Merry Christmas 2016

Victoria and I wish you all the best as 2016 comes to a close. Here's a quick recap of our year...

We rang in the New Year at Christ’s Church in Bellbrook, Ohio, with our friends the Walthall’s.

In March, we enjoyed a two-week spring road trip to and from Corpus Christi, Texas, to visit Darren for Easter. More details of the trip can be found at this previous post. Darren has since relocated back to Florida for advanced helicopter training.

During the month of April, I started my 5th year supporting C-5 aircraft modernization programs for the United States Air Force. During the year I traveled to both Georgia and Delaware several times.

In July, Victoria celebrated one year in her private practice, VTS Physical Therapy, LLC. We marked the occasion with an open house and enjoyed spending time with her patients and supporters. The learning curve has been steep, but the climb exciting and worthwhile.

On August 20th, Victoria and I celebrated 28 years of marriage by somewhat re-creating our first date - we played racquetball. Let's just say that we were a bit more nimble in our 20s. However, we still know how to serve up oodles of hilarity and follow it up with a good dinner.

In October, over the Columbus Day weekend, we enjoyed a road trip to and from Boston, Massachusets, to visit Kayla. 






She was an awesome tour guide and showed us a good time. One highlight was exploring Walden Pond where Henry David Thoreau lived from July 1845 to September 1847. Thoreau’s experience there provided the material for the book Walden.

Throughout the year, using our recently vacated nest here in Xenia, we were able to host a dozen travelers through our Airbnb listing. It was fun to meet new and interesting people and to achieve Airbnb’s Superhost status.

As we write and post this update, Victoria and I are preparing for our trip to Paraguay, South America, to celebrate Christmas and the New Year with Victoria's family.

Wishing you and yours a Merry Christmas…

Day Four - Ardmore OK to Corpus Christi TX

After a refreshing night of sleep at the Lexington Inn in Ardmore, we headed south again on Interstate 35. It was an uneventful day of driving through Fort Worth and Waco and then we hit stop and go traffic in both Austin and New Braunfels. We arrived in San Antonio around 5pm and made it through the Alamo before it closed for the day at 5:30pm.

 
After quickly touring the Alamo, I introduced Victoria to the San Antonio River Walk where we walked most of it before sitting down for dinner.

While I've visited the River Walk several times starting in 1981 when I came to San Antonio for Air Force basic training, I had never been to the La Villita Historic Village. That's where we ended up for dinner, at the Guadalajara Grill.

After dinner, we headed south on Interstate 37 for our final leg of our journey to Corpus Christi. Around 9:30pm, we arrived at our destination, Darren's apartment.

Mission accomplished for the first half of the Spring Break Road Trip!

Spring Break Road Trip!

Victoria and I plan to travel from Ohio to Texas and back to Ohio over the next two weeks. Similar to our 2013 road trip to Montana, 10 states in 12 days is our plan. The primary purpose of this trip is to spend Easter weekend with our son, Darren, who is currently stationed in Corpus Christi TX. We will also enjoy visiting with family and friends along the way. A side benefit, and the primary reason for the return trip route, is to visit 2 of the 3 remaining states on my list of 50. Louisiana and Mississippi should be crossed off the list next week. Our planned 3000 mile route is below.