We celebrated Thanksgiving with Steve, Dana, Kira, Laura, Anna, & Julia. They spent 5 days with us and we enjoyed playing ping pong, riding horses, hiking at Mt. Cristo Rey, doing fun things at Bob-O’s and eating a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner that Donna prepared for all of us, including Barb & Charlie.
We took Keith & Lindsay and their two kids (Kade & Bexley) on a trip to Disneyworld in Florida. We spent 7 days at the Shades of Green resort and visited all 4 Disney parks within Disneyworld. We walked a lot, ate a lot and had a great time with the kids and grandkids on the rides at the parks, and swimming & hot tubbing at the resort.
We drove to Dennison, TX to attend the wedding of Donna’s niece (Rachael Penn). On the way we stopped at Monahans Hills State Park. This was the first campground we stayed at, after buying the new truck and camper. We went fishing on Lake Texohma one day while we were in Dennison.
We flew to Chile, landing in Santiago then north to Calama where we visited several sites in the Atacama Desert region. We spent three days there before heading to Puerto Varas in the Lakes region of central Chile where we spent another 3 days touring the area. After that we flew to Puenta Arenas and took a bus to Puerto Natales in the Patagonia area. We spent three incredible days touring Torres del Paine National Park and several other spectacular sites in this area. Our last stop was Easter Island – the most remote place on Earth and home to the Rapa Nui people and their famous Moai. The country of Chile is a one of many contrasting landscapes and cultures. We saw it all. Take a few minutes to read our trip report.
Charlie & Barb joined us on this trip. On the way we visited cousins in Cincinnati as well as kids and grand-kids in York, Lebanon, Reading and Harrisburg, PA, then more kids and grand-kids in Mableton, GA. We camped in various campgrounds along the way where Charlie had an opportunity to fish, and we had time to do some sightseeing. We had a fun trip and it was great to see family again.
Donna & I took both our parents on this incredible Christmas boat tour. The dark river, usually illuminated by only the stars and moon, reflects what has become one of New Mexico’s grandest holiday light shows “Christmas on the Pecos.” Bundled up against the winter chill, we stared in fascination as our boat glided through a fairyland of twinkling lights created by more than 100 Pecos River homeowners and corporate sponsors who spend hours creatively decorating backyards and boat docks with millions of lights.
Donna & I went to this UTEP football game. It was Military Night at the game and my dad – Beamy Beamesderfer was one of the honored veterans. UTEP Miners won the game 24-20 over Rice.
This is a trip to the site where the first atomic bomb was tested on July 16, 1945. My Mom & Dad traveled with me. The site is located in the New Mexico desert within the White Sands missile range and is only open to the public on April 4th and October 3rd of each year. This 51,500 acre area was declared a national historic landmark in 1975. We saw the monument at ground zero as well as the Schmidt/McDonald ranch house where the plutonium core to the bomb was assembled.
We drove with Donna’s parents to Gatlinburg, TN to meet the rest of Barb & Charlie’s family including several from Cincinnati, Ohio. We rented a cabin in the mountains, next to Great Smokey Mountain National Park, which had 8 bedrooms and 10 bathrooms. It was the perfect place for a large family gathering. We did some hiking, touring, and mostly having fun with the family.
Donna’s aunt Jonny and cousins Joanne & Vicki came to visit us. We took them to White Sands, San Elizario Mission and the Rose Garden as part of their tour of the El Paso/Southern New Mexico area. The final day we hiked up the mountain to Crista Rey, then stopped for a margarita at Rosa’s Cantina.
