A Great Escape

The day after Christmas, we went out looking for a tree.  That was a good way to escape the high prices that are on them before the holiday.  We found an eight foot tall one - cheap at half the price - that will work just fine in the living room with vaulted ceiling.  Leaving the store, it was interesting to see the old mixed in with the new as we stopped by the historic Vail Ranch, one of the first ranches in the valley from back in the 1870s. The stage coach line passed in front of the place. When it was built, those folks never imagined their family home, bunkhouses and stables being surrounded by shopping malls. 

Almost every day, I take a walk around our neighborhood. It is neat to see the higher mountains that are now getting covered with snow.

As the end of the year approached, it was time to celebrate Aaron's birthday. We had a fun lunch, but the place he wanted to go - Islands - was closed so we had to settle on another hamburger joint. Non of our kids liked being sung to when they were little, and still today, even less when the waitresses do it in front of everyone! It was still a good way to commemorate the start of another year.

On the last day of the year, our Grand Rapids friends Jack and Paula Winn stopped by for a visit. They escaped the snow of Michigan by visiting their daughter Kristin in Los Angeles. She drove them over to see us and our new place.  

We had such a good time together, though it was way too short.  Lunch was at Marie Callender's restaurant (they had never seen her outside of chicken potpies in the freezer aisle at Meijer).

That night we saw 2012 out with Chinese food and games at Aaron and Rachel's. We laughed a lot playing the new game they got, but I lost!  

After church last Sunday we decided to go on an adventure. We traveled up to Perris to explore around. First we hit a flea market, and then saw the Orange Empire Railway Museum. That was educational and fun. Our town, Murrieta, was a stop on the southern California rail route in the early nineteen hundreds, with people coming down from Los Angeles to escape to the hot springs resort for some relaxation. 

The museum has a train station and huge train sheds where old trains are restored.

You can ride the train or take a trolley around the town.

Three passenger cars from the Union Pacific Railroad are set up with model trains running through them.
Old cable cars from San Francisco are on display too.

That was a great way to escape for an enjoyable afternoon.