cookies were, and it seemed like his favorite part was putting on the icing!

     One of the nice things about staying at Santee Lakes, is the close proximity to Ben's house, and being able to coax Ben into bringing Liam over to enjoy the happenings over here.  Last weekend, a pretty big celebration was held here, and that included lost of events for kids.  Most seemed to enjoy tubing down the "snow" covered hill, although Liam didn't seem that interested.  But when he discovered the swing and the slide, his day started to perk right up.  Grammie and Ben did most of the work, and Papa just took pictures.  Consider yourself fortunate that you don't have to sit and look at all of them!

     As you can imagine, Liam has taken center stage this year, and that's to be expected.  Of course Jamo still like to get in some cuddle time with Grammie, and if he can get past Liam, he takes advantage of it.  But I really don't think Grammie minds too much.  

     It is always special to watch the curiosity of a child at Christmas, even though he doesn't truly understand what going on.  Twinkling lights and big blue snowflakes will attract almost anyone.  

And then of course, there's always Papa's lap!

Debbie managed to stay pretty busy for a few days making cookies for Ben and her brother back in Ohio.  Every year, Debbie sends cookies in a tin to Bob, and ever year the tin returns full of buckeyes!  That's a pretty good trade. 

    MaryAnne will be flying in for Christmas tomorrow night, so of course, everyone is pretty excited about that.  She'll bring a little life to the party!  Can't convince her to jump on the Trolley and ride it out to Lakeside though, so I guess we'll have to drive in to the airport and pick her up.  

     

     And of course, no Christmas story would be complete without a picture of the baby on Santa's lap, crying his head off.  I've never understood why parents are so mean to their kids, and why we all seem to get such a chuckle out of it!!
     Merry Christmas to everyone from the Doody's.  And may the New Year brings lots of blessings to your family.  And if not, remember the Golden Rule:  Keep Calm.....Call Mom!

   

Cross Country and Arrival in San Diego

     After leaving MAE and her wonderful Thanksgiving celebration, we headed back to VA to pick up Big Red, which we had left in a KOA.  The weather had been pretty cold all along the east coast, and Debbie and I had taken the extra precaution of winterizing the RV, even though we had hoped we wouldn't have to.  We pushed straight through and arrived after about a 10 hour day to find Big Red sitting patiently for our arrival.  I reconnected the water lines, and gingerly started adding water, cautiously looking for any sign of a broken line.  The system pressurized perfectly, and now it was time to point this puppy west.  We jumped back out on I-40 into Tennessee, and pushed about halfway across the state before stopping in a Passport America campground for the night.
      The next day, we ran into some rainy weather, which the entire area desperately needed. As we passed by Sevierville, TN, the weather started getting nasty with pretty aggressive winds and pounding rain.  Debbie was able to locate a KOA, and shortly after setting up camp, the weather really turned nasty.  The next morning, we read of the terrible forest fires that had been fueled by the winds, and nearly decimated Gatlinburg and Dollyworld. We had skirted just north of the fires, and never even knew it.  The next day, as we settled into our site in Texarkana, TX, we listened to tornado warnings for the areas just to the southeast of us.  This was turning into a very exciting trip!
    The cooler weather had pushed  us south onto I-30 after Little Rock, and then down to I-20 as we headed right through the heart of Dallas and Ft. Worth.   Pushing on, the weather stayed friendly, and we finished Texas, arriving at Lac Cruces, NM on I-10.  There's always a feeling of accomplishment navigating across Texas.

     At the intersection of I-10 and I-8, we took shelter at the  Las Colinas RV Resort near Casa Grande, AZ.  We took Big Red and the jeep through a truck wash and got about 2 months worth of road grime off of them, and settled in for a day of rest.  Ahead of us lay about 300 miles of flat, open desert, and then a 13 mile ride up 3000 feet into the mountains of San Diego county.  And a weather report advising wind gusts of up to 40 mph!  The weather finally won, and we took a day off to wait out the winds.  On Day 8, we made the final push west into CA, and onto our site in Santee.  But not before traveling through some very familiar country.

To celebrate our arrival, we stopped at the Indian Casino in Campo, to top off Big Red with diesel, and enjoy a prime rib lunch for $7.78!  We could care less about the gambling, but the cheap lunch sure perked our interest!
   

      After setting up camp, we headed over to Ben's house.  Grammie had waited just about long enough to see all those boys!  Of course, Jamo went nuts, as he always does when he sees Grammie!  He always seems to remember her, and could care less that I was standing in the room.  Liam stood quietly in the middle of the living room, looking at Dad, and then Grammie, then back at Dad.  You could see his mind working, trying to figure out who these two people were.  Thirty seconds later, he was running to Grammie, arms outstretched, wanting to be picked up.  Of course, she had been out for a visit a few months ago, and as soon as he heard her voice, he knew who she was.
     We brought in a tote full of Ben's cars and trucks that he had somehow managed to leave in our care. But it seemed only right to bring them out to him.  Although, we're not sure if Liam liked the cars or the tote more.  As you can see, Jamo was quite interested also.

      Within a few minutes, curiosity got the better of him, and Liam decided to come over and say hello.  Must be I have a pretty comfortable lap, cause he sat back, crossed his arms and legs, and watched Grammie and Ben going through the new toy box.
     Then it was time to visit with Grammie on the floor, and see what she had to say.

     Joanne was off working, dealing with the Christmas mobs at Target.  We headed back to the "trailer park" as the kids like to call it, to get rested up for the new adventure awaiting our next visit at Ben's house.