Training by myself in my neighborhood Running in the freshly fallen January Snowĭoing any activity with others is motivating and rewarding. The winter of 2022 was cold as I prepared for my in-person half marathon, and I was again thankful for the support of a training group. So, I signed up for the training program I began in 2020. I knew that with training, I could run all of the events that were virtual in 2020 as in-person runs. After participating in that event, I thought it was a safe bet that all runs in 2022 would be in-person. I ran a test in-person Flying Pig 5k in October of 2021. However, running loops in my neighborhood does not compare to running an in-person race, so I was determined to run the formerly virtual events in person. I wrote about my training for the Cincinnati Flying Pig half-marathon in 2020 and then, due to COVID, running virtually (but still running) in my neighborhood. I began training in 2022 for all of the runs (“races”) that I did virtually in 2020. I need to remember to get out and see the world, connect with others and be present. It was great to see family and friends along the way to and from our house.
I was able to take my mom out to dinner for her birthday, okay, a few days early. Our grandson got to swing which made him happy! A made put! Playing disc golf in Colorado with the family was a good time and we all had fun on the 9-hole course. We enjoyed a few hours at his house, went for a walk and visited and decided to drive home rather than stick around for the almost half foot of snow that fell later that evening. Our final stop was a visit with a college buddy who called us as we were a few hours away and warned us about pending snow fall. We were chased by a snow storm making its way to the east while driving at the end of our trip near Nashville. Keeper of the Plainsĭriving in a January, we expected some weather-related issues. We enjoyed our hike around the town, and this was one of the main attractions. You can see the Keeper of the Plains where the big and little Arkansas river join near downtown. We did not know about the Keeper of the Plains prior to our stumbling onto it on our hike in Wichita. We saw most of the sights in the Veterans Memorial Park and appreciated the rich history on display there. We found our night in Wichita to be fun and the walk around downtown was neat to see. As you drive through it, most of Kansas is empty fields and straight highways. On the return journey we spent the night in Wichita, Kansas. It did snow when we were in Colorado, and it made it fun to play outside. We did not have any driving issues with snow on our way to or from Colorado. Initially, we were worried about Colorado snow. Our grandson made it special for us and we were so happy to be there with him. Proud Grandparents!Ĭhristmas is best enjoyed with little kids. Our stops included seeing my in-laws, my mom, and friends. We were also able to make a few stops along the way it is important to have small stops to break up a long road trip. We monitored the driving weather and thought we could make it without issue, so we set out to drive. With an event like a baby’s first Christmas and New Year’s, we could not resist taking a road trip. One of my goals in retirement is to spend time with family and friends. With a grandson in Colorado, Christmas and New Year’s together sounded fun. This trip was the longest driving vacation we have taken in a while, almost 3,000 miles by the time the trip was over. Hello? hey what's up man? what's up CouchGuardian? I like your name, man thanks dude my name's Jesse are you ready to play? I've never played this, have you? I've played it a few times I don't even know what to expect I kind of know what I'm doing, do you want to be the Explorer or the Librarian? I don't even know what the difference is dude so tell me what you want to do and I'll be the other one Okay I'll guess I'll be.We decided to skip the airlines and take a Christmas Road trip at the end of the year so we could enjoy being grandparents in Colorado for Christmas and New Year’s.