It's so good to be home! We had a good visit with Sandy's daughter and her family in central Oklahoma, but it's always nice to get back to our own bed, own house, own animals, etc.
Leading up to Christmas, there was quite a lot of activity for Sandy and Tom. In addition to doing our Christmas letter and sending out cards, there was buying, wrapping and shipping presents. Some of the presents included baked goods ... I made a full batch of peppernuts (about five gallons) and eight loaves of stollen to send out or take with us.
Lots of music here a Christmas; we caught three groups at the Silver City Museum ... this is Gleemaiden, a group of young mothers who sing beautifully a cappella, with their kids at their feet.
The Kiwanis have an annual Christmas party, but you gotta wrap presents for patients at Fort Bayard before you get to eat and do the gift exchange. Fair enough; they do good work!
Sandy created quite a Christmasy corner around the tree, which the cats immediately adopted as their parking place, soaking up the warmth from the Christmas lights. Fifi and Sophie's tanning bed!
We took a different route to OK this time, one that we'll probably repeat. The fastest way is I-25 and I-40 ... boring! So, we went up through the Ruidoso area, spending the night in Clovis. We sidetripped to see Cloudcroft, including the Mexican Canyon Trestle and then the boardwalk in front of shops in downtown Cloudcroft. It was overcast up there, but clear most of the rest of Wednesday.
We had an easy day Wednesday, so we poked around Tularosa a bit. Liked this mission, St. Francis de Paula Franciscan Mission, founded in 1865, only 15 years after New Mexico became a territory of the U.S. A couple blocks east, we wandered into what looked like a bar, the Tulie Cantina, and had lunch in a beautiful dining area with a tree growing in an enclosed atrium and a menu that was surprising in its diversity and the imaginative variety of ingredients. Best stacked enchiladas I've ever had!
And, of course, the slaughter of the wrappings! A good family gathering for the opening of the packages, including Sandy, with coffee and Scooby!
While in OK, we went down to Shawnee on Christmas Day and saw "War Horse." Good movie, ended with applause from the audience.
We targeted Amarillo for our overnight on the way back; 'twas snowy and cold but didn't keep us from having a day-delayed 45th-month anniversary dinner at Outback, which was scrumptious. The weather cleared east of Oklahoma City and we really had pretty sunny weather all the way back, though there was a lot of snow around Hereford. Got in in time to pick up our mail and have a pleasant evening at home. tv
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