Our Christmas Eve was busy with several things taking place:
First we, along with most of the Pavelek clan, were at Ken’s brother’s house sharing fun stories, warm drinks, and great food. We don’t get a chance to see this side of our family very often, so it was wonderful to get together for a couple hours and get caught up on what each family is doing.
Secondly, later that evening, we went to our daughter’s house where our immediate family had gathered. This is the time when we exchange gifts and watch the five great grandkids open presents from the family (they get special gifts from Santa on Christmas morning). Of course the greats (ages 1, 2, 4, 5, & 7) were wide-eyed and very eager to tear into their packages. We had a ball watching their excitement and listening to their happy screams each time a new prize was exposed. We also were extremely pleased to let them leave the room to enjoy their new “stuff” so we adults could be in peace while opening our gifts. It really was a great time!!
Last, but not least, we celebrated the true meaning of Christmas by going to Midnight Mass and rejoicing in the birth of our Lord. It was a beautiful and joyous service!! We were tickled pink to see our niece, Larysa and nephew, Brendan in the choir playing their instruments. Brendan plays the Trumpet and Larysa plays the French Horn. She also plays the piano, and sings. Earlier in the evening, they had given us a CD on which they had recorded several songs of them playing and singing. They did a wonderful job and we are thrilled to have it. They are two wonderfully, talented young adults!!
Christmas Day we were back at our daughters for a huge family dinner. Thankfully, the great grandkids had already opened their gifts from Santa and were happily playing with each other. We ended up with eleven adults and 5 children around two tables for dinner. Like I said earlier, it was a wonderful time spent with our family. Sadly, our two sons couldn’t join us as they both live out of state, but we were able to have some time to talk with them on the phone.
On December 27, we were once again on the road heading back to Arizona. We had been watching the mountain pass reports and knew there was going to be a lot of snow. But, we were in the Grand Cherokee and did have “Spider Spike” chains with us, so weren’t really worried. We did have packed snow part of the way, but we truly lucked out and didn’t have any problems. We made it to Susanville, CA and spent the night there. It was cold, but clear!
The next morning, we saw a report that another storm was headed our way and would be hitting California then working its way across Nevada and Arizona. Hearing that report, we decided to get across Nevada as fast as possible. We made it to Tonapah, NV about Noon and after fueling up headed for the little town of Rachel (on the Extra Terrestrial Highway). We had passed through there on our way to Oregon and cached the whole way. However, there was one group of caches we had passed on called the Alien Head. The head is comprised of 51 caches laid out in the shape of an Alien head all about .10 mile apart. It is totally meant to be walked and Ken had already done 13 of them when we came through earlier. We didn’t want to miss it, so we got close to the site and parked the Jeep. Since this area is pretty remote, and because the Jeep was packed with bunches of “stuff,” neither of us wanted to leave the Jeep alone. At 2:30, Ken left me with the Jeep and followed a well beaten path to the majority of the caches. I was close to just a few along the road and knew where he would finish, so I managed to grab some without being very far from the Jeep and met him as he was finishing up about 4:30. We still had another hour to get to Alamo where we stopped at the Windmill Ridge and had a wonderful dinner. After dinner, we made the choice to continue driving for Las Vegas and ended up staying in North Vegas at a Comfort Inn very close to Nellis AFB. We both were beat but happy the weather was still clear.
On December 29, we were on the road early and made good time to Hoover Dam. There were clouds around, but no rain or snow. However, there was wind and a lot of it. We were on the new road/bridge that spans high above Hoover Dam and the wind was horrid. Even in the Jeep we were being pushed sideways. I sure wouldn’t want to be up there in the motorhome when the wind was blowing like that. After we crossed the span and were headed down out of the canyon, we started seeing sprinkles of rain on the windshield. By the time we got to Kingman, Arizona, it was raining hard. We did experience rain/snow mix while on I-40, but got out of it on the way down in elevation toward Wickenberg. It was a white knuckle drive in the pouring rain as we got closer to Phoenix and Mesa. The drivers were just crazy, cutting in and passing in dangerous areas. Finally, we made it through the freeway system onto hwy 60 and made our way to Queen Valley arriving about 2:45 pm. What a relief to finally be back at the coach and out of that traffic.
The heavy rain lasted another day, but the wind continued for a couple more days. It was gusting here enough that Christmas decorations from neighboring coaches and homes were being blown all over the place. After it quit raining it turned very cold! We had three days of very cold “freezing” temps. It was cold enough at night that Ken turned the outside water off to keep it from freezing. Thankfully, we have plenty of water on board, so it wasn’t a problem. We didn’t get anything like northern Arizona got and is still getting. They had lots of snow and sub freezing temps. Flagstaff was/is soooo cold that many places have had pipes burst. This is a picture of our park's fountain mid morning as the ice is melting.
Ken & I rang in the New Year like OLD champs. First, we played cards with some friends & neighbors. After we were back home, Ken watched China’s New Year celebration then at 10 headed to bed. I stayed up till Midnight, but was in bed at 12:02 am. Yes, I did watch the ball drop, but once that was over, I was off to dream land.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!
