Ho ho ho and holiday (Christmas, Hanukkah, Solstice, Kwanzaa…) greetings to friends and family, near and far. It’s been another good year for us, we’ve both settled into the retirement thing pretty well, with much travel, biking, birding, and (for Liza) baking/cooking.
In addition to several visits with family in California, it was a year for visiting more US national parks and monuments in the west, and for going abroad mostly to Spanish-speaking countries (and no, our Spanish really hasn’t improved). Among US destinations we visited Big Bend National Park, Guadalupe Mountains NP, Carlsbad Caverns NP, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Great Basin NP, Pinnacles NP, and Redwoods NP. Must make use of that national park pass! We also got to see the solar eclipse in Oregon, not quite at totality, but an interesting experience nevertheless.
Abroad we birded and/or cycled, or just ate and drank wine 🙂 in Chile, Spain, Portugal, Argentina, and Uruguay…all terrific journeys.
On a sad note, Liza’s Uncle Melvin passed away this year in Arkansas. He is sorely missed. And while a funeral is not really the best occasion to see folks, she was fortunate to be able to attend and spend time with family there. (Special thanks to Mike Bingham for all he did for me while I was there.)
What does next year have in store? So far a short trip to Mexico, a cycling trip in Germany along the Elbe River with the return trip taking us to Norway and Iceland, and a wedding in Princeton, NJ.
A few photos from the year are below; hover to see a caption, click each to see the full photo. Wishing you all a most happy holiday season and looking forward to seeing you in person or online in the coming year!
A couple of other websites you may want to browse:
