Merry Christmas

I'm bucking the trend today by not telling you what I got for Christmas. Except for the very very cool Hawaiian shirt that my uncle brought me. And the high-tech tire gauge from C, just in time for our road trip. And a big, fabulous book about photography tips, also from C. And the pedometer I got from my grandmother. Unfortunately, the brilliant idea we had to give everyone in my family pedometers was superceded by my grandmother's idea to give us all talking pedometers. The good news is, C created a packet of informational materials about walking, including a form to track "progress" in walking from Corpus to Austin.

Tonight, we're making preparations to hit the road; we plan to leave Corpus Christi by 7 or 7:30 in the morning and arrive in El Paso by 9 or so. That's 9:00 pm, if you didn't catch it. Texas is really really huge. We're staying at CY and Leslita's place, and I can't wait to see them, though I'm sure we'll be exhausted by the time we get there.

We're packing a cooler, a laptop, and some books on CD for the trip. It's just as well; singing all the way to El Paso would make us far too nutty to be around. But make no mistake: we have our trusty Car-ioke CD, as well. It's a fabulous idea, but not quite as cool as it sounds.

I went geocaching with my uncle and my three adorable cousins today. We found four different caches and got in a decent hike, as well as some birdwatching. Sadly, I forgot my camera, so you won't be seeing pictures of the pelicans (brown and white), the blue herons (greater and lesser), or the egrets (great). It was a lovely Texas Christmas day, with temperatures in the 70s.

Since tomorrow is Day #1 of our road trip, the next time I post, I should be in El Paso. I plan on posting entries from the laptop (hopefully) every day, with pictures as is possible; keep in mind, I may be on a slow modem connection for the rest of the month. Keep your eyes peeled for the girls in the Prius.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all.