Holiday Activities

Orca whales made a second swing past our house on Christmas Eve, the first time that’s happened in one week!

Daughter Adrienne and her finacee Justin flew in from Denver on Christmas Eve to spend a week with us, and son Ryan arrived Christmas morning. Late morning on Christmas Bob’s sister Lynn, her husband David, their daughter Leslie (from NYC) and grandchildren Sophie (7) and Harrison (5) came for a brief visit. Gifts, eggnog and a big meal followed. Mackenzie and Matt are in Oregon with his parents this year, so we missed them.

We introduced Justin to crabbing his first visit here a couple years ago, and he’s been a fan since, so Dungeness Crab was on the menu for dinner one night, though we didn’t catch them ourselves as the season is closed by our house. Yum!

Friday, accompanied by Adrienne and Justin, we got up way before daylight and drove to Crystal Mountain Ski Resort on the shoulders of Mount Rainier, the tallest mountain in Washington state at 14,411. The weather couldn’t have been nicer, with blue skies and sunshine all day long.

While we kept up well in the morning, Adrienne and Justin whipped our tails on the slopes in the afternoon and skiied longer than we did. Ah, youth!

It’s been two years since we donned skis as we’re not home much in the winter, so it took a few runs to loosen up the joints.

Now we’re on a 5-day count-down until our return to Mobile, Alabama, life on the Loop and “Next To Me”, so we’re taking down the outdoor Christmas lights, and the tree will come down tomorrow.