Christmas day picked up once Darlene was home from work. I spent the day at the beach, which was nice but also kind of weird to be by myself on Christmas. It was a beautiful day though.

Darlene came home and we opened  our gifts. Bud, our landlord, got us a couple of those wine pouches that Vikings and teenage skiers use. He also got us matching travel-sized first aid kits, so I guess we will have to go for a drunken hike and fall down a lot. Darlene got the same present from my mom 2 years in a row… literally. Last year she got her a sewing machine and this year she paid to have it shipped here, which was greatly appreciated by Darlene.

After opening our gifts we headed to the beach to watch the sunset. We got there just as a couple whales started splashing around and putting on a show for the large Christmas sunset crowd. People involuntarily cheer each time a whale raises a flipper out of the water or breaches, it sounds like a crowd watching fireworks. They were pretty far out, so it was hard to get a very good photo. I’m including one photo of a giant flipper splashing in the distance.

We capped off the night at a new friend’s party just a few minutes away. We met a lot of really nice people and had a great time.

It was a strange Christmas for us but still a nice one. It made us feel pretty homesick though, so maybe next year we will head back tot he Midwest for the holidays!