Thanks to all the texts I've received recently about our blog. We are all alive and well. I'm finding it really difficult to not write about current events. If you know me at all you know I'm very passionate when it comes to that topic of conversation. I will try my best to not bring it into this blog. That being said I sure hope everyone's holidays were filled with love and happiness. I pray, we as a nation soon release this unrest we've been stoking for the last decade. Start paying attention to who you put in DC!
The girls and I made our way west to California and spent Thanksgiving and Christmas with family. I was able to cook a delicious gumbo with perfect cornbread as our Christmas meal and it turned out better than expected. It was so tasty and I'm happy it was successfully able to replace the traditional turkey and stuffing meal. Before lockdown, we got to tour the Forestiere underground gardens. A super cool historical site in Fresno California where an immigrant spent his life's savings and bought land to become a farmer. Soon found out it was too hot and the ground was too hard to grow, so built his home and garden underground! It was cool to see how hard the family worked to make his dream of being a farmer come true.
We were also able to go visit the Sequoia national forest with the girl's Aunt. We got to see the General Sherman tree which is the "largest" tree by mass. It's interesting to learn the efforts that took place to protect this tree, and I'm grateful for it and it was a sight to see. The girls were amazed by the pure massive size of these trees. At one point during our visit, the girls and I did go explore the Kings river one day and just couldn't find the drive to go fish. California's streams and rivers are set up a bit differently than most we encounter. Plenty of access but time-consuming on the drive. Our trailer was in the shop so dry camping wasn't an option and I seemed to have gotten spoiled to being able to walk out my door and fish. This is the second trip to that river where I haven't even gotten my gear out.
The girls were so excited to spend time with family especially their little cousin. We don't get to see them much and I'm glad we spent some of our winter months there. Thanks to all who gave me the kick in the butt to post again. I do enjoy writing and sharing our stories with you. It makes me happy knowing during this stressful time in our lives that our stories bring a little something more to the table in life than what your little tv can. I also want to thank all the family and friends who let us come visit this year. We are so blessed to have people across the country that open their homes to us and are so welcoming. This is what we do it for. To disconnect from our society and open our eyes to reality and enjoy other humans without any contingencies.