2021 here we come!

We decided to take a road trip over the holidays. I've always wanted to go to Big Bend National Park in Texas. On our way we checked out the American Banjo Museum in Oklahoma City. You've never seen so many banjos under one roof! The banjo was created by enslaved Africans in Colonial America and the Caribbean. All kinds of music are made by them including African roots and folk, jazz, bluegrass, and folk music. I play me some clawhammer and bluegrass banjo. 

A ubiquitous oil pump on the Texan landscape! 

Big Bend National Park - in addition to being beautiful, it was sunny and 75 degrees!

Santa Elena Canyon was cut by the Rio Grande forming the border between the US (on the right) and Mexico (on the left).

Kayakers on the Rio Grande

Not much social distancing at this country bar in Alpine. It was open mic night. We had a ball and crossed our fingers, eyes, and toes that we'd stay healthy (and we did).

Sign at the entrance to a restaurant in Austin, TX.

We came home a few days early to beat the January 1st ice storm.  It was pretty, but we worried about the trees!

Humiston Woods hike along the Vermillion River.

Summer 2020: Utah and Montana, and New York State!

 

After Teri and Ryan's wedding it was off to Utah to visit some national parks and then to Montana! This is Monument Valley, UT. 

Capitol Reef National Park, we stumbled up Cassidy Arch (behind my head). You can see the effects of the western fires in the overcast sky above.

This picture of Montana's Gallatin River is out of order, but quite beautiful!  

Bryce Canyon National Park. We hiked amidst the hoodoos and through Wall Street. 

Below is the view from Abby and Matt's new home in the Gallatin Mountain range! Wow!

I didn't waste any time scooting out to NYS in September to see Mom and Dad. Dad took us on a road trip to Binghamton for some shopping and dinner at Little Venice.

I officiated another wedding in October, this time for Stacy and John!  Life is good!

Teri and Ryan's wedding in the desert southwest!

 

I was supposed to officiate my niece Teri and her fiancé Ryan's wedding on our farm, but then COVID-19 happened. They postponed their celebration at the farm until 2021, but wanted to go ahead and get married this summer. Tom and I hopped in the car in late August and ventured west!

Because my mom has never been to Iowa, we  stopped in Davenport, IA to take a picture with Bix Beiderbecke, a jazz coronet player born in 1903 who was noted for his pure, clear tone. Just Google "Davenport Blues" or "Royal Garden Blues" and you'll see what I mean! Mom and Dad love his recordings!

Marta was ready and waiting for us in Kearney, Nebraska, complete with homemade pizza and other goodies. Nothing like watching the sun set on the great plains from her deck.

We drove through Greeley to check out JBS, a leading beef, pork and poultry producer in the U.S. We then stretched our legs on the University of Northern Colorado's campus before scooting over to Ft. Collins for lunch.

Dan and Alison in Boulder. Dan is an engineer with a private firm and Alison just began her new job with NIST & NOAA as a space weather scientist. You can see several baseball gifts my parents have given Dan in the picture, too.

Dan took us up Green Mountain, near the Boulder Flatirons. He also took us disc golfing at Arapahoe Basin at 11,000+ feet (see next picture).

These hikes were beautiful and exhausting to Tom and me. Dan scampered along the trails like a mountain goat.

Then it was on to Tucson, AZ for Teri and Ryan's wedding. We drove secondary roads as much as possible through New Mexico. At our hotel on the Santa Fe plaza we learned on the 10 pm news that folks from IL were banned from the state due to COVID-19...oh dear. 

My brother Tom and I took a bike ride on the Santa Cruz River Trail in Tucson the morning of Teri and Ryan's wedding. Let's just say it gets really hot really quickly in Tucson in late summer! 

Off to the wedding!

Ryan constructed the wooden arch for their wedding. It was 110 degrees outside. What a beautiful couple in a beautiful setting! 

Maid of honor, sister Kelly and beau Thomas.

I got to officiate their wedding! 

It was great to hang out with Tom and Carol!  

Here is brother Tom on his birthday in Florida!

Sober badass

It got so that I didn't have just a couple a drinks each night, but more like 4-5. I'd wake up miserable at 3 am and couldn't remember things from the night before. But now, Tom and family & friends are my biggest supporters. Sleep is wonderful and the muffin top is gone. I thought vacations, holidays, and parties with friends would be hard to do sober but they are 10 times better. I wake up with a clear head every day and remember everything. Today marks 1 year!

The beverage pictures I've posted here are alcohol free! I still love cocktail hour and parties, I just enjoy them without the booze!  

I couldn't wait to get to Colorado and try Gruvi craft beers - tasty! The alcohol free craft beer market has grown considerably since the early days of O'Douls! 

 Seedlip is an alcohol free "spirit" that I really enjoy on the rocks with sparkling water. 

Swapping out my parking pass at work!

Beginning on 7-1-2020, I'm sporting a new parking pass for Illinois State. This comes after 2 years at Cortland State (1987-1989), 4 years at grad school at the U of IL, 5 years at Chicago State (1993-1998), and 22 years at Illinois State (1998-2020). What a ride, and what will the next chapter bring?

I didn't waste anytime before hitting the road to visit family in NY. These are my nieces on top of Storm King Mountain along the Hudson. Their gift to me was the t-shirt I'm sporting here: Retired 2020 - not my problem anymore!

Lush soybeans at the Germanville farm

Corn crib, Germanville farm

Wildflowers

Dennis and Cheryl's 50th anniversary party with  the siblings and outlaws. St. Joseph, IL

We planted a red oak on our 29th wedding anniversary, and plan to take another picture by this same tree 21 years. Stay tuned!

Cousin Linda, and the calm before the storm

Cousin Linda battled cancer for just over a year before passing away in December 2019. This is a picture of Linda (15), me (5), and my next-door neighbor Debbie (3) that was taken on our back steps in Hancock, NY. Linda provided a home-away-from-home for my brother Tom during his first year of college, and she wrote me many letters when I lived in Guatemala in the mid-1980s. 

She was a wiz at genealogy and wrote at least 4 family histories. An English teacher to middle school kids, she made a point to be there for them. She loved her kids and grandkids, was an expert worrier about their well-being.  

Because of cousin Linda, I met Tom. She was visiting me in Champaign in February 1990 when the Indiana Hoosiers were in town to play the Fighting Illini. She insisted that we watch the game at a bar, and who was I to argue with that decision? After the game we struck up a conversation with a handsome guy (actually, I bought him a drink). It turned out to be Tom!   

I miss her very much.  

Little did we know at the time, but Linda's funeral would be one of the last before the pandemic set in. And just as well because Linda would have had no use for COVID-19.  After the funeral we went to Kevin and Brooke's home to hang out. Here is Kevin, with cousin Tim looking on, making an "Elwood martini." To do so, pour gin on the rocks and wave the bottle of dry vermouth over the top of the gin and there it is!

Tom and I got to see Mom and Dad in February. We hosted a cocktail party and had a great evening out for dinner at Ventura's Italian Ristorante. We knew something was brewing with the "virus" and were glad to get in a visit!

Several weeks later we traveled to Reno, NV to see Tom's Aunt Alberta on her 99th birthday. We had some good laughs despite the hospital stay .  

From Reno it was over to Ukiah to spend a few days with Craig, Monica, and Winston. Wineries, oysters, pork, you name it, we enjoyed it all! 

Also on our travels was a visit to see Uncle Mike and cousins John, Dave, and Paula.
 
Pinnacles National Park did not disappoint. We hiked a few trails and enjoyed the views.  Worth the trip!

Our pint-sized friends, Maddox and Charlotte for her 4th birthday party