Radically Retired

Tag: 2016 in Review

  • 2016 – The Wrap Up

    2016 – The Wrap Up

    What started out as an incredible year of long distance travel from January, to and including July, ended up with shorter trips from August to December that focused on weddings of family and friends, my Dad’s 85th birthday party, and lots of quality time with our own small family.

    Each part of the year held its own memories and treasures, and the best part was that hubs and I were both now fully retired, so neither of us had to miss a minute of it because of work schedules.

    We kicked off our retirement with a year packed with everything imaginable. It’s almost as though we were compensating for all of the things we had to cut short or miss entirely in our working careers.

    It was a good year.

  • 2016 – Gal Pal Road Trip

    2016 – Gal Pal Road Trip

    Carrying on with the incredible travel year that was 2016:

    After hubs and I returned from the all-expenses paid vacay to the Mayan Riviera, things calmed down for a couple of months, and then I headed out on a road trip to Salt Lake City with two long time friends who had joined my MLM team.

    The purpose of the trip was to attend the annual conference of the MLM company I had signed up with.

    In addition to being a learning and team-building experience in SLC, the road trip itself both to and from the conference was fun and interesting.

    Even though none of us belonged to the Mormon faith, Temple Square in Salt Lake City provides a great history lesson about the settlement of the state of Utah.

    Lenna and I just “had” to pose with this fun sign
    The parent company to our MLM company Sherry, Lenna, and Me
    I tasted French Macarons for the first time
    Temple Square is always an interesting visit
    The famous Mormon Tabernacle
    The amazing pipe organ inside the Tabernacle
    How the Mormon Temple was constructed is a fascinating history lesson
    I spied these “on the way by” and commented about the skinny horses
    An unusual way to make a topiary
    Idaho Falls was a great stop on the way home
    My pals, Lenna and Sherry, hamming it up – “posing” like models
    The falls are in the middle of the city

    My dear friend, Lenna passed suddenly and unexpectedly just four years after this trip.

    I’m so happy I have this trip in photos and in memories.

  • 2016 – Home for a Bit and then Off Again!

    2016 – Home for a Bit and then Off Again!

    Before we left Arizona in mid February of 2016, I learned that through a MLM company I had joined just prior to my retirement from nursing, I had earned an all expenses paid trip for two to The Hard Rock Resort, Mayan Riviera, Mexico. The trip was to take place in mid March.

    Absolutely everything was paid for from flights, to airport transportation, to the all-inclusive resort, and to side tours from there. The only time we had to use our wallets was to tip someone.

    Hubs and I had time to unpack, do laundry, and repack for the next trip.

    It was a whirlwind defined, and we loved every single second.

    My feature photo is of our hotel lobby.

    Mid March at the Mayan Riviera was hot and so humid that my camera lens kept fogging up, but that was truly the only issue. Everything else was perfect.

    Rugged but beautiful beach
    Family Area Pool
    Adult Area Pool
    We were there over St. Patrick’s Day and the staff made the day fun and special
    Our last day was extended because we didn’t fly out until 9pm – we had zero complaints about that
  • 2016 – A Scenic Detour

    2016 – A Scenic Detour

    After touring my cousin around the Las Vegas area for a week, we took her to the plane and then made our way home via a different route than usual.

    My feature photo is of a portion of Arches National Park near Moab, UT. We didn’t take any side roads to see the actual arches, but even without that, the scenery “on the way by” was spectacular.

    We’d hoped to drive from there to Denver, Co.

    At Grand Junction, Co, where we spent the night, we were advised the next morning by the hotel clerk, that there had been a rockslide ahead, so the road we planned to take was closed. We were also informed that roads out of Denver (from our direction) were closed for the winter.

    Enter Plan B:

    We drove on as far as Aspen, Co, toured the place and watched some skiing. Neither of us had been there before, so it was a fun little “been there done that” trip.

    One of the many Aspen ski runs

    After Aspen, we turned around and headed back to Grand Junction.

    From there, we headed north to and through Wyoming and more incredible scenery.

    Hoodoos in South Wyoming

    After Wyoming, it was South Dakota and then North Dakota (which I’ll cover in a future post) and then home.

  • It’s ALL Grand

    It’s ALL Grand

    Whether man made or Mother Nature made, there are more marvels in this world than one could hope to see in a lifetime.

    After a few days on the Vegas Strip and Fremont Street, we took my cousin, Carrie out of town to Laughlin, NV.

    On the way, we showed Carrie the spectacular and historical Hoover Dam (hubs and I had been there several times before). On our second day at Laughlin, we took in the West Rim of The Grand Canyon (first time for all of us).

