Off Again....

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The last trip was so successful that I decided the travel life is for me for a bit longer! I came home and was able to visit family and friends and travel to some of my favorite US destinations ("up north", WI and Dubois, WY). Then to be crazy enough to move out of my house, rent it out to a friend, lease out my car to another friend, move into a storage unit, get a PO Box, since I cannot believe I will not have an address!!...and now off again to continue the expedition!

I feel I had to do one entry covering the last month and a half....(my USA travels)

I had a great Christmas with my family and enjoyed holiday cheer with Lumpy. My family is amazing and I feel lucky and blessed to have such a big, happy, fun, loving group to celebrate the holidays with!! I am never getting married just so I never have to miss it! (ok...we'll see... 😊 But seriously, the Christmas Eve appetizer cook off contest consists of some of the best food I've ever tasted!!

Then I ventured up to the northwoods to enjoy a New Year's week "up north" in MW. Here, I checked into Hotel Reichert. A side note to all travelers: this is a great place to stay...they even allow dogs! But beware of the of the ladies in the area who may not appreciate you being a guest at these accomodations. The trip was complete with all from snowboarding in the UP (where Reicherts even accompany you, however, they may not want to leave when the hill is closed, so arrange your own transportation, the parties and bars often distract the tour guides). Around MW, I did everything from healthy showshoeing in the beautiful snowy woodsy trails, to an afternoon of bloody mary's and bar dice with the fireman & crew at the Pea Patch, then topped off this trip with a New Year's Eve inclusive of first class and white trash...fine dining with the Handelsmans & my sister (Pine Barron...excellent gourmet dining choice!) to an all night wild bash resulting in New Year's Day headaches in bed).

Then a few weeks in Wyoming, little family time for the parents' anniversary, insane snowmobiling in the mountains, amazing snowboarding at Jackson Hole and Targhee, Idaho. Met a fabulous man, a cowboy type, of all unexpected occurrences..... Visited hot springs, did some hiking and was able to hit some great mountain dive bars, while meeting many memorable characters along the way.

Then home to Milwaukee and actually moved out of my house! Chaos. At least this gave me a little time to spend time with Daisy (my beloved dog) and see some of you gals I love so dearly! Snowshoeing with Stacey, yoga with Ali, superbowl with everyone followed by a gals' Nomad rendezvous, and a night of wine with Leslie for old time's sake....Ah....making memories!

I headed to Chicago to bond with the pals there and some I haven't seen in years. Always love checking into Hotel Foley (Tonya and Foley's, that is), amazing Vietnamese dinner with the Keenans (to get me even more excited about Vietnam) and Dan Sachs...where did the time go?? It's beautiful that being on a trip like this makes you and your friends make the effort to get together in the small times available rather than letting time fly by...

Then off to LA for a week, covering San Diego to spend time with my godchildren and their mothers (Schramm and Kathryn). That was followed by a last minute planned trip from the above mentioned "cowboy" in L.A., where we stayed on a boat for a few nights in Long Beach's harbor.

The trip home was wonderful. I appreciated the snow. I appreciated all of you who made efforts to call and make time to get together!! It really makes the year more special to me to be able to get some quality time in between travels with those who I love and who love me!!! Thank you!!!!

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Photos

What a great send-off!!!
The white stretch limo drops us at the airport on Valentine's Day, where I depart to Bangkok.

My sister, me and the naughty Reichert
a New Year's to remember...