I can’t believe how much it snowed here, although it is less of a novelty to me since I spent my Christmas in the ultra-wintry conditions of Northern Nevada. After dinner last night with D&D and a fierce game of Halo on their new X-Box, we bundled up and hiked through several inches of snow to see Bubba Ho-Tep at the Laurelhurst.

Ask not what your rest home can do for you, but what you can do for your rest home.

I’ve been wanting to see this movie for ages, and I LOVED IT! Very original, very fun, very engaging. Really made the most of camera angles, suspense, dialogue, and timing. Bruce Campbell and Ossie Davis were incredible! Personally, I’d rather see a movie with a low budget and a lot of energy, creativity, originality and talent instead of throwing millions of dollars to special effects and overpaid actors to cover for a shitty script that should never have been greenlighted.
Counting down the days for it to be released on DVD…

Sunday
Packing, cleaning house, dinner party, movies, hanging out with friends, complimentary airport shuttle driver, cheesecake delivery service, etc. Finally made it to bed around 2am.
Monday
5:15 am Left Portland in my trusty Saturn with enough bottled water, PBJ sandwiches, tortilla chips, Mtn. Dew, smokes, music CD’s, and audio books to make it to Mexico, even though I was only driving as far as the Bay Area of California.
6:55 am Rest area in Eugene. First Mtn. Dew. Email to family that I am en route.
7:29 am (129.2 miles) Rest area in Cottage Grove. Roads are foggy but fine.
8:45 am (208.4) Fuel stop in Canyonville. Jet fuel coffee and a microwaved breakfast burrito that I should have never checked the fat content on. Mom called to make sure trip was going well. Finished audio book of Horatio’s Drive.
10:10 am (284.2) Stop in Medford / Phoenix at the outlet malls because there was a craft shop I liked there. Craft shop is gone, but discovered there *was* one of my favorite coffee drive-throughs: Dutch Bros. Their Kahula Kicker drinks are simply amazing. Flirted with baristas and hit the road again. Singing Chris Isaak very poorly and very loudly, but still much fun.
11:15 am (352.7) Rest area in Weed, CA. Happy that I had no problems going over the Siskyou pass.
11:30 am (360.7) Drove through the business loop of Weed looking for a place to sell me postcards and stamps. Could only find the postcards.
1:10 pm (452.7) Rest area in Red Bluff. Email to family that I am more than halfway there. Start listening to “Spy Who Loved Me” on audio book.
2:18 pm (525.0) Rest area in Winters. Check email.
2:50 pm (552.9) Fuel stop in Dunnigan. Love the audio book but attention span is short.
3:38 pm (611.0) Rest area in Vallejo. Realizing I won’t make it by 4 like I was hoping. Hit hellaciously bad traffic through Berkeley on my way to 880.
5:30 pm (688.1) Arrive in Campbell, California desperately wanting a nap and shower. Hooray! I made it! Dad and Karen very happy to see me. LOVE their new home, but their driveway rosebushes bite hard.

This is my favorite holiday cheesecake, and I made one earlier this week. Someone needs to help me finish it, though!
Crust
1 box crumbled gingersnaps or vanilla wafers (blender works great for this!)
3/4 cube butter (melted)
Cheesecake
2 packages cream cheese (softened)
1/3 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel
Topping
1 1/2 cups sour cream
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 cans large sliced pears, drained
1 teaspoon cinnamon
For the crust, combine the cookie crumbs and butter well, using two knives to cut the ingredients together. Pat firmly and evenly into the bottom of a springform pan. Preheat oven to 375 F.
Blend all of the cheesecake ingredients together until very smooth — almost to a whipped consistency. Pour into springform pan over crust and bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes clean out of the center. Allow to cool completely. Do not run a knife around the edge of the pan.
Toss the pears with the cinnamon — set aside. Blend the sour cream, sugar, and vanilla until smooth. Pour topping over cooled cheesecake. Drain pears of excess juice and layer above topping. Bake at 375 F for 8 minutes.
Allow to cool at least twelve hours in the refrigerator before serving. Enjoy!!!