Brights and Lights - Holidays in the Desert

November 29 - December 14, 2024

Tombstone, Arizona

Tis the season in Tombstone.

Apparently I've been channeling my inner-athlete and thus eating like I'm in training! The best part of holiday eats is always the left-overs and we had lots to enjoy from our Thanksgiving feast. I'll need to eat bird seed until Christmas!!

Speaking of Christmas - we're fa-la-la-la-laing from floor to ceiling. Tree and mantle done right after Thanksgiving, and now the presents are under the tree and the final touches have been completed. My favorite time of year, l love making a holiday home.

Family memories - Jeff's first Christmas 35 years ago.

This vintage book, A Bird's Christmas Carol, still holds the note from my mom.

The new Christmoose came home from The Gathering shopping day this year.

A little festivity in the bathrooms too.

With mornings in the low 40's our 76-80 degree days are a surprise. While it's the reason so many love winters here, I'm anxious for colder days that feel like the season. Of course when the grandsons are here I'll want it to be warmer so they can play outside! We need a few good rains as well with everything getting very dry. And let's order up some pretty snow while we're weather-wishing!

The 49ers weren't excited at the 20 degree snowy conditions for their game in Buffalo! We had all the windows open at 8 PM here :-)

Frustration with Camping World (with whom we've historically had great service) as we waited to have the mattress delivered. With the family coming for ten days I make several calls to "encourage" the service department to get it to us quickly. When it arrives I take a deep breath and finish setting up the RV for her first visitors - and make another call to thank them :-)

Leading up to our fulltime travel launch I had numerous yard sales in the process of purging our very many belongings. Of course I then pledged to never "gather more than the basics" which I was easily able to do living in the RV. After five years with a house I've managed to repeat the gathering trend. I'm sure this surprises no one!  

Even though I regularly take things to the local church's thrift store I've now collected enough for a yard sale. Cleaning out the larger rig contributed quite a bit - we have almost zero underneath storage on the smaller one. Plus no longer being fulltime makes a big difference on what we need in the RV.

Eye-catching signs to get people to the yard.

PJ hosted and I got rid of most everything. Fun to chat with the neighbors.

Tubac, AZ, is a must-do for Rebecca and I every season. Another perfect-weather day, we did lots of shopping but unbelievably no buying this year! A holiday meal at the beautiful Elvira's is not to be missed, and it was another memorable experience. 

The variety of art pieces is so fun.

Lots of colorful yard art available, and then this little live tree steps up with these gorgeous hues.

The sun is bright enough to appreciate sun sails over a courtyard.

Outdoor blends with indoor offerings.

Having a house gives me more wall space, but not enough for all the pieces I'd love to have!

Indeed.

A feast for the eyes throughout all of Elvira's.

Bright baubles create a fairyland.

A local Christmas tradition that I can never remember the name of, I again enjoy this special stuffed poblano chili (meat, fruit, nuts) with crema and pomegranate seeds. 

I usually find a reason to avoid crowded local events, but this year friends (Rebecca and the craft group) want to attend the Tombstone Christmas Light Parade. Nine of us plan, and three actually make it - and I'm so glad I'm one of them! I join Vicki and hubby Ron for pre-parade drinks and dinner. Then we set up our chairs and blankets on the nearly empty street and wait for the crowd to come to us. Definitely the best way to do it! Tessa adopts two little girls next to us, and I have to convince all three of them that she's still my dog at the end of the evening! 

The first few entries seem to have missed the memo that they would be parading in the dark so they're difficult to see, but soon we're enjoying a surprising variety of brightly lit floats and groups and vehicles and horses. The big moon adds great atmosphere and everyone has lots of fun. Even with a very large crowd, it's an easy exit to get home. So glad I dodged all those usual reasons not to go.

We start with wedding pics. I cringe as she drags all those lovely white ruffles through the dirt!

As the sun sets and the moon rises, we people-watch as the crowd arrives.

Lots of ATVs with lots of fun riders - this one changes colors - very fun.

The photo doesn't capture how clever this trailer "sleigh" is. 

A few of the local RV parks really show up big - at the back of this one are campers around a real camp fire.

The dog leading the horses gets the biggest cheers of the night :-)

Best lights and a sweet Christmas fox on top.

The grand finale is this huge rig pulling a very long and colorful trailer. 

Corey (Bill's second, our number three) took wife Christie to see Taylor Swift in Vancouver, BC - she was soooo excited!

Penelope on a coffee date with Mom.

Ezra looking so much like his dad.

This is an older one, but this pic of Oliver and his dad cracks me up!