Hello dear friends and readers, it’s about time I wake up from my on-again off-again blog slumber! My goodness, I can hardly believe it’s 2018!
But first, I hope everyone had a great holiday season with family and friends, and that you are underway toward making your resolutions come true. I want to thank you for continuing to follow our journey, in good times and in bad, for you are the inspiration that keeps me going in the blog world.
Dueling American Coots
With 2017 now a memory, let me quickly look in the rearview mirror before throttling into the future. We had three unforgettable highlights that happened last year: in June we took a fabulous hike at The Wave, a tough summer followed in Tucson, and in the fall we enjoyed our marvelous Grand European River Cruise. We made it through the ups and downs of life last year, and we’re gearing up for a better year ahead!
White-tailed kite in search of a rodent lunch
Steve continues to recover and he’s back to enjoying his favorite foods, hiking, tinkering with Betsy and socializing. He’ll be under his doctor’s surveillance for the next couple of years, getting checkups every 3 months. Gaining some more weight is his resolution (definitely not mine!) for this year.
We are currently in San Diego, enjoying the unseasonably warm winter while some of our friends are freezing back east. While here, we’re looking ahead and plotting the route we plan to follow this year. We’re getting antsy to do some serious traveling again! Some of our stops this year will be re-visits to places we loved, while others will be new ones to explore. We’ll pause for a month near Salt Lake City while I fly back to the Philippines for a high school Golden Jubilee celebration, and by fall we plan to be all the way to Florida where we’ll spend most of next winter.
A rough draft route for our 7th year full timing
Celebrating friends
Friends and relationships we’ve forged through our years on the road have brought joy and support to our journey. Reconnecting with some of you each year has been a part of our traveling tradition, and we’re always eager to see you whenever our paths cross.
Betsy’s caretakers in Corrales, New Mexico – Hector (HMLopez Photography) and Brenda (Island Girl)
Bob and DeeDee (Travels with Charlie & Marshall Dylan) at Desert Trails, Tucson
Several of my friends visited Betsy on Thanksgiving day in Tucson
Five great blogger friends had a delightful evening recently in San Diego. Imagine the noise we created at that restaurant!
The ladies posed while the men chatted away. Myself, Lisa (Metamorphosis Road), LuAnn (Paint your Landscape), Laurel (Raven and Chickadee) and Pam (Oh the Places they go)
Urban Hiking in San Diego with Hans and Lisa, John and Pam
Hiking with Eric and Laurel at Iron Mountain Trail in San Diego
Celebrating holidays with family and friends in Los Angeles:
Former co-workers
Family and friends
We met new friends because of a hummingbird at one campground, through RVillage, and on our river cruise:
We also met this African Geese couple. We didn’t catch their names, but they honked at us when we crossed the road 🙂
Cheers to good health, safe travels and an exciting year ahead!
Love the picture of the geese!
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That was the first time I saw them and had to research what they are! They are so cute.
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We’re so happy that all is well and that you’re back on the road. It was so much fun seeing you two in San Diego. 🙂 We’re excited looking at your map to know that you’ll be in Florida next winter….we’ll see you there, if not before! Happy New Year, dear friends!
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Yes, we have to meet up in Florida or somewhere in between on our way back to the west by then.
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Happy New Year!!! So glad to hear Steve continues to do better. We certainly missed seeing you two this year but can’t wait to see you soon. Here’s to a wonderful healthy 2018.
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We are looking forward to seeing you both in a few weeks!
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We look forward to our meet up in Tucson this Spring.
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Us too Mike,Can’t wait.
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Very happy to hear Steve is recovering well, and can’t wait to follow your 2018 adventures. You’re going to several places we live, and some we’ve never been.
Nina
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Too bad we cant meet up and bid you goodbye 😦
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Happy to have you guys back on the road and Steve is recovering. Here’s to 2018-it is going to be a wonderful year!
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Hope to meet up with you this year. Steve cant wait to be traveling again.
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So glad to hear Steve is doing well (and he gets to eat as much as he wants!!) and that you’re getting back to travel. And, as we slowly make our way west, we are more than ready for some of that ‘unseasonably warm’ weather you speak of. Hopefully it will continue on for the next couple of months!! Looking forward to seeing you guys in AZ! Happy New Year!!
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Thanks, and Steve is really geared up on traveling again. We are looking forward too to our meet up soon.
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The best news … Steve’s well on the road of recovery. Nicew memories … and an interesting look forward to this year.
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Thanks, Erin, we sure hope that he continues to be doing well.
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Glad to hear Steve is doing well and you’ll soon return to regular travels. Looks like a fun route. Thanks for taking us along!
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Ingrid, hope to meet up with you this year somewhere along the route we planned.
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Glad to see your lovely smile this winter MonaLiza and know that Steve is on the road to full recovery. We wish you both the very best in 2018. Here’s to some wonderful adventures!
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Thank You LuAnn, Cheers to a great year to you and Terry too!
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So glad to hear Steve is feeling well and getting back to his normal life. Wonderful that you can travel all the way across the country. Hope it isn’t as cold next year for wintering in Florida as it is this year. You two sure have a giant number of family and friends to enjoy great times with. We’re wishing you a very happy 2018 and safe travels.
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This is probably our last time to visit Florida so I sure hope that we can meet up with you this time.
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Hey, I’m seeing a big dot on Melbourne, Florida! Does this mean we get to meet up again??? 😎
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That is why I asked you if you will still be there or be back there this year! You and STeve has to meet!
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Glad to see that Steve is well and you are getting back out there on the road this year. Looks like a great route. Hope to see you somewhere along the way!
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Thank you, yes we are so eager to be back on the road, hence that long cross-country to Florida by year end.
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The people we meet along the way totally change the experience. It looks like a great plan for the next year.
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I do hope our paths cross this year.
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Looks like a nice route for 2018! We are looking at Montana and Idaho for part of the summer, as well. See you again real soon in Tucson!! The African Geese are adorable. I’ve never heard of them before.
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You will never know our paths will be crisscrossing this year and more hikes together.
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Happy New Year! What a great update and future travels look great. Here’s to both of your good health!
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Have a great year too!
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Happy New Year to both of you! Wishing you good health and joyful adventures in the coming year!
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We would enjoy meeting you somewhere on your ‘18 route. We will be in CO, ID and spend winters in SW Florida – have enjoyed kayaking in the Gulf. Any chance we cam meetup and swap RV tales?
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Sounds good, lets keep an eye on each others stops, maybe we could just be neighbors in one of them.
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