There have been many changes again in 2016 for everybody. We have been fortunate and blessed that we have been able to travel, more than we ever expected!
In December 2015, we visited Tim, Laura and our grandkids Tyler and Erin in Hillsboro, Oregon. Our plans coincided with their plans to go to the Oregon coast for a weekend and they were gracious enough to include/invite us along. It was nicest just to be with them, but the coast was so beautiful - quiet yet stormy, green and gray and the sounds of the ocean with the peaceful beauty.
We ended the December trip in San Jose, California spending time with Kristi, Huy and our grandkids Jax and Imelia. We had Christmas day with them in person this year (other years be spent Christmas morning via Skype). We spent time visiting Christmas in San Jose on Santana Row, went to Tech Museum and saw Star Wars at Imax. It was fun to be with the kids/grandkids, and weather was nice (which is a benefit of visiting there).
In April, we thought about warmth and decided to go to Hot Springs Arkansas to sit in the "hot baths" we had heard about. We drove and 1st day spent 7 straight hours driving though Illinois in constant heavy rain. Next morning for drive to Hot Springs, the weather changed and it was low 60s, sunny and a beautiful weekend. We met Merry & Jabo there and spent time seeing the old bath houses, did a spa bath (nice & together ) and visited the beautiful gardens run by the University of Arkansas in the hills of Hots Springs. We also were able to have lunch with a former colleague of Dick that he hadn't seen for almost 20 years.
We have lived in Wisconsin most of our lives but neither of us had visited Door County, a well known "tourist" destination. It is the "thumb" of the state of Wisconsin with Lake Michigan on one side and the Green Bay (not the city) on the other. So in May, before the summer season began there, we took a long weekend to see it. It was so much more than we thought... beautiful, serene, quite on the Lake side, local sites, parks, forests with fewer towns. The bay side was quaint, beautiful, many small towns with visitors in the many little and huge variety of stores. We only spent 3 days/2 nights so were able to see only a limited area of this peninsula but will return to see more!
And in September we went on our first trip across the pond to visit the UK. It was a trip of a lifetime and were so happy we were physically able to go! We planned it with visiting the Thraves in mind - we "met" on Facebook. Since they live in the NE of England, we decided we would meet them in Edinburgh, Scotland. We spent a wonderful 2-3 days visiting this old, magnificent city, seeing Edinburgh Castle (built in late 1300's)... spent time with the Thraves (and Rosses) seeing the historic town of Durham and living town museum of Beamish. Dick & I then took train to London, spent 3 nights / 3 days where we stayed at a flat (AirBnB) within walking distance of Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, London Eye, The Thames. It was spectacular. We finished our visit back with the Thraves in area of Newcastle upon Tyne, and last couple days back in Edinburgh. A trip of a lifetime, and would like to take it again.
And it didn't end - we weren't done with a "once in a lifetime" trip. In November we were able to go as "special guests" of our son-in-law, Huy, to watch a launch of a weather satellite at Cape Canaveral. He worked on this for almost 9 years as lead engineer on the lightning portion of the satellite. It was amazing to see, and to know that when it is fully functional, it will help save lives! We spent some extra days in Florida at Universal Studio enjoying our time with Kristi, Huy, Jax, Imelia & our other daughter Cyndee. We also had a few days at the beach and again, the weather was perfect, warm and sunny. The pictures I have are limited from this trip are limited (as I wait to get from others), but it still was nice.
Our Love to All
