Another year has come and gone! And the big news for 2015 is Liza’s retirement on 12/31! She can now join Robert in a “life of leisure”, which will mean being busier than ever, but now with stuff she wants to do. More cycling, more food blogging, travel planning, travel, etc.
Despite Liza’s working all year, we did have some wonderful travels. Robert started out the year (sob, without Liza) on a trip to Eastern Chiapas, Mexico on a birding tour with Mark Pretti. The big trip of the year followed in April/May, to Bhutan, with Victor Emanuel Nature Tours…land of Gross National Happiness and high mountains, we had a marvelous time camping at high elevations, seeing spectacular birds, and soaking up a culture that we had known little about.
May to July was all about family…first a fun weekend in Cleveland with (Robert’s cousin) Rob and Linda Wanerman, attending the graduation of their son Richard from Case Western Reserve University School of Law (and we’ll note as of Dec 2015 he has passed the bar and been sworn in as an attorney in the state of Maryland, hurray!). In June, Liza went to the wedding of Nick Deichmeister and Linh Hoang (Nick is the son of her cousin Bob and Pam Deichmeister) in Virginia. July found us both in Germany for the 60th wedding anniversary of (Robert’s father’s cousin) Johannes and Bärbel Weissler, with four generations of Weisslers in attendance – truly a marvelous family moment.
The travel year wound down with a cycling trip – you knew we had to have at least one! – in the Badlands and Black Hills of South Dakota, joined by our friends Mark and Joanne Guralnick from Brooklyn.
Closer to and at home, more family visits … Liza’s brother Lee and wife Jenn visited early in the year with Liza’s mom Alpha; Robert’s brother Rod visited here in August; and we had a fun Thanksgiving weekend in California, where we were able to see everyone! And, most satisfying, we watched USC beat UCLA.
On a sadder note, RIP to our pretty cat Phoebe, who left us in January this year. She was our little sweetheart (not to mention Liza’s alarm clock, without fail, all times of year) and we miss her.
Next year’s plans are still in the works and include trips to Spain and Brazil. It will be nice to plan travel without regard to how much (or little) vacation time Liza has.
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 – Christmas, Hanukkah (I know, late), Winter Solstice, Boxing Day, Kwanzaa, whatever works for you – and hope to see you in person/online in the coming year!
Robert, Liza & Woody
