Tie a bow on 2019!

Our final few months of 2019 were our typical pattern of wrapping up annual doc/dentist visits in Austin, TX, and then aiming the RV toward Florida for the winter months -- with a few exceptions. We enjoyed a lovely long weekend with my college roommate and her husband at their home on Padre Island. Our last visit 4 years ago had been all rain, but this one was great sunny weather and even a Gator football win :-)

We also snuck in a quick visit to Raleigh in early December for one final 2019 visit with my neurologist (all stable and good) with the added bonus of getting in a pre-holiday visit with Jeffrey's brother David and his family. Though we don't do much holiday decorating in the RV, I got my fill helping his wife and my good friend Mary put the final touches on their full-sized tree.

For Christmas itself, we flew out to spend a week in Portland, Oregon with mom, Sheila and her niece, Sarah. This is the first year without my Dad and thus a little bittersweet, but the four of us had a fun time staying at a waterfront resort and exploring the city -- generally eating our way around town, watching holiday-inspired movies, and visiting with my aunt Pat (dad's sister) and my cousin Sean. No surprise, we even managed to get over to the nearby Portland Zoo for their "night lights" event. Sad to say, but the giraffe were already tucked away due to the chilly temperatures.

Buddled up at the Zoo Lights event

All smiles after a great Christmas Eve dinner at Benihana

Below is our official 2019 Holiday Letter which provides the cliff notes of our year, though faithful followers of this blog will probably already know the scoop on everything!

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HAPPY HOLIDAYS 2019!

Maren and I enjoyed another big RV adventure year with the added bonus of it turning into a giraffe tour. Maren's love for giraffe has started causing minor adjustments to our routes to fit in any zoo she finds. 12 zoos this year and 2020 looks to be about the same. 🦒🦒🦒

Maren's father's health was declining last year and in January he took a turn for the worse, but Maren and I were with him and Sheila at the end. They have included us in many of their travels over three decades and we have had many great adventures together. Rick will be missed.

A few years back, a Norway cruise we had planned with them got canceled when he had a health emergency. After he passed, we were lamenting that we were never able to reschedule it with them before he got too ill. Turns out that the same cruise was being offered this year, so Sheila, Maren and I made some revisions to our respective plans and finally did that cruise with a 3 day stop in Iceland along the way. Both countries are beautiful and breathtaking. We saw stunning waterfalls, geysers, rifts in the earth crust, fjords, glaciers and days that never ended due to the high latitudes. Sheila got to ride an Icelandic horse and experience their unique tölt gait. We even got to Spitzbergen at 78° north, only 800 miles from the north pole. Basically another experience that cameras just can't capture.

Us in colorful Trondheim, Norway

This year's RV plan was to explore a little of Colorado and New Mexico (via Iowa Winnebago service and their national rally). Due to some medical issues and wild weather, our plans shifted a little here and there, but we still got everywhere. Each state was very different and both were beautiful. I got a little practice driving in some mountain passes where often the lowest, levelest route still got steep, both up and down.

The elevation of Denver (5280) and Colorado Springs (6000+) left us occasionally winded. Both are also much drier than the Texas and Florida humidity with which we are familiar. Sheila and brother David with wife Mary (both avid hikers) met up with us in Santa Fe which is even higher (7000+) and drier! I joined David on a hike up Deception Peak climbing to 12,300 ft. Sheila was much smarter and rode a horse. Many interesting and historical things to see in the area.

When we returned to the Austin area, we discovered that our storage unit's monthly rate was increasing again, so we moved to a location cheaper and closer to where we usually stay. It was good practice for when/if we ever move the contents to another state, when/if we know where that might be. Currently we don't know where we would land if we were so inclined. Stop asking... we just don't know. 

Next year's travel plan is a Lewis and Clark adventure with an organized caravan of RVers. We will start in Missouri, go over the Rockies and end up in Oregon! After that we will head to Washington state where Sheila lives, returning to Florida via Austin by November. Lots of miles (and giraffe).

Maren's favorite zoo TShirt booty

As usual, we are ending the year in Florida enjoying the weather and visiting family and friends across the state. Wherever your travels take you in the new year, we wish you the very best and hope you are spending the holidays making memories with family and friends.

Jeffrey & Maren 

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