We have been keeping busy here in Arizona and enjoying our time despite the cooler than normal weather. We have had many beautiful sunrises and sunsets this month.
We have decorated the coach for Christmas like we did last year. This year I was able to get desert mistletoe while out surveying for the Hassayampa Christmas Bird Count. Desert mistletoe does not have leaves since it would take up too much moisture for them to grow, but it does have very nice red berries on it. We went over to downtown Glendale one evening with our friends BJ and Karin to see the holiday lights. We had dinner at Gordon Biersch and took part in their beer and chocolate tasting. The resort had a very nice Christmas show with a mixture of oldies and holiday songs. We were Kringled a few days before Christmas, and received some nice cookies, a pretty holiday mug and a few other treats. So we put a goodie bag together and Kringled another coach to keep the chain going. We celebrated Christmas with BJ and Karin. Josie cooked a ham and cornbread and Karin made the famous green bean casserole with all fresh ingredients. BJ and Karin are from Idaho and they take their potatoes very seriously. She made the best scalloped potatoes we have ever had. They get potatoes in 50 pound bags and keep a lot of us here in the park in fresh potatoes. As I said I have participated in two of the local Christmas Bird Counts. One in the high desert hills and the other in the flat desert scrub. It has been great meeting the local birders and learning all the hot birding spots here in the valley. I have picked up 4 life birds this month alone.
Early in the month we took the Ping Golf Factory Tour. It was very informative but the only picture we were allowed to take was in the waiting room with Bubba Watson. We also have been going to see Arizona Coyote hockey games again this year. Josie has been playing Mah Jongg twice a week and has become quite competitive. Of course I am playing a lot of golf with the Bybees. This season we have been trying a new restaurant every Wednesday with them. One of our favorites was the Angry Crab. Surprisingly great seafood here in the desert. Josie had the soft shell crab and said it was as good as any she has had in Virginia. I had a whole Dungeness Crab and Bj and Karin had Shrimp and Snow Crab. Everything is served steamed and we had to eat with our hands. They give you bibs and at the end of your meal they have a community hand washing station. Great food and fun. Josie and I drove over to Mesa one evening to see one of our favorite singing groups Straight No Chaser. They are an a cappella group and this was the sixth time we have seen them. They never disappoint us and they put on a great show. See if you can find us in the picture we are tagged in on their Facebook page. After a day on the links we celebrated the New Year as we did at Christmas with the Bybee's. Only this time we were joined for part of the evening by Josie's son in law Scott who was in town on business. Josie made deliciously seasoned ham and black-eyed peas with green chili cornbread and Karin dazzled us with a brie and sun dried tomato stuffed bread bowl for an appetizer and a to die for chocolate bread pudding with raspberry sauce. A great end to 2015.
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