Winding Up 2022

November and December have gone by in a rush. At least it seems that way. 

After Thanksgiving, we headed to Leisure Coachworks in Fontana to have our new dishwasher and microwave installed. I hope I don't regret not getting a microwave with a convection oven. With all the modern options for air fryers and toaster ovens, it no longer seemed important to have a built in oven-- particularly when I don't bake anymore. If I want something baked, I go to a bakery. LCW did a great job installing them both. They also did some needed work on our generator as Mark was having trouble starting it. It runs like a charm again.

We barely got parked into our next campground in Menifee, though, when we noticed a crack in our windshield, right about in line with the passenger side mirror. So we'll be returning to LCW on our way to Palm Desert to have that replaced.

In Menifee we stayed at the Wilderness Lakes RV Park, a Thousand Trails campground. Finding a 50 amp site was a challenge. we spent the first day or two in a 30 amp site and moved over to the 50 amp section once spaces opened up. That place is loaded with ducks and geese, and I discovered they are just as noisy at night as they are in the daytime. We ended up in a spot between two ponds and the noise was constant. The geese were honking incessantly many nights until after midnight. Party animals!

Menifee put us close to two of Mark's friends from his previous life-- that is, when he lived and worked in the San Diego area many years ago, B.C. as he often puts it (Before Cathy). Tina and her husband, Dave, treated us to some wine tasting and taught us a game called Tripoly, which we played several times. And just before we headed back to Acton, we made a visit to Betty (an old neighbor) and her husband and they treated us to lunch.

Mark, Dave, and Tina (playing Tripoly)

Mark, Betty and her husband

In November, Donna took us to the Palmdale Air Park where they have a bunch of old planes on display. And the Wednesday before Christmas, we all went over to Magic Mountain in Valencia and enjoyed their "Holiday in the Park" lights display, courtesy of my beautiful daughter-in-law, Alicia, who runs the Park. Okay, maybe "run" is a strong word, but she certainly helps manage it. They do a wonderful job of decorating the Park for the holiday, and surprisingly it was not very crowded.

That's all the talk for now. I'll wind this up and get to the pictures, which (I know) is really the best part.

Merry Christmas (a little belated) and Happy New Year to all! 

Merry Christmas!

Entrance to the Palmdale Air Park

Donna used to work at Lockheed/Boeing on the shuttle
floor. Part of her job was moving these engines around.
She did many other things during her time there, including
repairing the heat shield tiles on the underside of the 
shuttles.

The Space Shuttle was moved around attached to the 
top of this aircraft.

More old jets

SR-71 "Blackbirds"

My new dishwasher.
This is sold as a table-top dishwasher,
but is fully installable.

It's small, but does a very good job cleaning
and uses less water than hand washing.

Finally! A microwave with a turntable. 

A visit to Grace Community Church (John McArthur's church)
Parking was a bear, and the crowd was huge, but we wanted to
visit at least once. The service was wonderful. We love the music!

Magic Mountain, Valencia CA

A Very Merry Christmas to You!