Christmas Catchup and Happy New Year

Son Michael and his wife Lori arrived with grandson Jm to spend Christmas week in San Diego.  The 5 of us headed to Point Loma to see what could be found in the tide pools.

Fran, Michael, DIL-Lori and Jm
at Point Loma

Although it was low tide, it wasn’t low enough to really get down to tide pool level.

We did do enough hiking around to work up an appetite.  When looking for lunch on Point Loma it's hard to beat Point Loma Seafoods.

Fran, Jm, Lori, Michael

There is an area near Madison High School, along Lana Drive, that goes all out with their Christmas light displays.

Jm, Lori, Michael

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Kami and Kg came down so Jm and Kg could go ice skating.  They last skated when we were all together for Christmas in 2019.

What seemed like a good idea at home wasn’t as exciting when they saw the melted ice on top of the rink at Liberty Station.

We explored a couple museums, bought some Christmas bread and pastries and worked up a desire for an adult beverage with lunch.

Casa Guadalajara in Old Town is on the way back to our place, and has some really good lunch choices.

Michael, Kami, Kg, Jm, me Fran, Lori

Back home I took out a set of 4 wooden jigsaw puzzles.  Each puzzle is 250 tiny pieces and we all went to work.

Kg quickly completed her puzzle and then helped Kami with hers.  She didn’t offer to help me :(

All 4 puzzles were soon completed.

Another day we rented a Duffy Boat to cruise Mission Bay.

Kg, Lori, Michael, Jason, Kami, Fran, me
Photo taken by Jm

A Duffy Boat is an electric powered, 10 passenger sightseeing boat.  It has a Bluetooth sound system, bring your own playlist and enjoy your own snacks and beverages.  Michael and Lori assembled an awesome snack tray, and yes wine is permitted, where my last New Clairvaux was certainly enjoyed.

Returning home Bentley was glad to see us.

The weather was warm enough for a few hands of cribbage on the patio.

Certainly Jm’s favorite card game, and he’s pretty good at it.

We all gathered for Christmas Eve at Kami’s house.  She always puts on a fun evening.  I didn’t take any pictures of the buffet.  But at least I did get one of the gang.

Michael, Jason, Fran, me, Lori, Kami (rear)
Aj, Jm, Kg (front)

After Christmas Marty returned from Tacoma, he's on his way back to Mazatlán.

Did I mention he just might be my favorite brother?

The American Legion in Borrego Springs was hosting a New Years Eve potluck and live music.  We stayed at Holiday Homes RV.  Our furnace has yet to be fixed and we wanted to run the space heater, use the pool and have good WiFi for the bowl games.  A nice splurge.

The Legion put on a nice potluck,

The sisters who provided the music were quite good.

They even got Marty up dancing!

On New Years Day we did a quick tour of Henderson Canyon, just a few Sand Verbena in bloom, but Seley Ranch had Grapefruit.

On our last trip to Coyote Canyon many of the ocotillo and cholla were struggling, well basically all the vegetation was struggling.  Nice to see it making a comeback.

Fran gave me a jalapeño ‘coring’ tool for Christmas and stand for the peppers.  So now I’ve given up on poppers and trying to invent my own jalapeño Relleno (stuffed jalapeño).

This is a near prefect combination.

Jalapeño, jalapeño cream cheese, shredded cheese with jalapeño, green onion, pineapple and bacon.

Crushing the pineapple slice adds a bit of sweetness.

I think it’s better if the pineapple is not grilled.  It's too dry with the grilled pineapple and it does not add any smokey flavor.  I placed the assembled jalapeño relleno in the holder and baked.

and ready to enjoy!

As Fran toasts the New Year with you,

I’ll close with a picture of the last sunset of 2023 near Indian Head.

And the first sunrise of 2024

Wishing all health and happiness in this coming year!