Adventure Logan

We toured the lights on Mission Valley Road tonight with the Munroes and MacIntyres. Since we first moved here, it has been an annual tradition for us. This is the first time for the Munroes.  Showcasing 175,000 colored and white lights and more than 400 figurines, the 2.5-acre Christmas wonderland on Mission Valley Boulevard is a holiday experience. The home that we visited has been setting up this impressive show since 1975. They have added new things most years and it is fun to look around and try to find the changes.

Christmas music plays from four different stereo systems placed throughout the yard. One offers classical music; a second plays Christmas favorites like “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town”; a third plays Alvin and the Chipmunks Christmas tunes; and the fourth provides sounds from Santa’s workshop.

These Santa’s workshop buildings are part of the original displays.

 There are polar bears, penguins, snowmen, trains and more: flamingos, toy soldiers, dinosaurs and reindeer galore.

The owner draws inspiration from children’s coloring books, then sketches designs. He hand-builds the displays he can’t find in stores, such as his 12-foot holiday dinosaur. Each character is made from 1/4-inch round steel wire on which Christmas lights are clipped. He uses 400 extension cords for more than 800 amps of power.  During December and part of January, his electric bill more than triples.

In the last few years they have added quite a few of the air filled structures.

There is a snow making machine by the pool house so it is always fun to stand in the falling snow!

The roof of the house has a light show synchronized with various Christmas carols.

The family spends six weeks setting up the displays each year. It takes even longer to take the display apart, but they’re not in a rush. The lights and characters are placed in plastic bins and put away until the next year in two 20-foot-by-40-foot storage sheds behind a waterfall in the backyard.