Time FLIES!

Life seems to move so quickly over the holidays. Even as children, we wait and wait, and then WHAM, Santa arrives, New Year’s Eve happens, some of us throw in a birthday and get back to work before we can even think about a Happy New Year.

Nothing different this year. Judy, Vickie and I headed south at 10 pm the 26th, the odd departure time meant to avoid snowfall in the Siskiyou mountains. Didn’t really get to “see” the Oregon Coast, as it was dark, but finally achieved our goal of meeting up with Liz & Billy around six pm. Sunday night. That many hours in a car should come with showers, little bars of soap, something....chocolate on our pillow?

On the positive side, we got to spend time with the Chambers gang and introduce Billy to Lompoc . The grandchildren could spend time with grandparents on both sides, a special treat given Mrs. Kingston's advancing age. Navy won, Oregon lost. Both results drew cheers from different quarters. Carrie Ellen, Judy and I spent time tasting wine, laughing and catching up. The weather, not remarkable for those who live in California, was warm enough for all of us that ventured from out of town. Vickie returned to Valpo with snow and single digit temps on her calendar.

On the downside, there isn’t really that much to do in Lompoc . When you’ve seen WalMart and the small museum in town, you’ve pretty well covered the bases. Billy was able to add to his delight by using Google maps on his phone as we drove around town, filling in the gaps we couldn’t really see from the road. Carrie and Steve showed off their new sports bar, but everyone was afraid of spilling the first glass of red wine on the carpet. Eventually, someone will, then the upstairs party will never stop.

Oh…and we could have been like nephew Phillip, who greeted the New Year with a broken wrist courtesy of his new snowboard. So none of us should complain, but look ahead at the New Year as a new adventure, awaiting our experience.