Merry Christmas!

It's three days until that magical day, and I just wanted to send our yearly greeting.  We won't be mailing, this year, paper and envelopes and such taking up lots of room in the Behemoth.  Some of you have asked where to send cards to us, and I've let you know.  So, let's get on with this.


This was an amazing and stressful and enriching year.  Having bought Freja, the Jeep, in November, we picked up the Behemoth in January.  We took a few weekend and long weekend trips, to see how things worked and what we did and didn't need to bring along, culminating in a two week adventure in May.  After sending the Behemoth to the spa, (RV service center) we began packing up our house in Alabama, and arranging things so we could hit the road.

We left sticks and bricks living in late June, heading north and taking all of our material goods to a storage locker near our youngest son.  We traveled, from there, through Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Illinois. 

From there, we took a long detour to Germany.  We were able to see the Passion Play in Oberammergau, and visit one of our favorite cities, Vienna.  We also had a lot of fun with new friends and old, and made some great memories. 


Back in the Behemoth, we tooled through Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, and, finally, back to Alabama, where John made an appearance in the office for some testing and meetings.

We have learned so much, in the past 6 months, about what we like, and don't like, about this life.  We have stayed in lovely, friendly places, and ugly, unwelcoming ones. (And lovely, unwelcoming, and ugly, friendly ones.) We have identified a few storage compartments in the Behemoth that are full of things we have never, or rarely, used, and we may get rid of those this week.  Or not.

Our kids are doing well.  Jay and Kris just bought their first house together.  Matthew moved to a lovely log cabin, and lost his dog, Jäger, but added another, Sadie.  Ethan and Brandy have done some job changing and rearranging.  Mary, too.  We won't see them all together this Christmas, but we'll see most of them.  

Our adventuring in 2023 will take us up the East coast, across the Northern Plains, and down the West coast.   Wherever we are, we'll be thinking of you, and thanking God for your friendship.  Maybe we'll cross paths, somewhere!  Until then, God send you a Merry Christmas, and bless you in the Happy New Year!

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