Christmas 2010

We had another wonderful Christmas holiday weekend, though it was too short, as always. The special bonus to Carol and I was the fact that Katie made the Trek up from Sacramento two days in a row to spend time with the family.

On Friday I was off work for the day and Carol got off work at 2:00 PM. Carol and Katie got to the motor home at around 3:00 PM and we headed up to Bill and Sandies in Pioneer to join Brandee, Kevin, Marge and Daniel in a Christmas eve celebration with Sandy and Bill. Sandy had prepared a wonderful spread of Turnkey and pork roast and many other goodies to enjoy. Katie took a while after dinner to go visit with her dad Bryan and his parents. Though we miss Katie when she leaves, we are always glad that she gets to spend some time with her grandmother and grandfather.

After Katies return to Sandy and Bill's we opened presents and then enjoyed some pie for desert. The problem with the holidays for Carol and I is the fact that it is tough to keep the weight off when we are surrounded by all of this tasty food. We also have a few well meaning people in our lives that are sabotagers of our diet by giving us gifts like Chocolate covered Candies and such that will do nothing but add to our waist lines. But, it's the holidays, so I guess we should be expected to cheat a little bit.

On Christmas day, Carol and I woke up stocking stuffers. Those were gift enough for us, but we had more to open once Katie and Russ arrived. After breakfast, Carol and I started getting Christmas dinner ready. I had baked pies in the convection oven on Friday, so we then cooked a turkey breast and a beef roast in the convection oven through-out the day. Katie and Russ arrived around 2:00 and we opened presents. We always enjoy our gatherings with Katie and Russ, regardless of what we are doing. The high-light of the gift opening was Carol's new purse that she got from Katie and Russ and the new Jacket that Katie got from her mom and I.

Around 4:00 Sandy and Bill arrived for dinner. There was nice chit chat going on while we finished getting dinner ready for the 6 of us. Once again, we set up the banquet table in the mo-ho and sat down to a wonderful feast. Thanks to Carol's expert cooking using the Convection oven and Bill's expert carving, the Turkey and the roast came out perfect.

Our next big event is going up to Oregon for New years eve in a week. Tune in for that update later. Happy camping! - Eric and Carol -

Katie's 21st Birthday - Las Vegas

Though our first trip out in the new motorhome took place in September to the family reunion, was the first 'trip', in the new rig, it didn't really qualify as a 'Shake down' Cruise. The second trip was to a Camping World in Rocklin. That took the CR-V for a test drag. But the trip to Las Vegas for Katie's 21st birthday was a true Shake down cruise. We left Sacramento at 4:00 PM on the 9th of December from Carol's work. We went as far as a Wal Mart in North West Bakersfield. We then continued on to Las Vegas Friday morning to stay at the KOA at the Circus Circus hotel and hook up with Katie and Russ who flew into Las Vegas Friday morning from Sacramento.

Friday we went to the Monte Carlo and enjoyed the Dinner Buffet. After dinner we took Katie and Russ to the Jaberwakee show. This was a very busy show that went for 2 hours but seemed like we were there only 30 to 45 minutes.

Saturday, we spent most of the day just walking around the Strip. We had lunch at the Harley Davidson that was on the strip. We then had a wonderful dinner at a place Nove which was at the top of the Palms Hotel. This was where we took Katie for her Birthday dinner. The dinner and service were wonderful.

Sunday, Katie and Russ pretty much explored the Casinos that were interesting to them while Carol and I laid low for the day. Carol and I did take some time checking out the Circus, Circus Casino. This was the first time Carol and I had ever checked out this iconic Casino and it's indoor, on going, circus acts.

When Katie and Russ were done exploring on Sunday, they joined us at the Motorhome for left overs from the night before. After dinner, we took Katie and Russ back to their hotel and said our good byes for a wonderful birthday weekend celebration.

Carol and I headed home first thing Monday morning. We covered the 550 miles from Las Vegas to Plymouth in 11 hours, which included a lunch stop and a later Starbucks stop. :-) Driving this new beast is a real pleasure. We found that we got about 8.3 miles per gallon on this trip and the drivers seat is very comfortable. Though I was tired, when we got home, I was not exhausted by any stretch of the imagination.

We don't know when our next trip will be, but we will be ready to go when ever that is.

Regardless, what we do know is that Carol and I are both very proud of the wonderful young lady that Katie has become. We are also very proud of the young man she is sharing her life with in Russell Gallette.

Happy camping! - Eric and Carol -