We returned home from Puerto Vallarta a few days before Christmas, 2015. The Colorado State University football team was invited to play in the Arizona Bowl in Tucson on December 29, so we quickly planned a road trip. We managed to avoid a horrific ice storm that paralyzed southeastern New Mexico as we drove to Las Cruces and helped Elbert and Carol celebrate their wedding anniversary. The Organ Mountains are always beautiful, but the recent snowfall made them even more spectacular.
Then on to Tucson, where we watched CSU lose in a close game. 
The next couple of days, we went to a museum, took a great hike, and had a nice visit with Boone and Mary Ann. Here are the remains of a stone house just west of Tucson.
On January 1 we drove to Mesquite, Nevada for a planned week of golf and hiking. We did play a couple of rounds of golf before the weather started to deteriorate. It looked like a major storm was headed for Utah and Colorado, so we cut our week short and drove straight home.
We planned to fly to Cabo on February 2. We got an email from our airline on January 30 indicating that our flight would probably be cancelled due to a major storm approaching Denver, but that we could reschedule our flight at no cost. We called the airline and left Denver the next morning.
The highlight of our week in Cabo San Lucas was a sunset dinner cruise. 
The next week we were at Villa del Palmar Loreto, about 20 miles south of the town of Loreto. The resort is very isolated and has its own desalination plant that produces fresh water for the resort and a nearby small village.
The resort is on the Gulf of California. The water is very calm and clear, so we did a lot of snorkeling and even tried a bit of paddle boarding.
One thing that I will never forget is playing seven holes at Danzante Golf Course at the resort. The course first opened seven holes just a week before we arrived. Four more holes were nearly ready for play. The other seven had not yet been carved into the mountain side. In my opinion, number 17 will become recognized as one of the most beautiful golf holes in the world.
Here is my drive. The golf ball is in the air, tracking nicely. A slight fade, a bit short, and finally, a bit wet.
Not to worry. At the airport they confiscated the rest of my golf balls. No golf balls allowed in carry-on luggage. Might as well lose them in the ocean…
About the middle of March, we stayed at the Grand Timber Lodge in Breckenridge for a week. Near the end of the sky season, we heard Trombone Shorty on a sky slope,
warmed up in a hot tub,
went snow shoeing,
and hiking.
Our next big adventure was in downtown Boulder, where Brian was playing trombone in a Blues Brothers revival band. Great seats, great music and performance, great evening.
Over the Memorial Day weekend, we toured the western slope. The farm in Montrose, golf in Delta, and lunch with cousins in Cederedge. A distillery tour, farm tour and camping in Hotchkiss, and dinner in Peonia. Finally, the north rim of the Black Canyon on our way home. Wonderful weekend.
Dinner in Paonia
Golf at Devil’s Thumb in Delta
Distillery in Hotchkiss
Farm tour in Hotchkiss
Camping in an orchard in Hotchkill
We managed to stay pretty close to home during June and July; golf, exercise classes, and hikes during the week and cabin on weekends.
Tulowitzki returns to Denver.
Marshmallows at the cabin
Rocky Mountain National Park
About the middle of August, we flew to Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii for a week.
Rail forest just outside Kona
The main attraction is Hawaii Volcanoes National park.
Active crater
Active crater at night
Active steam vents
Lunch at the park lodge
For me, the most unusual aspect of the park is called a lava tube. Lava flowing down the contour of a volcano gradually cools, starting on the outside edges. Eventually a crust forms on top, and sometimes a hot lava in the center drains out before it has time to cool, leaving an empty tube.
Entrance to lava tube
Inside a lava tube
Kilauea Iki Crater
Hiking the Kilauea Iki Crater
Petroglyphs in Volcano Park
The next biggest attraction is, of course, the ocean. We took our snorkeling gear and our best experience was just north of Captain Cook Bay, arguably to best scuba diving in the world. We rented a sea kayak and stopped at a black pebble beach to do some snorkeling. With visibility of 75 feet or so, and lots of colorful fish, it was great.
Another great adventure was a bike tour on the Natchez Trace parkway in Mississippi in October. We had six bikers and two drivers, including Linda. Five days of biking, the long days were about 40 miles, with rest stops at least every ten miles.
Most days the weather was great, but the one rainy day we decided to visit the national park in Vicksburg. After more than a hundred years buried in the mud at the bottom of the Mississippi River, this armored ship was brought to the surface and partially restored.
Rather than driving straight home, three of us headed for New Orleans, where we played a round of golf, visited the National WWII Museum, and probably ate and drank way too much.
On our way back to Colorado, we made several stops in Arkansas. Here is a store and museum that is now owned and operated by a cousin. Lum n Abner was a nationally-syndicated radio show that ran from 1931 to 1954.
In Bentonville, we visited the Crystal Bridges Museum, founded by Alice Walton. Another benefactor has contributed enough money to pay for transportation and lunch for area school children. That seems to be successful. There were hundreds of kids the day we visited.
We couldn’t pass up the opportunity to visit Dodge City and a hand of poker with Doc Holiday on our way home.
There is a lot to see in this country if we take the time to get off the interstate highways and explore the back roads. We found this derrick on our way to Mesquite in December. I have vague memories of a derrick on our farm in Montrose. That was when we still stacked loose hay instead of bales. I guess that shows my age!
Three rounds of golf and two hikes in Zion National Park, and it was time to get back to Colorado and get ready for Christmas.
Enough of 2016. Time to think about 2017.