My Year in Review (in photos)

2018 was another active year for this 73 year old outdoorsman. My annual winter trip to Florida began with a stop in Indiana to visit my youngest son and his family -- OK, maybe mainly to see my grand-daughter and newborn grandson. A trip to the fabulous Indianapolis Children's Museum was a must...

Here's the newest young man...

My older son and his family were also there for the baptism, so I got my first photo of all four of the grandkids together...

Louisville was the next stop to see my cousins and my 99 year old uncle...

This turned out to be my final visit as he passed away on December 31st, just weeks before my next visit.

And then another stop in Nashville to visit my sister and brother-in-law and do a few days of biking...

Then it was on to Florida for three days of mountain biking in the magnificent Appalachicola National Forest...

...followed by a week of canoeing and camping down 74 miles of the Suwannee River from Fargo, Georgia, on a Sierra Club Outing...

Then I had a beautiful 2 weeks of biking a dozen of my favorite northern and central Florida trails in Chiefland, Gainesville, Brooksville, Ocala, and elsewhere, including...

...The Nature Coast Trail over the Lower Suwannee River...

...The Cross Florida Greenway on the Land Bridge over I-95...

...The Santos Trails out of Ocala...

Then it was time to head back north, stopping in Alabama to bike a new trail (to me) near Atlanta, the Silver Comet Trail, a Hall of Fame trail...

Then a stop in Chattanooga allowed another ride on their scenic Riverwalk Trail...

...which, I discovered, connects to their South Chickamaugua Trail (another new trail to me), which has more boardwalk segments than any trail I've ever biked (and I've biked 240 trails across the country.)

Next stop was Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area in Tennessee near the Kentucky border, for a week of camping as we did a week of volunteer trail work...

Back home, I continued biking my local forest preserves, finishing the year with 2201 miles along with 857 miles of hiking and 74 miles of paddling. In 1999 I began logging my exercise mileage on spreadsheets, and the mileage totals after 20 years are biking (39,371), hiking (12,806), and paddling (2077). In my spare time, I also set a personal record by reading 66 books this year. Retirement is wonderful!

And yes, the hiking continues all through the winter...

The saddest part of the year was in early December, when it became necessary to let my 18 year old housemate, M&M, depart peacefully after oral cancer had ravaged her. I had rescued/adopted her 16 years ago and we'd been fast-pals ever since, with her following me from room to room, always on my lap or sitting alongside me. RIP dear friend!

But then the Christmas season returned joy to my heart, first with our 23rd annual church choir Christmas concert with orchestra...

...and also our family's Christmas Eve party -- a tradition for six decades and four generations.

And here's a brief video of our family celebration...




And the season's festivities also brought my grandkids together again...

A great year! And my wish to all of you is for a Happy and Healthy New Year!