December 23, 2009 (Wednesday): We're in Michigan for the holidays. We enjoyed a lovely drive up through the snowy mountains of Tennessee and Kentucky. Fortunately, the roads were clear and I was able to enjoy the beauty, too.

There's not a lot of snow on the ground, but Wiley scraped together enough to make a snowman. We also enjoyed a brief snowball fight. We were hoping for a white Christmas, but right now it appears it's going to rain.

The girls entertained us with a portion of their school pageant. Check it out:


We hope everyone has a joyous Christmas and happy new year.

12/16/09 (Tuesday): My, how time flies. Another Christmas is just a couple of weeks away. We're really looking forward to a trip up to Michigan for a visit with both sons and their families. Last weekend we had an early celebration with Wiley's family. We've definitely got the Christmas spirit going.

Wiley's sister put on a lovely Thanksgiving feast for everyone. She has a great house with a gorgeous, tropical back yard.
There are lots of fun things to do in New Smyrna Beach. We took a clamming class at Canaveral National Seashore. Wiley got a clamming rake for his birthday and we picked up some good pointers on where and how to find the critters. I made some clam chowder with the fruits of his labors, but I'm not fond of clams, so I had potato soup for myself.

I think I had mentioned before that some of Wiley's ancestors settled in this area in the 1760's. This map is in the museum in town. The fifth name from the bottom on the right (Rogero) is his family. We took a great tour of the town with a former mayor. She was very knowledgeable about the history of the area and a fascinating character. Like most small towns, New Smyrna Beach has had its share of politics and she knew of more than one skeleton lurking in local closets.

Of course, the best thing about New Smyrna Beach is that it's a beach!
We spend lots of time on the Indian River, watching the birds, manatees dolphin and big boats.

And enjoying butterflies and flowers in December!That's it for now--we're off to take a hike.

12/1/09 (Tuesday): Greetings from sunny Florida! I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. We spent the day with Wiley's family. His sister prepared a feast at her lovely home. We enjoyed a beautiful day and some great food. After the year we just went through, I'm so thankful to feel healthy and to be living such an active and healthy life.
I don't think I've given the grand tour of the campground yet. We love it because it has lots of tropical vegetation (including a bunch of gorgeous hibiscus like this one right beside our patio) and it's very close to the beach. There's a lake at the back end of the campground (it's saltwater, so I'm not sure whether "lake" is the right term for it). Wiley fishes there almost every day. There's a giant tarpon in it that teases him--he hasn't been able to catch it yet. Here's a little video of the lake that I took the day my friend Lucie came to visist.


We like to go to nearby Oak Hill to fish and crab from the pier. These white pelicans like to fish there, too. There are a couple of other county parks off U.S. 1 that we visit as well. In fact, we watched the last space shuttle launch from one of them. That was fantastic--the first time I've ever been so close! We could even hear the roar.

We're planning a trip to Michigan for a Christmas visit with my sons and their families. It'll be the first time in a year that I've seen Hudson and Austin--way too long! We're really looking forward to it. We'll be driving up this time, so I'm hoping we'll get decent weather. Wiley, as usual, is hoping for snow!

That's about it for now. As soon as I download the pictures, I'll do a blog about the historic town of New Smyrna Beach and Wiley's family connection with it.