Annual Christmas Newsletter

           MERRY CHRISTMAS 2015, HAPPY NEW YEAR, LOVE FROM SUE & BRYAN

Part of our Winter Village decorations in the motorhome                                                                                                                                  

 Wow, well where did that year go?????  We have been very busy as usual.  Retirement, hmmmm.  There are still not enough hours in the day to do everything we want to and I'm not sure how we managed before we were retired!!!

The year started in Kingsville, Texas with Brenda, John, LeeAnn & Aimee.  We spent New Years Eve at home with the girls and had a great evening watching movies and seeing in the New Year.  Yes, we all managed to stay awake to see the New Year in!!!

We headed East from Kingsville to Bryan’s mom in Louisiana.  Bryan had jury duty in Florida and so we stopped on the way to spend time with Mom before heading to Pensacola in March.  We love Pensacola and the campground was right by the beach and Perdido Bay.  Bryan was on jury duty for a week and we spent a couple of weeks enjoying the area. 

We returned to Louisiana and ended up staying there until the end of May.  I discovered that I had anemia, my iron levels were low and a stress test was abnormal when we got there in February.  I had two Iron transfusions before we went to Florida.  I also had many tests that all came back normal so they don’t know why my iron was low.  While we were in Florida I also got vertigo.  I had been getting very tired and couldn’t do anything without sitting down to rest after a few minutes.  The iron transfusions helped a lot.  At least we know my heart, arteries, and colon are all ok!!!  Well apart from slight Diverticulitis which I have inherited from my Mum.

Bryan has had some problems with his arthritis and headaches during the year as well and we are both learning to live with the aches and pains.

Bryan helped his mom with some things around the house and it was good to be able to spend some time with her.

Late May, we started to head West but went back via Memphis, North Little Rock, Oklahoma, Amarillo, Albuquerque, Williams, Las Vegas before ending up in San Diego in June.

We found Memphis, Little Rock, and Oklahoma very interesting and to read all about them and the year, including pictures, please go to our blog  http://lilypadtravels.blogspot.com. 

Our original plan had been to drive Northwest from Louisiana to Washington State and then go across to Victoria, Vancouver Island, to visit our good friends, Chrissy & Ian but after the delay with my health problems we decided to get a military “hop” from San Diego to Whidbey Island, Washington and then a ferry across to Vancouver Island.  

This was the first time we had tried a “hop”, which is a military “space available” option to military retirees and is free but dependent on space.  You don’t know when the flights are until 3 days prior and they can be cancelled or changed at any time.  It’s like Russian roulette but if you aren’t on a time schedule and are adaptable it is a cheap option.  We put the motorhome in storage and went to stay with Chrissy and Ian for four weeks and then had a week touring Northern Washington before flying back to San Diego via another “hop”. 

It is beautiful on Vancouver Island and in Washington State and we enjoyed our time there but don’t think we would want to spend winter in Washington.

We had arranged a “camp host” workcamping job at Santee Lakes in San Diego for the winter when we found out Ryan & Christina were having a baby.  It has enabled us to spend time with them and we don’t have to pay for our site or electric.  This is a big help as San Diego is expensive and we wouldn’t be able to stay very long.  Also, it will help us to save money, as the trip back to UK last year, and my medical expenses this year have made a dent in our savings. 

Our youngest grandson, Trystan, arrived on September 13^th and we have enjoyed watching him grow these first three months.

Ryan & Christina are good parents and he is a happy contented baby.  Unfortunately Ryan has been out on his ship quite a bit, but at least he was there for the birth.

LeeAnn & Aimee are both doing extremely well and growing up too fast, as are Bailey and Kai in the UK.  Kai started school in September and so they are all at school now and keeping their parents on their toes!!

Their parents’ are also doing well.  John, our son-in-law has lost a lot of weight and looks like a different person.  Well done to him.  Ian, our son, has just received another promotion and hopefully won’t have to travel quite as much.

We were sad to learn that our friend Stuart passed away in November.  We are so pleased that we got to visit with him last year, when we were in the UK. Our thoughts and prayers are with you Ros.

We are hoping to travel along the West Coast next spring and summer and visit Northern California, Oregon, Washington and Nevada before coming back to our work camping position, in San Diego, next September for the winter. 

It will be interesting to find out if we can complete a year and stick to our original plans.  It hasn’t happened yet since we have been on our travels but that is the beauty of being flexible.

Merry Christmas and our Best Wishes for a Happy, Healthy New Year.

Love Sue & Bryan xxxxxxxxxxx