Happy New Year!

2010 has been a great year with a few ups and downs. Welcoming Christian to our family was a highlight, as is the prospect of a new Granddaughter in 2011. Congratulations Shannon & Chris.

Since I last blogged, we enjoyed Christmas at Desert Trails and in Pittsburgh, PA. Desert Trails had a fun holiday dance, caroling, and a luminaria night party. The people here are fantastic and we have made many great new friends. Christmas week we spent with Chris, John, John Ryan, and Annie in Pittsburgh. It was cold with pretty know on the ground. Traveling was uneventful which was lucky since a big storm blew through the east coast after we left. We even had gentle, pretty snow on Christmas morning as we opened our packages. Lots of phone calls to family back in the northwest made for a great holiday.

Tonight is the big New Years party at Desert Trails. Steak and Shrimp for dinner and champagne for midnight. Other fun surprises are planned. Should be big fun as long as we can stay awake. This is the first New Years in a long time that we haven't spent it with Doug & Diane our Brier neighbors. Feels funny to toast in a new year without them.

Winter 2011 Itinerary

Update: looks like we will be in Tucson for another month. More on that later. Depending on when we leave, we will be skipping most of our Texas stays and blasting to Florida. Texas is close enough to reschedule later in 2011.

We are getting a better idea of our itinerary for January - March 2011. Only the Florida dates are reserved so everything else is subject to change. Here is the current plan:

January:

Week 1 - Guadalupe Mountains NP & Carlsbad Caverns NP

Week 2 - Big Bend National Park

Week 3 - Texas Hill Country & Austin

Week 4 - Rio Grande Valley & Houston

February:

Week 1 - Biloxi, Mobile, Florida Panhandle

Week 2 - Tallahassee area & north atlantic coast of Florida

Week 3 - St Augustine and Ocala Florida

Week 4 - St Pete, Tampa, Naples, Everglades National Park

March:

Week 1 - Florida Keys

Week 2 - Central Florida on the way to Savannah

Week 3 - Charleston & Savannah (Trina & Sue will meet Elaine for our annual girls trip)

Week 4 - Western Carolinas, maybe Tennesee and Great Smokey Mountains NP (weather dependant)

April:

Elaine flies from Atlanta to Vancouver for the arrival of baby girl Martin!

December in Tucson

December in Tucson is a unique experience for a couple from the NW. The weather has been unseasonably warm (in the high 70s) and sunny. We love it but it is a little weird getting into the Christmas spirit. We went to the local garden for a Christmas lights, music, and treats night with our dear friends Kirsten & Cline. It was a lovely night and the lights were pretty. Sat outside at 9 pm at night to have our after event Starbucks.

LeAnne came to visit for a big birthday celebration. It was so wonderful to have her here. We had a great dinner in the coach and another at Vivaci which is a local italian restaurant. The weather cooperated and we walked the trails here at Desert Trails and also took a good long hike in the Sweetwater Preserve, adjacent to Saguaro National Park. She had to go home too soon. While we were in Phoenix to take LeAnne to the airport, we stopped for a hike and dinner with our new friends Jan & Bill.

I am still dog walking at the local animal shelter and enjoying every minute. John and I join the bike group at DT for a bike ride and lunch every Monday. Each week is full of activities here at the park and we could be busy every minute. As Kirsten says it is our "winter summer camp for adults". Life is good.

We do miss all our family and friends. Elaine has airline tickets to Portland in April to help Shannon & Chris with the new baby girl. John & Elaine will both be in Portland and Centralia in June for Sis' 50th wedding anniversary and Dad's 95th birthday. Lots to celebrate this year.