2024 Year in Review

January - College Station, TX
I spent the winter in College Station in a familiar Airbnb. I also got myself a shift hoodie for the car. I smile every time I see it. My first grand-niece also made an entrance on a very special shared birthday, but she's requested no paparazzi. 
 

February - College Station, TX
"Pardon me, ma'am. Do you have any Grey Poupon?"

March - College Station, TX                                                                          March is the time of year in Texas when bugs start getting buggy, and everyone starts thinking about their pest control plan.

April - College Station, TX
Solar eclipse and Texas was in the path of totality. College Station was at 95% and it was an unexpected delight to witness. 

May - Utah
I decided I needed to drive in the completely wrong direction for 1,000 miles in May. So, I made a pitstop in Utah to see this puppy, meet the newest nubbin, and attend a wedding shower for another nubbin.

June - Utah
Dinner at my very favorite restaurant with my very favorite off-menu meal. 

July - The Midwest
In July, I left Utah and started driving across the country to be in Canada to meet Cort for our vacation. Along the way, I splurged in Muscatine, IA and stayed in a fancy hotel with a great restaurant right on the Mississippi River. While we were totally fine in the hotel the river was flooding and everything across the street was underwater. The street further down was also partially flooded and closed. But this was delicious. 

August - Canada (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, New Foundland)

Cort flew out and we explored the Bay of Fundy, Cabot Trail, Gros Morne National Park, and saw Come From Away in Gander. But we also found this dog driving a VW bus.

September - Maine, Pennsylvania
I spent some time in Maine and a friend ask me to get some pictures of Stephen King's house. This will always be the scariest day of my travels (see also: the spider story). 

October - Lancaster, PA
Did I steal this picture from September when I actually got to Lancaster? Yes. Is it your business? No. This is my very favorite Airbnb. I love this place and even getting stuck on the elevator my first day didn't dampen that love. I also was so lucky to get to spend so much time with Melissa and catch up with Kane, and I'm not posting a picture, but I was reminded how good Lee's Hoagie House is. 

November - The South
Obviously I was driving south for the winter. I was so lucky to get to spend a few days with my friend, Clara. It is always so great to see her and spend hours talking, solving the world's problems, and listening to her stories. I was also thankful the for Thanksgiving I was able to find a Mexican restaurant that was open and selling this chicken, rice, cheese sauce dish that I've never really seen east of the Mississippi. 

December - Utah, Nevada
T4 asked me to come for Christmas this year, so for the first time since I chose homeless wandering I wasn't back in Texas for the winter. I arrived mid-month, had a low-key Christmas and then headed to Nevada to spend some quality time in January with T3. I stayed overnight in Elko, and the new temple was right there. (Also, I really should've taken a picture of T4's Christmas decorations, they really are lovely, but alas...)

Newfoundland: Come From Away

 We took a ferry from North Sydney (Cape Breton Island) to Port aux Basques, Newfoundland. It’s 96 nautical miles and typically around a 7 hour trip (depending on the sea conditions). Cort and I agreed that we didn’t need a cabin, but did want upgraded seats and I was really impressed by how luxe the ferry was. Seven hours is a LONG time, but the seats were comfortable and we both got some reading, sleeping, staring out the window done. 

I’d convinced Cort that she should read Fourth Wing and that I’d read along so we could discuss. It’s a really engrossing book, so we spent a lot of down time reading and just hanging out along the way. (see also: I was sick and thankful she wanted to read and not go, go, go.) 

Once we finally landed in Port aux Basques we had a little more than 2 hour drive to our motel in Corner Brook. About 45 minutes outside PaB there was a random gas station, off the side of the road. We stopped, filled the gas tank, and I bought the only cold medicine they had…Children’s Tylenol – green apple flavor. That tiny bottle saved my life. 

We stayed at River’s End Motel – it was quite literally the only place with rooms when I was booking. I was 100% convinced that this would be the most questionable place we stayed, but very much exceeded expectations and I would recommend for anyone visiting. 

The next morning we stopped at Walmart to buy more appropriate cold supplies and then headed out to Gander. While Newfoundland was on the itinerary to cross Gros Morne National Park of the list, the real highlight was Gander. 

Cort and I have both seen Come From Away (her in person at the Hale Center, me the pro-shot on Apple TV and the idea of seeing it IN GANDER. Come on, of course we were gonna do that. We stayed at the cutest (no really, the cutest) Come From Away themed Airbnb in Lewisporte. It was right on the water and so very adorable. 

Once we got our luggage inside, we talked about maybe heading up to Twillingate – someone had recommended it to her, but we decided it was a) longer than we wanted to drive, b) she would rather read, c) I really didn’t feel great and was willing to go, but would really rather a quiet afternoon just staring at the water. 

So, we settled in. Less than 30 minutes later a massive rainstorm blew in. We were both really, very happy that we weren’t trying to drive out to the wilds of Newfoundland in that weather. 

The next morning, we had tickets to the show. We’d talked a little about some stuff to do in Gander, but hadn’t firmed anything up besides go to the theater, get some lunch. So with nothing planned we headed out, saw the most amazing production of Come From Away, in a tiny little home-town theater, and cried our eyes out (I did, at least). The theater was lined with “memory squares”; homemade crocheted squares that people made based on their memories of that experience. 

Before the show, they had one of the folks who had been there and helped during 9/11 share their personal recollections. It was amazing. We also had 2 members of the Broadway cast (who had also been in the pro-shot) in the local cast. It was just a really awesome experience. 

After the show, with the locations fresh in our mind, and the town being as small as it is, we curated our own CFA themed tour. We drove to the airport, the Tim Hortons, the Shoppers, Rogers TV, and of course, Gander Academy. 

Then back to our Airbnb for more reading, relaxing, and staring at the water. (Also, a failed fire pit situation.) 

The next day, we headed back to Corner Brook for the Gros Morne part of the trip. Which included buying some souvenir Screech! and eating at this adorable pizza place.

*Some photo credit and a lot of fun credit goes to Cort!