    There’s nothing that beats the feeling of sharing these incredible sights and experiences with family.

    Beyond imagination for the time it was built
    Hubs, me, and Carrie ready to explore
    Carrie and Me (close cousins since Carrie was a little girl)
    Carrie was impressed
    These water diversion tunnels can cause anxiety just looking down into them
    We walked from NV to AZ
    Love this story!
    So much to learn here!
    We weren’t near the edge
    This is as close as hubs could get to the edge
    You have to see it to believe it!
    Carrie is a community theatre actor in our home town. She knows how to pose for a shot
    Joshua Tree Forest between Laughlin and the West Rim
    Now this is dining ambience!
    The skywalk is on the Hualupai Reservation
    Another great pose
    Memories are made of this
    She and the Joshua Tree
    Hubs and me lapping up the scenery
    Carrie and Hubs taking one last look
    Our hilight was the skywalk over the Grand Canyon. Hubs, who suffers severe acrophobia, chose to be the photographer from afar.
  • 2016 – The Year of the Monkey

    2016 – The Year of the Monkey

    Once we completed our 2016 exploration of places in Arizona we hadn’t seen on previous visits, we headed to Nevada, picked up my cousin, Carrie, at the airport, and proceeded for the nest week, to tour her around the Las Vegas area.

    Carrie had never been there before, so the fact that her visit coincided with the Chinese New Year made the trip for her all the more fun – and definitely extremely colourful!

    Can you find all of the monkeys?
    Carrie was in awe
    We put on many miles just checking out the decorations
    Yep – This is us 😂

    Outside of China, I’d bet that Las Vegas is the next best place for Chinese New Year decor.

  • 2016 – A Day in the Movies

    2016 – A Day in the Movies

    Old Tucson is the set location of many western movies and TV shows, both recent and vintage.

    We spent an entire day here, and found it to be better presented and much more interactive than Tombstone.

    Streets of the old west
    Featured in many movies
    We loved this TV show
    Hubs stepped back in time
    Petroglyphs
    Nice spot for a rest
    Water features were soothing
    The Stage was getting ready to pull out
    All actors were engaging and informative
    This gunfight was very realistic
    I rounded a corner and was met by this fella
    You can take the boy off the farm …
    Can you do the can-can?
    The stunt guys were fabulous!
    Missouri’s most wanted
    The plank sidewalks added to the realistic feel
    Many of the buildings were 3-d vs false fronts
    This guy was one of my fave actors

    If you’re visiting the area, and you’re a fan of western movies and TV shows, I’d highly recommend setting aside a day to see Old Tucson. You won’t be disappointed.

  • 2016 – A Cacti Forest

    2016 – A Cacti Forest

    The Saguaro National Park just out of Tucson is an incredible place to see.

    During our visit, we learned that it can take a Saguaro Cactus up to 100 years to grow the “arms” that we’ve come to recognize from old western movies. Those arms are needed to store extra water for the cactus, which can reach heights of 50 feet and weigh 6 or more tons.

    One truly has to experience it to get the full and awe-inspiring effect of a forest of these giant old fellas, extending as far as the eye can see.

  • 2016 – Archaic Openings

    2016 – Archaic Openings

    After a full day at the Pima Air and Space Museum in Tucson, we spent the next day touring Mission San Xavier del Bac, AKA “The White Dove of the Desert”, just 10 miles south of downtown Tucson.

    On this visit, I was preoccupied with photographing doors, windows, gates, and arches … any and all openings at both the mission school and this historic church, completed in 1797.

  • 2016 – An Aircraft Extravaganza

    2016 – An Aircraft Extravaganza

    After our day at Tombstone, AZ, our next stop was the Pima Air and Space Museum in Tucson, AZ.

    That’s hubs in my feature photo, anxious to get the visit started.

    My father-in-law was a pilot overseas in WW2, so this place was high on the “must see” list for hubs.

    We arrived around 0930 and stayed until after 1600 hours. The 24 hour clock (aka military time) was used all through my nursing career, and it seemed appropriate for this post.

    In truth, I enjoyed this massive place too. While hubs read every single word on every single sign, I was in my glory snapping pics.

    Here a few of the over 150 photos I took there:

    Aircraft from every branch
    The paint jobs were fun
    Grrr!
    One of my fave paint jobs
    It was cool to get so close
    Hubs read everything
    The bone yard
    Inside a fighter plane
    Measuring?
    Air Force One – This one was used by JFK
    The space hangar was a fave for both of us
    A light lunch at The Flight Grill