Time is passing by fairly quick, although we haven't been doing much other than relaxing. Isn't that what "not traveling" and enjoying a winter break is supposed to be about?

Relaxing at the Childre House
Thanksgiving with the Childres

Our traveling friends, Bob and Joyce Childre, have a "sticks and bricks" home about 90 minutes from here. We met these friends in the Arizona desert about 12 years ago. Since then, we meet up about every 2- 3 years and do some traveling together. Although they still have a house, they travel in their motorhome around 6 - 9 months a year. In 2015, we went with them for our Alaska trip. This past year, we traveled around Michigan and neighboring states with them for a couple months.

They just recently returned from their summer travels and invited us over for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. We spent a couple days with them, enjoying their company, hospitality, hot-tub, and their food! We all had a great time with them and their family.

A couple days ago (Dec. 4th, 2019), Connie and I had a picnic lunch on the beach of the Atlantic Ocean. Our goal was to watch a Space X and Dragon capsule launch from Cape Canaveral, heading to the International Space Station with cargo. Unfortunately, the launch was postponed a day. We returned again yesterday with clear blue skies. We saw our first space launch!

Space X Launch - Stage Separation
Space X Launch
Space X Launch
Nikon COOLPIX P900
Omnia Stove Top Oven

Our only other excitement was that Christmas came early for Connie and I. Santa brought Connie an Omnia Stove Top Oven. This is a small oven that sits on top of your stove, but allows baking on a smaller scale. Sure, our motorhome has a couple of ovens, but this allows us to bake items while boondocking without having to run the generator. Besides, it's another kitchen gadget for Connie to play with. She hasn't made anything in it yet. We'll have a performance report and review in our next blog update.

Santa brought both of us a new "bridge" digital camera. Our phones, small camera, small video camera, and SLR digital camera with lenses worked fine. However, we wanted something with a good zoom that we didn't need to carry extra lenses for. I had read good reviews for the Nikon COOLPIX P900 camera. It has a built-in 83X optical zoom (2000mm equivalent)! It also has a 166X digital "Dynamic Fine Zoom", which is equivalent to a 4,000mm zoom!) It also does short videos. I still have to learn about all of the fancy features, but it does take nice photos.