OUR TRAVELS

  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Just a quick post to wish every one a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!  We hope you are enjoying the holidays, spending time with family, eating holiday treats, and relaxing in front of a warm fire or a televised football game. Here we are at the Capitol in front of its annual Christmas tree - no photoshopping, we are indeed at the Capitol! This year the tree came from the Six Rivers National Forest in California.  The tree's 3000 mile journey to DC started in late October.  The 84 foot white pine is nicknamed "Sugar Bear".  Way cool! We are awestruck at the number of Christmas trees and decorations both inside and outside of office buildings around town.  Many trees have been upwards of 30 feet tall in the lobbies.  They're so beautiful.  Viewing them has put us in the holiday spirit. Here we are in front of the National Christmas Tree by the White House.  It is surrounded by 58 decorated state and territory trees.  The Nati

Bet you thought we dropped off the face of the earth.  It's been awhile..... we've been busy.  On our way out of Tennessee we were struck again at the miles and miles of white fence surrounding the horse ranches in the countryside. How do they stay so white - must cost a fortune to maintain. Made it to Madison, AL.  Kalen and Amber were wonderful hosts - spent time eating homemade meals, chatting, hiking, and eating ice cream and donuts.  Life couldn't get any better. Glad we saw this spider before it attacked us! It was huge! Their cats love donuts too and have been known to get into the box when no one is looking.  Naughty cats! LOL! Left our belongings except for a suitcase of clothes each and our laptops with Kalen and Amber as well as our trusty ride.  It felt strange getting on an airplane for the first time in nearly two years.  We flew to Washington DC.  Everything went smoothly.  It wasn't too bad wearing masks in the airport and on the plane. For the next thre

Drove to Franklin, TN on Halloween.  Stopped at a McDonald's for a pit stop and this is what we saw. Tennessee in the fall is beautiful!  The weather has been terrific with cool crisp mornings - perfect for driving around the countryside and hiking, of course.  We were struck by the number of large estates in the area.  It turns out to be one of the wealthiest locations in the state.  Many estates had horses, too. Hiking near Franklin (near Nashville) and Cleveland (near Chattanooga).  The fall colors were amazing! We started our hike way down near the lake - several miles away and 1500 feet lower in elevation. Stopped at an apple orchard and tried a fried apple pie and apple turnover.  Yes, we bought apples too. We walked the battlefields of Chickamauga.  The Confederate army won a decisive victory here in September 1863.  Both sides lost 20% of their forces in the battle.  Chickamauga was the second bloodiest battle of the Civil War behind the Battle of Gettysburg. The Union army

Enjoyed our time in Dallas and Austin in between our visits to the doctor, dentist, and car dealership.  We saw our good friends the Broadcom group (including Corey, Grace, Kiki), Gail and Randy, Kathy and George, Sonia and Rich (sorry, no picture), and Treva. Treva's husband Jerry passed away last December.  He was a dear friend and a wonderful caring person.  We went to his Celebration of Life service while in Dallas.  It was very moving.  We learned new things about Jerry including how he and Treva met. Went to our favorite Tex-Mex restaurant - Fernando's.  Nothing in our opinion compares. Don's favorite donuts - Sunny Donuts in Plano. Don says to get the cinnamon rolls! Donna's favorite ice cream in Plano - Handel's.  Donna says to get the Snickerdoodle available only in October. By the way, Donna's annual cholesterol checkup was fine even after all of the ice cream and pizza we ate on our travels!  Woohoo! Made a quick trip to Austin to see son and family.