Wrapping Up 2022 With a Neat Little Bow - A Year in Review

2022 was quite the year for us! We moved - twice - and become day care providers for our 18 month old grandson. We were able to take two big international trips that had been booked since 2019. And Mr. UR won a trip to Costa Rica through his work that we were able to go on - even though he had retired already. Let's take a trip down Memory Lane for our travels for 2022 and see how the last year played out!

Move #1

We spent the month of January packing up our home of 22 years in South Carolina to make the cross country move to Denver. It took every bit of that month to get it all done, too. We decided we would splurge and hire movers to do all the work for us this time but when the quote came in at $10,000 I knew that we would be renting a Uhaul and driving all of our things out west. So that decision change meant that we got rid of about 75% more of our things - we donated some, sold some and gave some to family & friends - to fit into our new one bedroom apartment. Then we hit the open road through six states - North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri and Kansas - before reaching our new home in Colorado. We did it in 4 days - remember we were in a Uhaul truck and towing our car - which was mainly spent driving and not sightseeing (though I did manage one stop at a winery in Missouri) If you want to read more about our trip you can do that here.

On the road at sunrise

Exploring Colorado

Colorado is an incredibly beautiful state with everything from mountains to plains including hidden lakes, national parks and monuments and a lot of history. We have spent a good amount of time exploring our new state - hikes, breweries, hot springs, botanic gardens, mountains, sunsets, wineries and even attended a victory parade (Go Avs!) And we have so much more to see and do! Here is a smattering of what we have done:

- Glenwood Springs Hot Springs Pool

- Iron Mountain Hot Springs

- Hiked the Trading Post Trail at Red Rocks

- Hiked South Valley Park

- Walked South Boulder Creek Trail

- Attended the Colorado Avalanche Stanley Cup Victory Parade

- Rode the Estes Park Tramway

- Attended a Colorado Rockies vs Cleveland Guardians game

- Enjoyed Nocturne Jazz Club in RiNo Denver

- Brewery Romped in RiNo Denver

- Walked Denver Botanic Gardens 

- Visited Chatworth Farms

- Saw The Drowsy Chaperone at Aurora Community Theater

- Went leaf peeping outside of Vail

- Drove the wildlife drive at Rocky Mountain Arsenal

And so much more! Looking ahead to many Colorado centric blog posts!

Spotted this big guy outside someone's apartment in Estes Park

Southern New Mexico

When we moved west, we knew we wanted to explore more of the western states. I thought we could find cheap flight deals but none were to be had except one  - to El Paso, Texas. You can't beat $100 round trip fares. So April found us flying from Denver to El Paso and driving an hour north to Las Cruces, New Mexico where we visited White Sands National Park, the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument, wineries and trying our first Whataburger. It was a fun, and inexpensive, getaway.( If you want to read more about that weekend, you can do so here.) 

White Sands National Park

Costa Rica

Mr. UR was a District Sales Manager in industrial sales for the Carolinas for 16 years until his retirement at the end of 2021. His company held a sales contest with the top 10 employees winning a trip to an all inclusive resort in Costa Rica. And he won! Unfortunately, he didn't think he'd be eligible to go because he was no longer an employee. Fortunately, the company's CEO went to bat for him and said He earned it! He can go! So the beginning of May saw us flying to Liberia, Costa Rica and staying for 3 days at the W resort in Guanacaste. It was a fantastic experience including all meals, drinks, 2 pools and a small beach, plus one activity for each traveler - Mr. UR went deep sea fishing and I received a massage at the spa - and concluded with an awards dinner where the chef cooked up the fish that Mr. UR and his cohorts caught that day. We did manage to leave the resort for one morning and head into the surf town of Tamarindo for a little sightseeing but most days were scheduled with his company's activities. So I guess we'll have to go back some day to see more of this lush and tropical country.

Catching a big one in Costa Rica

Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina

Our niece booked a house in Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina for a going away party/trip for us way back when we expected to move in Summer or Fall of 2022. The deal was to celebrate for 5 days with family at a big house across the street from the beach and spend some time together before we moved. Little did we know that we would be moving several months before that! But we decided to keep the beach house booking and fly back for that long weekend. It was a really nice, chill time in North Carolina - my nephew brought his boat so we took a ride on the Intracoastal Waterway, there was ice cream and putt putt plus everyone took turns cooking meals. The highlight was a gift from my niece, who is a professional photographer, of family photos on the beach.

