When we last left you, it was hailing in San Diego. The strange weather has continued to poke at us through our continuing adventures including unseasonable rain storms in Phoenix AZ and throughout our drive east to Roswell NM. Nothing the gnome and team can't handle with the right gear and attitudes. Never the less, I digress.
Christmas with the Fulton family was fantastically fun. I think we set the record for new traditions including a flight in on Xmas day followed by some vino and a gluten free meal of veggie stir-fry with peanut satay on a bed of quinoa and oven-baked wings. It was delicious. Gift giving waited until the next morning where we listened to the 'chill indie' youtube channel playing xmas-ish music. Our hostess of the household took on the gift distributing duties of the dozen or more presents under the tree. The Fulton's sure do know how to give gifts including painstakingly wrapping a gift card in 37 layers of paper giving the giftee a good time to unwrap. And it wouldn't be Christmas without the parental unit giving the gift of socks; high quality hikers mind you, that will keep my tootsies warm in days to come.
Overwrapped gift card
After that bundle of fun, the family unit had to do some sunset geocaching down the road.
A locked ammo can with-in another ammo can? WHA
Which Key is it?
Foreshadowing for the House of Hints Escape Room we did later on in the week.
The next day, we headed out to Torrey Pines State Reserve which is a very unique region that has the rare Torrey Pines which sit atop a sandstone cliff continually being washed out by the oceans forces. We took advantage of some vistas points and made our way down to the beach for tide pool explorations and skipping in the sand singing songs we shall never need recall. We left at sunset to see some amazing last moments of light for the west coast.
In the morning, the ladies went out to a local bridal shop to try on some dresses for the BTB. Of course the men folk were not invited so we putted around the AirBNB until our appointment at the House of Hints; a local Escape the Room type venue that provides an hour of entertainment and mystery solving with friends and family. Lets just say, we found the murderer, unlocked doors to secret storage spaces, decoded stuff and escaped the room with just 3 minutes to spare! Very entertaining and a real TEAM BUILDING exercise. That night, we went to Balboa park for the food truck festival that hosted a dozen or more trucks sporting simple greasy foods and treats. We all managed to find a meal to suit our style and feed our grumbling bellies.
The next day while daddy-o was incapacitated with flu like symptoms (possibly from the food truck), the kids went out to Balboa park for a picnic with frisbee's, have a walk around the gardens and just enjoy the nice weather. We saw about 3 brides doing photo shoots, electric wicker rickshaws scooting around and a rugged looking man playing the didgeridoo and hang drum combo. It was a stellar afternoon with some good old bonding time.
Before part of the Fulton fam was to fly out on the 31st, we snagged one last picture in our luxury AirBnB. After that, it was off to Phoenix for some sunny days in the desert with the Glaser gang.
See next post for our New Years Rest and Resolutions.
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