Family, Friends, and Festivities

The last six weeks has been filled with family, friends, and festivities! As I was perusing the pictures I lost count of the number of photos of us in front of Christmas trees :). We started our holidays with Hannah and Doug, who hosted lavishly in spite of being under the weather. Hannah and Sharon worked together at El Camino cancer center. Sharon was able to go to work with Hannah two days to be with her former co-workers and patients – all of whom she loves dearly. We also got to be with Dan and Melissa and their kids – our friends whom we lived with for a year. From there we moved over to our former housemates, Kathryn and Scott and Grant; it felt just like being home again. They also hosted a gathering for us to reconnect with our Santa Cruz friends! We also felt like we were home again at CLC church where we were able to see so many friends.  And of course Tom let me use his garage (again) to work on the motorcycles. The whole visit was tremendous!

From Santa Cruz we were headed to Rancho Cucamonga (east of Los Angeles). It can be done in about 7 hours on the freeway, but of course that is not our style. We took the Pacific Coast Highway and rolled in 7 DAYS later! It was an absolutely stunning drive and we saw the most incredible sunset (and have the picture to prove it). The weather was great – sun all the way. We also were able to see the monarch butterflies at Pismo Beach; they were simply dripping from the branches. The timing was also right to see elephant seals at one of their mating grounds. The younger males were sparring and the big bulls were lazing around and saving their strength for the real fights that will happen later.

In Rancho we were hosted by Chris’s cousin Carolyn and her husband Loren and their many cats :). Here we celebrated the Christmas season with Chris’s mom, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends. The only damper was that Sharon and I both were sick for a large portion of this time. We were so thankful that if we had to feel unwell it happened at a place with a roof and hot showers! So, even though it is the season to share, we decided to keep our illness to ourselves as best we could. Nevertheless, we were able to visit with many relatives and enjoy the holiday festivities at homes and churches. It was great to spend this time of the celebration of Jesus’ birth with family! We really appreciated their understanding with our sickness (thanks Mom and Don!), trip planning, and motorcycle maintenance (thanks Loren!). The time went by quickly, but it was quality time in relationships we care about.

Next, we drove to Carlsbad, CA to stay with Chris’s aunt Renee and her husband Don and their kids. By then we were both feeling mostly better and were able to buckle down and focus on all the last minute things for our border crossing into Mexico. It was our last chance to get anything via Amazon (gonna miss that:) and we took full advantage! Spare parts, replacement gear, snorkel sets, and all manner of items were arriving daily. We also got to enjoy some board games, meals, and a few outings (Lego Land) with the family. Their generosity with their home, their vehicles, and their lives was humbling.

Before we hopped over the border we took a side trip (on an airplane) to Florida to visit family. Chris’s brother, Daniel, had become a new father three months prior, so we made the trip to see the baby and the proud parents (and proud Uncle Jim:). It was a wonderful visit! Filled with new parent thrills, board games, lots of feeding times, football, walks, great food, and good time spent together. Next we visited Sharon’s sister and her family and Sharon’s father. It was a quick visit, but we were able to sneak in some bowling, a game of Catan and Exploding Kittens, and lots of eating out!

Once back in the San Diego area we completed our final preparations and crossed over into Mexico at Tecate on January 23^rd. It was a very easy border crossing, but not very fast (about 4 hours of paperwork – whew). From there we drove to La Rumorosa and found a hotel for our first night in Mexico. The next morning we visited some nearby cave drawings that date back 1,000 years! The scenery on the drive to San Felipe was a beautiful blend of mountains, deserts, and salt lakes. Chris’s cousin Susan, her husband Chuck and her brother Larry have been hosting us here in grand fashion! We were able to attend church with them, enjoy lots of meals together, and get lots of Baja wisdom. We also visited Valle De Los Gigantes (Valley of the Giants) where we walked among the world’s tallest cactus trees. The landscape was jaw dropping, especially since rains several months ago have caused a major flower bloom! We leave tomorrow to work our way farther south for the next month on Mexico’s Baja peninsula.

God bless you and your family in the new year,

Chris & Sharon