We had a pretty good crowd for a cold morning walk.  Rita and Larry had the wrong place so Rita eventually found us, but we never did find Larry.  Rita came along with us for lunch and then Joann gave her a ride home.
That is such a beautiful walk along the river and lunch was wonderful.  We ate at Manzana's Grill, and that would have to get the bump for today.  But there are so many places to eat in downtown Lake O, and the shopping is always good.  

We all bundled up so much this morning, it was nice to get back to the car and peel everything off.  Very quiet out there today.  Barb brought her cousin, Pat with her so we did have one new person with us.  We did see one eagle in the distance and after our walk, we headed back for coffee, which today provided us with some very interesting discussions....

Twenty Two Merrywalkers got together and saw the Portland Revels on Sunday.  Last year we sat in the balcony, but this year we paid a little extra and we had the best seats in the house.  It is a winter solstice celebration set in the 1500 in England, with wonderful music and costumes.  After we headed over to Mama Mia Tratoria for an Italian bar menu.  Next thing on the Merrywalkers 12 days of Christmas, the Christmas Tea in Sherwood on the 20th.  So if you haven't made your reservation, get on it! 

Baby, it was cold out there and it almost felt like snow, but it was a great walk that Heidi put together.  Nine Merrywalkers started out and Angela came a bit later, but she did catch up.  Rose also walked with us all the way to the Fort and then took off, while all of us tried out everything from making wreaths and lavender or orange sachets.  We had to have spent at least an hour or more going through everything they offered at the Fort.  Nancy, one of our newest members, suggested the Grant House for lunch and everyone loved it.  On the way home, Mary Ann pretty much summed it up when she said "I really feel like it's Christmas now."  
Twenty Two of us are headed to the Portland Revels this afternoon but Karen Kelly will be our photographer and blogger for the Step Back In Time in Albany.  This is another great walk to get you into the spirit.

A quick hello from Mike and Patti

Mary Ann, Andrea and myself couldn't wait to get our Christmas fix down on 23rd St.  The 10k people left off in one direction and we took off in the opposite direction.  There was quite a hang up in parking, but we lucked out and found someone just getting to their car and we got to squeeze right in, so some folks might not even made it to the walk.  We had 6 in the 5k group led by Joe, and all the rest of those guys did the 10k walk and hit the Thai place for lunch.  By the time "we got to 21st, we thought "time for lunch and shopping."  We hit Ken's Artisan Bakery and then we did a nice stroll down 23rd Street we we all picked up Christmas goodies.  Instead of heading home, we headed over to Emmanuel to see Starr.  Lo and behold, we got to see Jim too!  Wow, he's doing pretty well.  Today they just took the trache tube out which is another big step in coming home.  Starr said she has a shopping bag full of cards that she sits and reads to Jim, but they are both looking forward to getting home.  For those of you who haven't sent a card yet, you still have time.
Jim and Starr McKee
Legacy Emanuel Hospital2801 N. Gantenbein
Portland 
Dick, maybe we could do our new Canby walk sometime in January so Starr could come along.  Hopefully she will be at the Christmas Boats Walk. 
To our club members: The December Meeting Minutes are on the right column.

Let's get together at the BBC at 10 a.m. to sing "This is your Birthday song, it isn't very long!"  See you tomorrow and we'll even buy you a cup of coffee!

It was beautiful out there today.  Everything just sparkled and you really felt like winter was here.  There were so many geese out there today, but I think we just had fun looking at all of the ice crystals that had formed on the leaves, trees and grasses.  After we headed over to the BBC where we had our monthly meeting and election of officers and Lynette will send me the minutes later and I'll post them up on the side so you can read all of what is new with the Merrywalkers.