Home for the Holidays

December 13, 2016 - January 3, 2017

We had a great time with Uncle Ron and Uncle Fred during our five days in Mobile. We went on mini-adventures every day, including a visit to the Stagecoach Cafe and a ride to the Florida border to buy Lottery tickets. The boys took us to all their favorite places where they meet up with friends. There is never a dull moment with Ron & Fred.

Ron, Dave and Fred

They gave us a ride to the airport on Tuesday, December 13th, our 100th day of this journey. It worked out nicely that our trip home landed on this day; it's a milestone for sure! The Mobile airport is very tiny, which surprised us. They have an Art Program in the airport which showcases local artists work for travelers to enjoy. I liked it very much!

Art Car

Ceramic Crab

Ceramic Crab

Mask

Multimedia

Crystal Vase

Boy on bowl

Bird

We made our way north to our home in Stillwater, Minnesota where our son, David, picked us up at the airport late in the evening. When we stepped outside, the air took our breath away and seized up our lungs. The smell of cold filled us with nostalgia. It is good to be home for the holidays! Within a couple of days the temperature fell to -20 F. You forget how cold -20 really is. It's so cold that it can turn boiling water into vapor!

Our three week visit was a whirlwind of activity. Dave worked almost every day to get the Delta booth ready for the Orlando trade show in January. That left me a lot of time to kill. I had a long list which included sewing new mattress bags for our mattress toppers. We make our bed each night, then take it apart in the morning to air out the cushions. The squishy topper gets rolled up and placed in a zippered bag and stored away. We'd been using the plastic bag that came with the topper but it was falling apart at the seams. The new bag should last a long time. We have two mattress toppers for our v-birth that we use for extra cushion on our bed in the salon. I made a separate drawstring bag for them.

I found time to take the Canon camera to the repair shop in Lindstrom to be evaluated. I've been having trouble with it for most of the trip. The camera is fine but the lens is not. The good news is I can use the new lenses with image stabilization that we bought in New York City, one on the old camera and one on the new. This will allow us to avoid changing lenses in a wet environment.

Baking was also on my list. Anyone who knows me well, knows that I bake A LOT at Christmas. I usually make about 30 different cookies but this year I had to limit my recipes to our favorites, Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies, Ginger Snaps, Molasses Cookies, Russian Tea Cakes, Oreo Crush Balls, No Bake Peanut Butter Bites, Cinnamon Triangles, Banana Muffins, Black Bean Brownies, and Coffee Bars.

My usual Holiday treat table

Our daughter, Brielle, came home for Christmas on Friday; making our family complete. We had one of our best holidays together, ever! It was a quiet, but lovely day, with everyone relaxed and happy. I made eggplant lasagna for dinner. After dinner, our friends Sonya and Brooke stopped by to toast the day! It was wonderful seeing them both!

We were thrilled to be able to connect with friends while we were home. So many people have supported us on this journey. We were surprised to hear how many have followed the blog and wanted to talk about specific posts, usually the most hair raising, dangerous stories. It is exciting to share them in detail. We cherish every moment we shared and appreciate each reunion we had. This journey has been all about the people we meet and those that love us and share our adventure with us from home. Thanks to everyone who took the time to connect while we were in town!

This visit will be remembered with warmth and just a bit of sadness. While we were home we had to say goodbye to our beloved kitty, Hobi. He had been a part of our family for a very long time. He was a good boy and filled our lives with many years of laughter and love. We will miss him but know that he is no longer in pain and is somewhere over the rainbow frolicking outside with his old friend Fierce.

With our kitties ~ Dory, Hobi and Tully