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Published: December 15th 2014
Happy Holidays Everyone!!
We hope this holiday seasons find you and yours all healthy, happy and enjoying the spirit of the holidays.
Merry Christmas/Happy Hanukkah/Happy New Year Everyone
I'm going to let the photos do the "talking" in this travel blog. We had a great year with many visitors and lots of travel.
In
January (15 - 22) Bernard's sister,
Claudia, came to Arizona for the first time. Naturally we went to the Grand Canyon, Sedona and many wonderful places around Tucson. Claudia was recovering (beautifully I might add) from knee surgery, so we kept the walking to a minimum.
Mid-
February brought Rebecca who we originally met in 2005 while living in
Claudia's Arizona Visit
Bernie's sister Claudia came to Arizona for the first time Jan. 15 - 22. Claudia & B on Mt. Lemmon, near Tucson the same compound in Pretoria, South Africa.
Rebecca is living in D.C., and she and a friend, Nancy, came for a visit. Turns out that Nancy moved into our apartment in the Pretoria compound in 2006. Needless to say, we had MUCH to catch up on and lots in common - fun visit.
The end of
February we flew to
Lisbon, Portugal to take part in the international humanitarian law moot court/simulation competition we take part in every year,
Pictet. As usual it was exhausting yet stimulating - what a fun experience it is for me working in administration and Bernard acting as a juror/judge in the sessions. This year it was held in
Sintra, Portugal, which is a delightful town - has three palaces. We spent another week vacationing in Portugal before flying back to the states. (Feb 27 -
March 11 in Portugal).
We didn't fly to Tucson, but flew to
Washington D.C., to participate in yet another international humanitarian law moot court/simulation competition. This one was the very first American Red Cross competition - the
Clara Barton Competition (March 12 - 15). Bernard's mentor and our good friend,
Heike, also participated,
Cascais, Portugal - central plaza
After the Pictet IHL Competition we spent another week in Portugal. Stayed in a converted convent, walked to the ocean, visited lovely, picturesque town, such as Cascais so it was wonderful to spend time with her in D.C. Bernard and Heike were jurors/judges in the competition. I didn't "work" as the American Red Cross had it beautifully in hand with local staff. I did, however, get to participate in the simulations - you'll see me dressed in fatigues as part of my prisoner of war persona attire. A special bonus of our trip to D.C. was that niece
Adrienne drove up from Richmond, VA just to have dinner with us; we were thrilled.
April brought friends,
Don & Karen, from Alaska/Florida for a visit. They stopped in Tucson on their way back from the Lavaman Triathlon in Hawaii where they both participated.
Friends from Vermont,
John & Alice, were in town for their annual 6 - 8 weeks in the desert; always have great hikes with those two.
April also brought niece
Denise and grand-niece
McKayla (4/12-19) over Mac's spring/Easter break. We did the Grand Canyon and Antelope Canyon, plus the usual around Tucson.
JJ overlapped with them (4/18 - 30) their last day in Tucson; we went out for Ethiopian food - what a hoot. JJ was
McKayla and Denise @Grand Canyon
Grand-niece, Mac, w/mom and our niece, Dee, were with us in Arizona April 12 - 19 returning to Alaska from Cambodia and managed a visit with us.
In
May Bernard flew to
Lima, Peru to lecture for the ICRC - he has done this annually for many years. Since his "official photographer" didn't accompany him, there are no photos of this trip.
When Bernard returned from Peru, the heat of the Southern Arizona summer was upon us. So, as is our wont, we spent the summer avoiding the heat with trips to California, Colorado, northern Arizona and Utah.
July was spent in
California: San Onofre, Ojai, Morro Bay, San Simeon, Big Sur, Carmel and Pacific Grove, Salinas, San Juan Capistrano, Santa Barbara, Ventura, and finally Fremont where daughter
Christina and her family live. We had a bungalow in Pacific Grove, CA for a week and Chris & family visited us there too.
FYI: For all of our trips this summer we were in our
VW pop-up camping van. It doesn't have the full camping package, we decided we didn't want that as we found (when we had the van with the full package) we prefer being outside, and that includes cooking. The refrigerator in
VW Van & Typical campsite
This is Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, but our campsites throughout the summer were very much like this one - spacious with great views. our old van was practically useless and the sink was the size of a large bowl. We did use the stove a couple of wet morning on our travels in the northern climes and particularly Alaska, but in the Southwest where it is almost always dry, I much prefer to use my camping stove on the picnic table outside. Because of the lack of "camping package" the bed in our current van is much larger than the old van, and uber-comfortable. Our current van does have a folding table, which we occasionally use.
