Sunday, December 31, 2017

Merry Christmas and Coxmas

Our annual festive pilgrimage took us to parts east and north, with good roads and sunny skies seeing us as far as the Barrie area. After lunch with Kevin, we carried on to Oro and Orillia to visit friends and family for a few days.

Winter reminded us that it was late December, forcing a sketchy drive from Orillia to Eastern Ontario, though affording some lovely scenery across Highway 7. Extreme cold followed in behind the squalls, making for a very white and chilly Christmas. More visits with friends and family followed, though unfortunately my sister came down with the flu and we had to skip our planned stay there.

The cold persisted but the roads improved in time for the return trip. The Juke was not pleased with a -28 C start to the day, but otherwise we sped westward along the 401 without incident. We spent a few days in the London area enjoying Coxmas and huge bags of gag gifts.....along with a few thrilling adventures in Mansions of Madness.

We headed out for the final leg home, just ahead of another round of squalls off Lake Huron. Other than a thirst for wiper fluid, we again enjoyed bare roads and sunny skies. Ironically the worst roads were closer to home, where snow was minimal but wind and drifting across our main road made for a few dicey moments. We made it home on December 30th to a house full of happy cats, in time to prepare for New Years Eve.

Balogna sandwiches at Coxmas

Don't sweat the holiday stuff

Coronarita!

Mansions of Madness with John and Julie

A blanket of winter

The river is icy.....but still liquid!


Merry Christmas!


"A Christmas Carol" with Mom and Burt

Dreaming of a White Christmas


Jane's festive beverage of choice

Saturday, December 30, 2017

Dave is 80!

Jane's dad turned 80 this month, so we celebrated in family style with a few notable outings. We started with a lovely dinner at Mama Maria's in Chatham, before strolling across the road to catch The Men of the Deeps perform at the Capitol Theater. Even without the dearly departed Rita McNeil, this choir of Cape Breton coal miners put on a wonderful show, combining mining songs and stories with some festive tunes.

Later in the month, Julie landed tickets for John and I to take Dave to see a hockey game at Budweiser Gardens in London, with Team Canada taking on the Czech Republic as a tune up game before the World Junior tournament in Buffalo. The home side won handily in a 9-0 rout, a great ending to wonderful night of food, drink, hockey and fun.

Happy Birthday Dave!!!


Happy Birthday at Mama Maria's!

Pre-game beer peering out onto Covent Garden Market

National Anthems

Game on!

A packed house at Bud Gardens




Game action!


Team Canada scores again!

The Changing of the Goalies

....and this is why!

Respect