How I Spent My Summer Vacation

Christmas/New Year occurs in mid-summer in Timaru, and so we were off to the states after eight months away. I wondering how that would be, and found it peculiarly not peculiar. Everything felt as with we had been away for a long weekend. Even the driving on the "other" side of the road seemed arbitrary, but very comfortable.
My goals in returning to the US were threefold:
1) To be there for granddaughter Kimarra's first birthday;
2) To see my mother (and the rest of my family) as she continues to recuperate and celebrate Christmas; and,
3) To check on things in Fort Bragg and CA and re-establish my presence at Mendocino Coast District Hospital.
Check, check, and check.
Our trek first took us from Christchurch to Colorado Springs, CO via Auckland and SFO. It was a long day, but because of the vagaries of the International Date Line, we left and arrived on Saturday December 18th, 5 PM. Why Colorado Springs? Because Sofia and Kimarra are living for six months with her in-laws while her husband Marquise is deployed overseas.
The birthday was the next day, and the party girl thoroughly enjoyed her individual cake.

I had never been to Colorado Springs before. There are some things to see and do there, like the Air Force Academy, Pike's Peak, The Garden of the Gods

Garden of the Gods with Pikes Peak in the background

(a region of red sandstone just outside the city like a cross between Sedona AZ and a Road Runner cartoon).
 
It is a sprawling place, now the second largest city in Colorado, with long Phoenix-like streets and lots of new developments. The old downtown has an interesting art museum and outdoor sculptures.
Family duties kept us from seeing and doing as much as I would like, and there were brief flurries that dusted the area with snow, a nice touch for the holiday season. We did have dinner with my nephew David his lovely wife Kay and her parents. They live nearby, it turns out.
My brother Charles' family delights in reminding me how as time goes on I (and David too) seem to resemble him more. I believe my brother feels that is a tremendous compliment to us.
After five days, we were all off to California for Christmas. I apologize to my blog followers for the lack of photos to illustrate the rest of our trip. It was wonderful to see my mother. She was doing much better than I had expected.She is frustrated after six months of non-weight-bearing on her fractured left leg and is anxious to return to living at the Redwoods in Mill Valley. It is just going to take a while longer. My sister Margaret and her husband Cory graciously hosted us all for Christmas Day and dinner. On the 26th, we headed up to Fort Bragg for a whirlwind visit with many dear friends and a three-day working shift as hospitalist. I had hoped to spend more time in FB, but Sofia wanted to re-celebrate Kimarra's first birthday for California friends and family on New Year's Day. This meant hosting another gathering in San Rafael, and touching base with other old and dear friends. The rest of our visit was a bit less hectic, and allowed more time to tie up loose ends, and especially spend quality time with my mother.
On Thursday January 6th, we had one more informal gathering to bid adieu, eat (of course, if you know my family), and prematurely celebrate my birthday. Friday it was spent packing up, getting Sofia and Kimarra off to Colorado, and begin our trip back to NZ, which began at 7 PM Friday in CA and ended back in Timaru Sunday at noon. Just it was unstrange visiting the US, it was unstrange to return to NZ, and felt like home. We got back in time for the last day of the Centennial version of the Timaru Christmas Carnival. Now we have to adjust to the fact we will be packing up to leave again in seven weeks, which will be hard.
The absolute highlight and irreplaceable benefit of our summer holiday was spending three weeks with Kimarra as a twelve month-old toddler. It reminded me of what a special time it was with her mother at that age.She will never be at this precious stage again. She is bright, curious, funny, beautiful, and sweet. May she always be so.