WHERE HAS CHRISTMAS GONE?

Merry Christmas MERRY CHRISTMAS merry christmas Merry Christmas
MERRY CHRISTMAS Merry Christmas MERRY CHRISTMAS merry christmas Merry Christmas MERRY CHRISTMAS Merry Christmas MERRY CHRISTMAS merry christmas
Merry Christmas MERRY CHRISTMAS Merry Christmas MERRY CHRISTMAS

Phew!!! Finally I have got it out!

My Christmas wishes have been constrained, bursting to come out for along time but Christmas has gone AWOL in America - not to be seen anywhere.

If I dare slip out the words Merry Christmas, I feel that instead of wishing that person best wishes during this time of kindness and goodwill - I have offended them - even the one's that do celebrate Christmas???.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

I hope you all have your Holiday Trees up and gift wrapped your Holiday Presents and are enjoying your Company Holiday Party.

The Holiday period seemed to begin straight after Thanksgiving - I guess for everyone apart from Darren and I, we still feel like we are on one big continuous holiday.

We enjoyed Thanksgiving in the company of our Australian house guests Todd and Tania and fellow SF Aussies Luke and Kathy – we indulged in lots of turkey, macaroni and cheese and pumpkin pie.

After giving thanks to Family, Friends, Chocolate and Red Wine we farewelled Todd and Tania back to Australia and Darren and I hit the road for our Thanksgiving Road trip.

Our one day in San Diego was action packed. The top of my list was a visit to the San Diego Zoo – that with the rest of the San Diego Population and visiting Tourists.


San Diego has a lot of Mexican influence – which is understandable since it was once part of Mexico, way back in the 1840's. When I think Mexico - I think Tequila. When I think Tequila - I think Margarita.

In preparation for our Holiday Christmas trip to Mexico we went in search for the Biggest Margarita we could find in Old Town San Diego - actually the biggest Margarita found us....we would have taken any size!


A quick visit to the remarkable looking Hotel del Coronado - where apparently every President since Lyndon Johnson has stayed. (Don't I sound like the wealth of knowledge on American Presidential History - thanks Lonely Planet!)

Hotel del Coronado, affectionately known the Del sits facing the ocean - where you can also enjoy ice skating on the beach. Our visit to Coronado was a surprising highlight for our trip to San Diego (thanks for the tip Adam).


Next stop - Heading back North, approximately 3 hours to Downtown Santa Barbara. An afternoon was spent strolling pretty State Street - full of superb shopping and interesting busking attractions.


Last but not least on our 3 day road trip was another visit to LA - I know most people don't like LA - but I love it, so I gladly showed Darren around the main tourist haunts of the city.

This was my first trip to Hollywood with access to a car - so destination Hollywood Hills & Beverly Hills. A quick stop at my old friend Hugh Hefner's Playboy Mansion – "What beautiful gates."

We were blown away with the extravagant, luxurious mansions and their beautifully manicured grounds that we encountered driving through Beverly and Hollywood Hills.

Our Mission in LA – to get as close to the Hollywood sign as we could. Wow!!! And what more we discovered this horse ranch hidden away among the Hollywood Hills.


The view of LA was pretty damn superb from up there in the Hollywood Hills. Another spectacular view of LA was found the same day, high up in the Santa Monica Mountains at the Getty Museum.

But my personal LA highlight – Having the Hollywood Bowl all to ourselves and enjoying my Bette Midler "Beaches" Moment, serenading Darren with "You are the wind beneath my wings".


As the curtain fell on my center stage performance, so did our "Thanksgiving" road trip together.

Darren gave thanks that he was able to jump on a plane to Australia and celebrate big birthday joy with Sister Donna and celebrate a 70 year birthday bash with his Dad.

The countdown to Christmas is now on - and we are excitedly awaiting our first trip to Mexico. Again we are fortunate enough to experience the hospitality of Bill and Maru and catch up with the Desolation Sound Survivor Crew.

Arriba Arriba!!!!!!

XX

Mel