Home for the Holidays

How should I begin this...hmmm, we got a good start for home at about 9am, after wishing the neighbors Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas. BUT a half hour out...in California...someone noticed he didn't have his wallet. So we did an about face...snuck back to the neighborhood and retrieved said wallet...and added an hour driving time to our day, on which we hadn't planned.

It was all-in-all a good trip home. Since we were driving just the pick-up, we chose to take a couple highways not usually taken. Highway 138 from Cajon Junction to Palmdale we really enjoyed, and I saw some things I'd like to check out someday...like gift shops...lol. Then we took 99 from Bakersfield to Sacramento. It was a great ride with only a few heavy traffic sections...I was driving through Bakersfield, and even though Norman was ready to stop, I refused to spend the night there. You all know why, dang place has received enough of our $$. We didn't take a map with us, so depended on our little hand-held GPS. It did the job OK...kept us going north and west...and even helped us find a motel and restaurant. A lot of wind here and there. I hate wind, except for flying kites.

BTW: we did get to a motel in enough time to watch the Ducks lose to the Trojans...dang it

The weather really cooperated. We had dry pavement except for a couple rainstorms...one for Norman to drive through and one for me. The only snow was little skiffs along the roadside through the Shasta National Forest area of I-5. Speaking of Shasta...Mt. Shasta was beautiful. She was shining in the sunshine surrounded by blue sky and covered with a fresh coating of white white snow.

Not my picture and actually, she had a lot more snow on top. But Shasta is a beautiful mountain.

It is good to be home. My heart really does belong to Oregon...so green...so beautiful...and it smells so fresh and clean. About half the leaves are still clinging to the trees around our neighborhood, and there are still a few flowers blooming here and there. It's raining off and on, but that's OK. There is lots to do before we go out to work in the yard...mail to sort...bills to pay...Turkey Day to get ready for...

This is our front yard this morning...lots of color. The large green bush is a strawberry tree and is covered in red berries about the size of a quarter. We've all tried eating one...blah...even the birds don't touch them. But they're pretty.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm cold and need to add another layer...lol.