Capitol Reef National Park, Utah

Another getaway was driving to Utah and exploring Capitol Reef National Park with Mr. UR's brother and his wife, who were doing a 2 week Utah trip highlighting the Mighty Five. We drove to Green River, Utah and spent the night then met up the next morning to hike Goblin Valley State Park and Wild Horse Slot Canyon. Then it was on to Capitol Reef where we did some more hiking and taking in views from the overlooks. It's a very remote area of Utah but its beauty is worth the drive. I really enjoyed our time there and now I need to go back to see Canyonland National Park to complete my visits to The Mighty 5.

Hickman Bridge hike

Palisade & Grand Junction, Colorado

Mid-month our friends from South Carolina came to visit and we spent a few days touring the greater Denver area - Red Rocks, RiNo brewery hopping, and driving the crazy high road up Mt. Evans. We stole away for the weekend to one of my favorite areas of Colorado - Palisade/Grand Junction - where we managed to do more brewery hopping, a few wine tastings, drove the Colorado National Monument and drove up the highest flat top mountain in the world, Grand Mesa. It was truly a blast and I'm looking forward to them visiting again this year.

Wildflowers at the top of Grand Mesa

Northern Arizona

August began with a weekend getaway to Sedona, the Verde Valley and Cottonwood, Arizona. Mr. UR had an airfare credit that had to be used by August so we came up with the least expensive flight we could to use it - so Arizona it was! We wine tasted, had some great Mexican food, did a Pink Jeep Tour in Sedona and met up with some friends from college - not bad for a 3 day trip.

Verde Valley wine

The Netherlands, Belgium and Norway

Booked in 2019, this trip was much anticipated and totally delivered. We spent the first week of two in Belgium - staying in Brussels exploring there and taking day trips to Dinant and Bruges- and The Netherlands - we stayed in Haarlem and explored Amsterdam, Zaanse Schans, Marken and Volendam. Then we headed to Rotterdam where we set sail on a 7 day cruise to Norway and through the Norwegian fjords. Ports of call were:Eidfjord , Gerainger, Alesund and Bergen. I absolutely Loved this trip, with a capital L, and would go back to any of these countries in a heartbeat. I'm sure there will be much more coverage here on the blog coming up.

Dinant, Belgium

Wisconsin & Iowa

Our daughter had been to visit Denver a few times so we decided we would visit her in New York. Flights were exorbitantly priced, though, so we met up with her in Wisconsin, flying into Milwaukee, and then traveling over to Iowa. Why Wisconsin and Iowa? Per her request, she wanted to add 2 more states to her list of states visited. It really was a kind of "meet in the middle" place and flights weren't too expensive. Win-win. (Also, I'm originally from the Midwest and it always feels like home - the nicest people in the US are in the Midwest - so I will always be game to visit there)

Milwaukee Art Museum

Southern Caribbean Cruise

Another one of those "booked in 2019" trips that finally came to fruition! This was originally a cruise to the Greek Islands with a few days in Athens - which is high on both of our travel wish lists - but we decided that was a big gamble with Covid so we rebooked for a Southern Caribbean Cruise. We sailed from San Juan and visited six islands - no days at sea - that included: St. Thomas, St. Croix, St. Maarten, St. Lucia, Barbados and St. Kitts. It was a much needed, very relaxing week that I truly enjoyed. And, of course, more on this trip to come!

Rainbow over St Maarten

Move #2

We were able to sign a contract on a new build house in April that is on the same street as our son's house to make child care easier. We moved the week before Christmas, then our daughters from Australia and New York flew in for the holiday and we tried to find a balance between Christmas events and relaxing with family. So we are now homeowners in Colorado - and so happy to be settled in our own home - and expecting lots of visitors in the next few years!

The new digs

As you can see, I wasn't exaggerating when I said it was a big year of travel and quite busy. We still have one trip postponement from Covid to book and take but other than that I think we will have a much slower year in 2023. At least, I hope so! (Though you know I will never complain about "too much" travel!)

How about you? How was your 2022?

I'm linking up with: My Corner of the World at Photographing New Zealand!