My Holiday Adventure

[kandrathe]

I'm leaving in a few minutes for destination Friendswood, TX. It's just south of Houston. I'm visiting my elder sister, and my mom is driving down there from Arkansas.

On the way we are planning on stopping at the Science Center in Des Moines for a break, then layover at a kid friendly hotel in Wichita. Tomorrow we will head for the AMF lanes in Garland, stop for a few frames of bowling, then on to Friendswood. I'll be a stones throw (4 hours in Texas terms) from Corpus Christi, so hail to my poetic rogue friend. I'm not sure if we'll get down that way or not, but my sister (and her beau) are big boaters and SCUBA nuts.

On the way back, we'll head toward Shreveport, LA and see their Science center, then up to Paris, Arkansas to spend a night or two with mom. Then, up to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City for a break, then to the Botanical Gardens in Des Moines, then back to MN.

Anyone else have a Christmas adventure planned? I'll report back on the details and snafu's.:)

[kandrathe]

So far, just the white out, snow drifting across the roads, white knuckle drive through Minnesota and Iowa. The winds must have been gusting into the 30 mph range, and the temp was -8 all day. Once we were south of Des Moines things started to clear up. Hella long drive to Wichita from Des Moines though. Good night. We are up early to swim, eat breakfast and hit the road Texas bound.

Get to bed little doggies...

[Tal]

Anyone else have a Christmas adventure planned? I'll report back on the details and snafu's.:)

Sadly the economic downturn has made us cancel our usual holiday plans in Illinois in favor of padding the bank account. We'll see about going out this summer. Other than that we'll be doing Christmas breakfast with the inlaws at our house and then Christmas dinner at my brother-in-laws house. Taking the following week off from work and will probably play more WoW than I should.:)

Happy Holidays and safe travels Kan.

[Kevin]

Anyone else have a Christmas adventure planned? I'll report back on the details and snafu's.:)

I'm working every day but the 25th and the 1st so nope I'm not planning anything other than one day I'll spend a bit more time cooking a meal to make it nicer than I usually do.

[Pesmerga]

Christmas Eve, I work until 5pm, then make the 5 minute drive to my mother's house. (2 hour stay)

From there, we drive an hour to Emily's Grandmother's house. (1 hour stay)

Then a 5 minute drive to our house, where we'll spend the night. We'll wake up Christmas morning and open presents, then get dressed and ready to go out, where we'll...

Drive to 90 minutes to Emily's parents' house. (4 hour stay)

Then a 45 minute drive to my father's house. (2 hour stay)

Then an hour drive back home. Then I get to go back to work on the 26th. Yay.:P

That said, I love Christmas, and even all the driving that it brings.

[kandrathe]

On Monday then, the drive from Wichita to Dallas was long, and most of the way through Oklahoma I was thinking; "This is a sea of grass, and we are like a speed boat through a sea of grass...". We stopped in Garland for some bowling as planned. It was nice to get out and stretch for a few hours after 1/2 a day in the car. We drove the remainder and arrived as planned around 10pm at my sisters house in Friendswood.

Family stuff for a few days, including sailing from Kima up and down the coast a bit.

We left the Houston area last Saturday, and drove up through Marshall, TX. We stopped at Marshall pottery, an American institution since 1895. But, no longer. Now its a glorified lawn and garden center with the distinction of making most of their own flower pots. About 2/3rds of the pottery center is shut down. After talking with some of the staff, it appears that they also were unable to compete with cheaper prices from China. So, rather than tarry we continued on to Paris, Arkansas where my mom lives and we spent two nights. The highlights from yesterday were that I watched the Vikings beat the NY Giants and win their division on a 50 yard field goal with 5 seconds on the clock, then watched Dallas get the snot stomped out of them by the Philadelphia Eagles. This morning we Arkansas at 9am and pretty much drove on through to home. I had planned on a stop Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in KC, however like most places, this museum is closed to the public on Monday (and Tuesday as well). My mom's still on a dial up connection, so browsing for alternatives in KC would be akin to driving pins through my eyeballs.

Glad to be home.

[Sabra]

I just got back from visiting my son, Cas, in California. Man! It was cold, but the Bay Area remains beautiful as ever. Love those hills! Came back to a clean house with a messy menorah. I'm glad that Gabe lit the candles, even though I wasn't here. Looks like he made it every night too.

I don't know if it was losing my mom this year, or what, but I really missed Gabe while I was gone, and I am not a "misser." So! Good to be home!