Santa's Workshop
A Little Southern Christmas
As we left you last time we were preparing to have Thanksgiving with our fellow workers at the Settlement. We had a lovely “Friendsgiving” with Richard & Rhonda and Erick & Echo with loads of food and great conversation. Then it was straight into getting ready for Christmas.
The decorations went up and the Settlement was ready for all the children to come out and learn about Christmas traditions from around the world.
We even got a tree and a few decorations up around the coach.
Last year when Jonathan was Santa for the Christmas Traditions field trips he had to wear the Settlement’s suit and fake beard which did not fit and the beard kept sliding off his mustache. So, as you have been able to tell in our pictures over the last year, Jonathan has been growing out his beard so that he could have a real Santa beard. Unfortunately, the beard is not all grey so he needed a trip to a salon for a touch up. Parker from the Blake Elliot Salon in DeLand came to the rescue, bleaching and dying the beard to get it almost white, then with a little theatrical hair white .. Ta Da … Santa!
With new suits we were ready to share in the delights of the children as they got to sit with Santa and share their Christmas wish. It is a real gift to be able to celebrate the holiday by giving these children just a little more time to believe in the miracles of the season.
Photo courtesy of Debra Ann West Photography (aka Our Boss!)
We have now completed 2 1/2 years on the road. This summer we had a wonderful month in Virginia visiting Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown and our nation’s capital. From there we hopscotched up to Maine where we stayed for 2 weeks visiting fellow Workampers from Barberville, seeing Campobello in Canada and then a few days in Arcadia National Park. We had week-long stays in New Hampshire, Vermont and Massachusetts hiking trails, climbing to the tops of mountains, through gorges to see beautiful waterfalls and driving the scenic byways. We visited historical villages and landmarks, spent time with distant family, camped in beautiful campgrounds, and boondocked at farms and breweries in Connecticut, Rhode Island and Pennsylvania, As the summer started to wind down we headed south and stopped for a week in New York so that Alex could come up and camp with us for a few days, bringing up friends, going to the county fair and getting in a little time out of the city to hike in the mountains. Then is was farther south to Savannah for a week then to Carrabelle, FL, where we ended up waiting out Hurricane Dorian before returning to Barberville for another season Workamping.
And by the numbers that was:
- 14 States
- 4,865 Miles by RV
- 10,846 Miles in the Jeep Exploring
- 25 Campsites
- 1 Trip to the Tiffin Home Base
- and 1 Hurricane
As this decade comes to a close, we are so thankful and blessed to be living this life on the road. Meeting new people, having crazy adventures, and getting to see this beautiful country. During this holiday season we hope that you too can feel the joy of the season, have a blessed New Year, and get out and have a few crazy adventures of your own!
Merry Christmas to All!! And to all a Happy New Year!!
Till next time
Gotta love Mr. and Mrs. Claus!!
Thank you!!