Sunday, December 31, 2017

2017 Year in Review

January 2017


Mom and I drove to Ohio to visit Grandpa and Jeannie and we ended up having to stop in West Virginia overnight due to a snowstorm.



Mik and I moved again, but just to another dock in the marina as part of the ongoing construction and development.


Kirsten and Tana visited for the Women's March and we had fun visiting the National Gallery of Art East Building.



We got a little snow.

February 2017


Mik and I took our second annual trip to Disney World with Kirsten, Josh, and Nora (Tana and Kelly joined us this year). We enjoyed the new Epcot art festival and are looking forward to experiencing it again in 2018.


Sunrises & Sunsets from Monticello

March 2017


One of my favorite photos this year.


More snow.

April 2017


Mik got a new manual wheelchair and we took it for a test roll on the National Mall.

May 2017


We saw the Dbacks @ the Nats. Go Nats!


Mother's Day


June 2017


Dad and I found the Capitol Stones in Rock Creek Park.


Father's Day outing to Manassas National Battlefield Park.

July 2017


I enjoyed watching the Capitol Fourth rehearsals from the Capitol steps with Dad.


4th of July fireworks from Monticello.


I caught a catfish and woke Dad up at 5-something in the morning to come over and release it.


Mom and Dad out on Third Mate.



For Mom's birthday, we took a long weekend road trip to go see the Dbacks play at the Braves new ballpark. We also visited some national parks and the BMW Zentrum. We came home via Nashville because Chip was playing at the Grand Ole Opry.

August 2017


Dad and I went fishing in Canada with Uncle John and Uncle Tom.

September 2017


Mom, Mik, and I were supposed to go to Disney World to enjoy the Epcot Food & Wine Festival, but had to cancel because of the hurricane. In the end, it worked out better for us because it allowed Mom and I to leave for my 30th Birthday road trip earlier and we still got to everything planned (30 national park units) plus a few extra things added as we went even though it ended with us driving to Illinois instead of home.


October 2017


Four generations of boots, red wine, lefse, and a double rainbow celebrating Grandma Kjos' life.


Mom and I visited Tucson and I spent most of the week finally restaining the back deck at our house.

November 2017


Mik requested pizza for Thanksgiving this year and we ended up with Giordano's when Mom found you could have it shipped to you to bake. Mik also picked a toasted marshmallow pumpkin pie recipe, which Dad ended up setting on fire and over toasting.

December 2017


Mik and I decorated Monticello with a Jingle Cruise theme for the holidays.


Mik and I enjoyed our annual visit Season's Greenings at the U.S. Botanic Gardens.


We celebrated Christmas Eve on the 23rd on Monticello after a short delay due to having to topple the 30 foot Washinton Monument on Third Mate before it fell down (Mom and Dad won Best in Slip for their Christmas on the Mall theme).


Mik and Mom spent the last day of the year going to the Bulls at Wizards game while Dad and I drove all over Maryland trying to get enough batteries to replace the ones that power our inverter so we could have heat and our fridge working again.

Saturday, September 30, 2017

30th Birthday Road Trip: Day 14 - Clifton Hill, Niagara Falls, Ontario

We spent the last evening of our road trip going to Clifton Hill. I mainly selected it as it looked fun to see Niagara Falls from the Skywheel, but the fun pass was a good deal that included a few other things that looked interesting, especially mini golf.













30th Birthday Road Trip: Day 14 - 32. Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural NHS

Originally, we didn't plan to get to Buffalo, but we ended up with extra time. Now we just have to do New York City someday to complete the North Atlantic region of National Park units. Ranger Dan post here.







30th Birthday Road Trip: Day 14 - 31. Women's Rights NHP

Ranger Dan post here.







Thursday, September 28, 2017

30th Birthday Road Trip: Day 13 - Skan-Ellas Drive In

Mom was excited to discover last night that the place she remembered as a kid was still open.



30th Birthday Road Trip: Day 13 - 30. Harriet Tubman National Historical Park

Successfully made it to 30 national park units, but we're not done as we had added a couple that I hadn't originally thought we would hit and are adding one more while skipping the last one we originally were going to do in Pennsylvania. Ranger Dan post here.





30th Birthday Trip: Day 13 - 29. Fort Stanwix National Monument

Ranger Dan post here.