On December 29, 2020, Darel got his first Moderna shot. It appeared that the pandemic was on the verge of being defeated. In a few short weeks, everything would return to normal.
Although he may have been too optimistic, being vaccinated did give us the confidence to begin again to explore, visit, and otherwise interact with the world. The following pictures highlight our fight against the pandemic.
Here we are in January with an early effort to return to a new normal.
In early February we picked a nice day and hiked Pawnee Buttes.
Later in February we drove to western Colorado, with golf in Grand Junction and hiking at Colorado National Monument.
Next we used Moab as a hub for visiting nearby sites. The first day included Arches National Park, with its bright blue sky and delightful scenery.
The second day we visited Dead Horse Point and Canyonlands National Park.
After so much beautiful weather in February, we returned to Fort Collins and got dumped on in March.In April Darel had a nice bike ride with Sarah. Somehow she seems to know where all the bast breweries are located.
In May we drove to Las Cruces for a visit with Carol. We made a few stops along the way, including Chaco Culture National Historical Park, a place absolutely in the middle of nowhere. We also visited Petroglyph National Monument just outside Albuquerque. We had never before been there, and in fact, never even knew it existed.
On our way back to Colorado after a nice Las Cruces visit, we stopped at White Sands National Park. It brought back many wonderful memories about our life as students at New Mexico State University and our exploration of the surrounding area. We always try to find additional places to see along the way, and this time we stopped at Bent’s Fort in southeastern Colorado. This was our second visit there, and well worth a few miles out of the way.
During the summer we tend to stay in Colorado, golfing, cycling, and enjoying our cabin. Our cabin provided a safe place for us, as well as friends and family, to get away from crowds during the pandemic.
To celebrate Olivia’s 21st birthday, we did a bicycle tour of wineries in Palisade. Our matching shirts drew a lot of attention.
In September we found a perfect fall day for an event that had been postponed for over a year because of the pandemic. To celebrate those who have turned eighty or hope to do so in the future, we did an 80-kilometer bike ride through Fort Collins and Loveland. What a wonderful day!
JJanet and Allen joined us on a trip to Puerto Vallarta in November, which included a day of deep-sea fishing (Janet the champ), a day at Vallarta Botanical Gardens, a day of snorkeling, a day at the historic silver-mining town of San Sabastian, and of course lots of time at the beach.
On Christmas day, Janet and Sarah indicated that their schedules were flexible for the next few days. Darel asked Sarah how long it had been since she last visited Carlesbad Caverns and she responded, “What’s that?” Darel said that if she didn’t know, then she definitely needed to go there. Four of us drove to Carlesbad Caverns and a visit with Carol in Las Cruces on New Year’s Eve. On January 1, we stopped in Albuquerque for a visit with Diana and Shane, but that’s a story for another year.
Best wishes for a happy and healthy holiday season.
