It's been just over a year since my last post. I guess since Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and the like have become available and popular, the old blog has gone by the wayside. I miss it, though. It's somewhat therapeutic to write posts for a blog page, so it really doesn't matter if no one reads it. I simply enjoy writing!
We're just two weeks from Christmas 2019! Our tree is as beautiful as ever. It always looks pretty much the same, but we think it's lovely. In years past, the grandsons helped put up and decorate the tree on Black Friday, but they've all grown up, so Dennis and I put the Christmas music on and had fun doing the job together.
We've had this same little skinny artificial tree for many years, but this year we learned that the cost of a fresh cut tree is around $75. That was quite a shock to us! We're even more pleased with our little 'fake' tree, because it probably didn't cost that much when we bought it so long ago!
Over this past year, we've enjoyed traveling. The first trip of 2019 was a Caribbean cruise. We boarded in Galveston TX and set sail for Cozumel, Belize, and Roatan. It was a great time. While we were enjoying the warm sunshine, Iowa was covered with snow! I have to say I didn't mind missing out on that!
Our second trip started in March, and we drove to Needles, CA along old route 66. We took a little over two weeks and spent about six days in Prescott, AZ. There were lots of things to see along the way. We especially enjoyed Winslow, Seligman, Jerome, Santa Fe, Oak Creek Canyon, Wickenburg Western Museum, Grand Canyon, Tombstone, Elvira Café (Mexico), and visiting with a few of our 'snowbird' friends in Phoenix. We drove west on route 66 - "Get your kicks on Route 66" so when we headed back home, we took Hwy 54 - "See more on 54". By the time we got back home we'd added 5135 miles to the odometer!
We toured Colorado on our Harley's in July. Travis and Gail, along with TJ and Amy Newberry invited us to join them, and we really enjoyed the scenic ride and the great travel companions. Dennis and I trailered our bikes out to Durango. We spent a few days before and after the ride with our friend Ada in Vallecito. I'll admit I was a bit nervous about riding in the mountains, but so glad we did! It was the best ride ever! We crossed the continental divide eight times, saw some indescribably gorgeous scenery, and had a wonderful time.
Our next big adventure was Niagara Falls! We visited with friends in Indianapolis as we headed east. We also stopped for a couple days to tour the Ark Encounter and Creation Museum. That was quite impressive, and we were fortunate to be there on the day that Dr. Ken Ham was there speaking. We enjoyed it very much. We met our friends, David and Sharon, at their place in Ohio. From there, we headed along Lake Erie to Niagara Falls NY. We stayed at Best Western for three nights. We enjoyed seeing the falls on the Canadian side and the USA side. We also enjoyed seeing many other sights in the area. We enjoyed dinner one evening in Skylon Tower. After returning to David and Sharon's place in Ohio, Dennis and I headed home the long way, through Michigan UP and then into Wisconsin. The fall foliage was very pretty. We stopped for an ice cream treat in St. Louis Michigan. 
We've put on a lot of miles this past year, but along with those miles were as many or more smiles. We're extremely thankful that we have the ability to enjoy time together seeing our great country! We are so blessed - blessed beyond measure! Writing this post has allowed me the joy of reliving those memorable moments and savoring them yet again!
