Travel 2023

With the start of 2023, it seemed hopeful we were really getting back to normal travel following three years of the COVID pandemic.  It might still involve mask wearing on a plane with the newest variant circulating but it did not prevent you from traveling as it did in 2020.  But in spite of feeling like it was going to be a freer year for travel, I actually took the same number of trips in 2023 as I did in 2022.

Although my wife had made two previous trips up to North Carolina in 2023 to visit her sister in hospice, sadly our first trip together at the beginning of March was for her sister’s funeral.

Her sister had been battling an aggressive form of cancer for over six years with multiple rounds of treatment followed by periods of remission but ultimately, she lost that fight.  It was a very sad time made somewhat more comforting that our daughter could fly in from Seattle and my two sisters drove up from Arkansas.  Everyone who knew and loved her have been sorely missing her.

In April, I drove over by myself to Northwest Arkansas to deliver the doll house I had been working on for my sister which I chronicled previously (click HERE if you want more details).

The second trip my wife and I took together was a much more joyous visit to Seattle in May to see our grandson make his first communion.  This trip was made even more special in that our son-in-law’s parents also made the trip.  I previously posted about this really fun trip if you would like to click HERE for more details.

In June, my wife and I flew out to San Francisco for an overdue visit with our son and his family.  It was a special time for us to be with them and their two children.  On this trip, in addition to bringing my usual LEGO sets to our grandchildren, I also brought our son’s Micro Machines that he had collected when he was their age for his kids to play with.

Then a few weeks later, my wife and I flew back out to San Francisco, this time with our youngest son and his two children.  It was the first time for our two sons to get together in California since before they were married so it was a great reunion.  It also was the first time for all four cousins to get together.  I previously posted about this trip if you want more details, you can click HERE.

In August, we finally got a chance to go to our friend’s house on the lake where we had a very peaceful and relaxing weekend, enjoying rides in their boat, having some nice meals, and adult conversations together.

Then in the short span of time from September until the middle of October, my travel really kicked up with four trips.

On Labor Day, I drove back over to Northwest Arkansas to deliver the doll house I had been working on for my eldest sister which I chronicled previously (click HERE if you want more details).

Next up was a BroGo with my brother to Detroit.  This was a great trip that made up for missing one in 2022.  With so many activities together, I had multiple posts and you can click on the first one HERE is you are interested.

Ten days later, all four of us siblings got together near Branson, MO for our annual SibSab.  This was another fun trip, marred only by me and my oldest sister coming down with COVID upon our return.  I previously posted about what all we did on this trip if you want more details, you can click HERE.

Then ten days later, my wife and I flew off for a long overdue trip by ourselves.  I didn’t get a chance to write about this trip last year.  So, you will have to wait until my next post to learn about where we went.

And then at the beginning of December, I flew back up to New Jersey where I did some more training for staff at my old company.  Teaching in person again (as opposed to online) was most enjoyable and what made the trip even more fun was I got to have dinner on two of the nights with my brother.  The first night we met in Princeton…

… and on the second night, we met in New Brunswick.  This is where I used to regularly teach in person and we ate at the brewpub I always went to during my stay, this time again getting to savor their latest delicious salmon entre.

So, in spite of me starting out by saying I thought this was a freer feeling travel year, I only took 12 trips, 7 of those by airplane.  Hopefully in 2024, I will be able to up that number with many more fun trips.  Stay tuned to find out!