Christmas 2016 Highlights

I broke my promise of writing this post last week, but better late than never. Work was extremely busy last week so I didn’t have much time to do other things. Here are a few highlights from our nine day trip to California over Christmas break. We drove from Albuquerque to California and then back.

Drive – Part 1

The drive from Albuquerque to San Diego is roughly 12 hours so we broke it up into two days. We traveled to Tucson on Christmas Eve and then on to San Diego on Christmas Day.

Attempt at a Nativity Scene photo with the pups in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. This was the best they could do!

Mountains in Arizona

Sunset from day 1

Dust storm in Arizona

Saguaro cacti in Arizona. We don’t have these in Albuquerque!

So many cacti dotting the landscape

Cuddling pups in the backseat

Sand dunes in California

Driving through the mountains to San Diego

Christmas Eve Dinner in Tucson

We spent the first night of our road trip in Tucson and had a lovely Christmas Eve dinner at Maynard’s Kitchen, which is located in Downtown. The food was so good!

Bibb lettuce salad with shaved fennel, red grape relish and candied walnuts

Pan-roasted duck – chipotle apricot glas, sauteed butternut squash and lemon, braised greens, blackberry pan jus and puffed barley

Venison special

Sweet Potato beignets with white chocolate caramel

Vanilla creme brulee with fresh berries and ginger crip

Christmas Dinner in San Diego

The main purpose of our trip to California was to meet our nephew, Lucas, for the first time. He was born on Halloween, and we wanted to see him before it became too difficult for us to travel. Once the twins arrive, who knows when we will be able to make a trip! My parents also came down for Christmas Day. It was nice spending Christmas with them. I don’t think we have had Christmas together since 2009.

We decided to have Chinese hot pot for Christmas dinner. It definitely hit the spot! Yum!

After dinner, it was time to open presents. Gus and Carson got lots of presents too!

Hotel del Coronado

One evening we headed over to the Hotel del Coronado for a visit. It was so pretty and festive!

Broad Museum

We drove up to Los Angeles and spent two nights at my parents’ house. We were able to visit the Broad Museum one afternoon. I love that place!

Sleepy Hollow Christmas Lights

My mom and I visited the Sleepy Hollow Christmas Lights in Torrance one evening. This was the first time I had gone to see them. In fact, I didn’t even know they existed until this year!