Merry Christmas!!!

Sunday, December 25, 2022

Merry Christmas to all our family and friends and thank you all for following along on our journey this past year.  We hope you have had a great Christmas season and remember the reason for the celebration.  We have had a quiet but unusually cold Christmas in Gulf State Park in Gulf Shores, AL.  While it’s been warmer than north Alabama and way warmer than our family and friends farther north, but it’s still been very cold for here.  One night was a low of 18 and we have had pretty icicles at our water hydrants since we were told to leave the water dripping beginning last Thursday.  We are glad the forecast for this week is a little warmer.

Our last entry left off with our return to Alabama from our Polar Bear Photography trip.  The next morning we headed back to Johnston, South Carolina to Randy and Debra’s house.  We did a quick change out from Beyond Blessed (van), back into Fred (Class A) and on Saturday drove to Gaffney, SC to Freightliner for Fred’s annual service.  Fortunately, all the work was routine and no problems were found so we were back in Johnston Monday afternoon.  We had a great Thanksgiving week with Randy, Debra and their family.  It was also great to see nieces and nephews and their children who were able to come visit while we were there.  We made a quick trip back to Red Bay, AL to get other work done to Fred and then returned to Johnston to begin a deck project. Randy and Debra have a large deck on the back of their house and we helped them get started on rebuilding it with Trex.  We had several “weather days” when we couldn’t work outside so we had time for some games, puzzles, cooking, and just enjoying our time together. We also celebrated Anne’s birthday with Randy and Debra and of course it included some yummy ice cream.

We have now been in Gulf Shores for a week.  After getting settled in here we finally got out our Christmas decorations.  They may have to stay up later this year since we just got them up.  We have enjoyed the many trails in the park when the weather allowed.  We spotted an alligator at one of the usual places they hang out and went to a good raptor presentation by one of the naturalists. The past three days we have been inside a lot due to the strong winds and cold temps.  Next week will hopefully be better and we can get our bikes out.  We will let you know.  Stay safe and warm everyone!