We drove back to Tucson the end of July because Bernard had to fly to
Berlin to lecture at the German Red Cross summer school from July 26th to the 31st. I didn't go with him this year, hence the lack of photos.
August & September. We spent about a week in Tucson after Bernard returned from Germany and then headed to
Colorado: Pagosa Springs, Durango, Black Canyon of the Gunnison National park, Boulder, Rocky Mountain National Park, Ft. Collins and Steamboat Springs. From Steamboat Springs we drove thru Grand Junction into
Utah and visited:
Arches and Canyonlands Deb and Martin Hansen
Had a great weekend hiking in Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah with dear friends Deb & Martin National Parks, before crossing into
Arizona to Jacob's Lake, which is near the northern rim of
Grand Canyon National Park. From Grand Canyon we drove north into
Utah to visit
St George, Zion National Park and then met friends from Alaska,
Deb & Martin Hansen, in Bryce Canyon National Park for a great long weekend of camping and hiking. When we left Deb & Martin on September 15 we drove all the way back to Tucson.
We had two weeks in Tucson, so had just about caught up on everything before heading north again (
October 3 - 6) to the
Arizona-Utah border to meet my sister and her husband,
Mary Jean and Buzz, and camp and hike for a long weekend with them in the
Vermillion Cliffs National Monument area. There are some nice slot canyons to hike in and we did have one very nice hike in Wire Pass slot canyon. Unfortunately, it had rained recently so getting into Paria Canyon and some other slot canyons was impossible. Being sensible we opted not to try one of the options some folks we ran into were contemplating: using their blow-up mattresses to
float their gear into Paria Canyon as the water was waist deep.
Only had a few days alone in Tucson before
Heike from
Germany arrived for a two-week visit (October 10 - 24). We did the grand tour:
Grand Canyon, Antelope Canyon, Page, Monument Valley, Canyon de Chelly, Mesa Verde, Durango and Sedona, and of course the usual around Tucson sights: Sabino Canyon, Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, Tumacacori ruins, San Xavier mission, Mt. Lemmon and probably a few I'm forgetting.
November 7 - 10 found us on the East Coast. We flew into
Boston to visit with Bernard's brother,
Tom, who is a nursing home. He has Multiple Systems Atrophy, so gradually losing his ability to move at all. His mind is clear and he and Bernard had a nice visit. We had an over-night and wonderful dinner with
Janet, Tom's wife. We then drove to
Connecticut for a family wedding. Bernard's
cousin Mary's daughter, Elizabeth and Jason Keller got married in
Pawling, New York, but we stayed just over the border in Connecticut. It was a wonderful gathering; Bernard's sister,
Claudia, and her daughter,
Denise, were there, plus we got to see all of
JJ, Evan, Christina & Kathy behind
Thanksgiving in Tucson @Ried Park Zoo. Mary's family and many friends we've made over the years.
The week before
Thanksgiving brought
JJ at the wheel driving
Christina and nine-year old
Evan from Fremont, California to Tucson for the holiday. The weather was unseasonably warm, so much time was spent in the pool. We had a super Thanksgiving dinner prepared by us all, and friends from Alaska,
Tim & Linda, joined us for the turkey. It was so warm on Thanksgiving we were able to have starters and then dessert on the patio. In fact we sat outside until well after sunset - very nice day.
Christina and Evan **flew back to
Fremont the day after Thanksgiving;
JJ stayed almost a week longer and then flew to Houston, a stop on her way to
Nicaragua and in April to
Cambodia again.
**They turned in the Enterprise rental car here in Tucson with no extra fee.
My sister and her husband,
Donna & Larry, are visiting from Alaska. The left Alaska in September in their RV and have become vagabonds. They visited friends and family in Washington, California and Arizona. They leave on Sunday headed toward
Texas/Louisana where Larry's sister lives - they'll be there for Christmas.
We are in Tucson for the rest of the year. We'll have Christmas dinner here with
Tim & Linda and their daughter,
Kelsey, visiting from San Fran w/boyfriend
Dan.
We hope you all had a wonderful year, and we wish you continued good health, good cheer and a prosperity in the new year. Love, Kathy & Bernie
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Mary Fountaine
non-member comment
Phew!...always enjoy your yearly recap...Merry Chistmas!