Twenty-Two Review

Auspicious beginning, New Year's Eve 2021 Tucson

Sometimes I think I am not traveling enough, but when I look back at 2022, I traveled quite a bit. Sometimes I think I am not doing enough, but the review of the year seems to indicate otherwise. I’ve always had trouble knowing when enough is enough. 

So here's a summary, many described in previous blogs:

First time visits:  Palm Springs and Joshua Tree, CA, Portugal, Northern New Mexico, Waitsfield, VT, Flagstaff, AZ, Waltham and Hingham MA, and Cape May, NJ.

I also returned to the old regulars, La Jolla, San Francisco, and Tucson, where we reached a record high of four visits in 2022. 

Auld Lange Syne with the Knipes

I liked celebrating New Year's Eve in Tucson, midnight is much earlier out there. 

 

Peter and Glom at DC9

Peter made music. New York Glom performed nearby three times last year.  DC 9 in DC, Joe Squared in Baltimore, and Quarry House Tavern, in Silver Spring, MD. Check out this music video and this one.

We were planning to go to New York in June to see a Glom performance, but Sean, the co-leader ,got COVID and they cancelled the show. A few weeks later we got it. I got COVID the day after Dr. Fauci did. Aunt Jane also got COVID and we had to postpone our trip to La Jolla. The virus is still out there being a travel disrupter.

 

Franky made art 

Darr got inducted into UA Journalism Hall of Fame, with Fitz

Cohn's kitchen with Julia and Eric

We had Seder in Hartford with the Cohns, and it was there that I poked myself in the eye with a makeup brush, resulting in a hideously bruised eyeball which lasted for two weeks. 

Passport Panic. I had planned the Portugal trip months ahead, but didn’t look for my passport until I got a reminder from United Airlines. The damn thing was expired! No doubt another COVID consequence.  I found out April 21st that I had an expired passport, 11 days before my trip. This is right after the eye injury. Darr sent me to Moto Photo so that at least my photo would be ready. 

Stuck with this photo for the next 10 years

I called the State Department to get an expedited passport and was told this requires an in-person appointment at a field office. The first representative told me that the only opening before my trip was in Arkansas. I decided it was worth calling again and talking to someone else, and lo and behold, I got a different result. This person told me there was an opening in the Tucson office, where we just happened to be going for a wedding, and I got a passport the day after I arrived.  That’s right, travel gods intervened to ensure I could go to Portugal. 

But I do have a passport photo that makes me look like an alien. 

Two Weddings 

Wedding Ready at Cocoraque Ranch, Marana, AZ

In Tucson we went to a wedding for Darr's grandniece on a ranch, and the theme was a combination of Country and Grateful Dead. If there is one thing you can count on in Tucson it's the weather, people plan outdoor events with complete confidence.

Britt and Max's wedding, Lareau Farm Waitsfield, VT

Not so in Waitsfield, Vermont which is supposed to be lovely and cool in July. But climate change joined us on our flight and turned the green state into a red hot furnace with record highs. Ben and Jerry's ice cream was melting all over the state. But it was fun fun fun.

With nice girls at Mean Girls at the Kennedy Center 

Culture Vulture: I saw four plays at the Kennedy Center,  Jesus Christ Superstar, Mean Girls, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Hamilton; two plays at Studio theater, John Proctor is the Villain, and Hot Wing King;  saw Amy Schumer at Constitution Hall, and Anne Lamott at Strathmore Music Hall.  Books, I read more than 40 (thank you retirement), and standouts are Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope, The Lost The Search for Six of Six Million by Daniel Mendelsohn, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, by Gail Honeyman, and Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver. 

 

Missing in Action Travel:  Maine and New York City, Ugh. Never again. 

Colton House Writers Retreat Flagstaff, AZ

Oh yeah, and I am writing a memoir. It's a long story I'll tell you later.

First full-family Thanksgiving in three years

And then I stayed home all of November and December so that I could fully engage with holiday stress. Twenty-two was front-loaded with travel. I'll spread it out better this year. And I am ready to front-load my new suitcases and get going.

Tucson sunrise Welcome 2023!