And how was your Thanksgiving? Mine was extra special with a visit from my grand nephew and his father. It is so great to have family come visit, especially when one of them is a champion at almost every cook off that he enters. So naturally, he cooked the turkey … and I had never had smoked turkey before. Since I had already cooked two turkeys for a special early celebration, I was more than glad to turn over the chore to someone else.

However, I still wanted to do my share and contribute to the festivities. Desserts seemed to be in order along with homemade cranberry sauce. It had been a while since I had prepared that and oh it is so good – much better than the canned you buy at the grocery store. The supply chain interfered somewhat with preparation of the pecan pie – there was just no Karo syrup on the shelves at my local store. What a disappointment. For years, our family has been ordering green label Karo from Amazon – but not to find any Karo at all on the shelf, that is really unusual.

Another special thing that happened the day before Thanksgiving – As I made my way through the maze of shoppers everyone seemed to be in a caring frame of mind. Pardon me, thank you, can I help you, all seemed to come naturally to everyone I met. Hopefully that attitude will stay with all of us through this year and into the next.

Now that the Thanksgiving festivities have come and gone, my thoughts have turned to Christmas and all the special tours for the season. One of my very favorite tours is the Festival of Lights in Hidalgo. I have been offering that tour every year for a long time. This year, the Go With Jo Tour will be offered on Saturday, December 16. I love the special entertainment that is offered and the narrated trolley ride. Dinner is also included on this tour. Get your group together and let’s go enjoy the night out.

I have been advertising New Year’s in Monterrey but was waiting on the price for the dinner dance. Finally, I received what I considered to be too much of an increase so that tour has been cancelled. Maybe next year the economy will be more in line. If you have been on this tour in the past, you know what a good time we have with a party both nights while in Monterrey.

Those of you who have been waiting for the price on the Big Bend Tour, we now have that confirmed. Final pricing is on our ad in this issue. Give us a call or check the website for any other updates on pricing and tours.