Christmas with Marianne - Day 25

  When I arrived back at Marianne's after hiking yesterday, Sunny had sprouted Christmas lights. What fun! (I finished hiking before dark, but the picture is better this way.)

The way to the bathroom was blue blazed! Just for fun- I've been here before and knew my way around.

Here we are, Marianne and me!

It was 55 degrees outside! Very strange Christmas. We were walking around in our jammies and bare feet.

We opened presents with her boys and the girlfriend of one of them. They gave me another stocking full of hiker gifts- little snacks and chapstick and shoelaces! Then Marianne served a simple, but very nice dinner.

One of the things I have wondered about this year was if I'd get to missing other activities. Well, I won't miss puzzles! This is the 5th puzzle I've done since I left home. (One with Monica and Keira, 3 with Sue, and now 1 with Marianne). Marianne was kind enough to share the assembly of her Christmas puzzle with me. It's a collection of Smokey the Bear posters. Yes, we finished it before I blogged.

One other joke I should report- the church web site said their service was at 8 pm last night. We got there at 7:50... just in time for the final song! I had said I was concerned about staying awake for the service. Well, I had no problem. I stayed awake until the end.

I think I'm rejeuvenated, and ready to hike in the morning. I'll be one of the first to hike a new reroute in this part of Ohio. See you tomorrow.

See NORTA with Bill