2023 – A Year In Review | Michigan Traveler

We hope the year has been good to you and you have enjoyed the Christmas holidays. We are not in an RV anymore, but we have been busy. Many of our activities revolve around our twin granddaughter’s sports schedules. High school wrestling season wrapped up in February and Clarissa and Sierra both finished first in the state in their respective weight class. In April, our daughter, Elisabeth joined us for a trip to Bonaire for two weeks of SCUBA diving. Bonaire is Bob’s favorite SCUBA diving destination as it offers some of the best shore diving in the world. Bob and Elisabeth generally dived twice a day while Pat snorkeled nearby. When we weren’t diving, we were enjoying sunsets, hiking in their national park, and relaxing in our Air B&B.

In the spring, the twins shifted into Track & Field. Sierra competed in running and Clarissa was a thrower in javelin, discus, and shot put.

After we had sold our fifth wheel trailer and truck, we purchased a Winnebago Vista motor home so we could continue our travels. In June, we went with Elisabeth, Sandra and all three granddaughters to camp at Riverside State Park, east of Spokane. We did a lot of hiking, and enjoyed zip lining and a high ropes course with Mica Moon Zip Tours.

From Riverside, the rest of the family headed back to Lakewood and University Place and we continued east to Michigan. With a brief stop in Duluth, MN, we made a quick drive (six days) to join Pat’s family at their cottage on Rifle Lake, near West Branch. There we visited with family and celebrated Independence Day. After our time at Rifle Lake, we drove to Bad Axe and “moochdocked” in Geri and Marcia’s backyard. We spent about a week visiting with family before we drove to the Lansing Cottonwood Campground, our “go to” campground in Lansing. We were able to spend some time with our son, Dave, and see old friends. We did a lot of biking on the Lansing River Trail and just relaxed a bit.

On July 22^nd, we began our trip back. We made an overnight stop to see Bob’s sister in Canadian Lakes, near Mecosta. We traveled back through Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and across the northern tier of states. Finally, after seven travel days, we were back in Tacoma.

This year we celebrated our 50^th wedding anniversary and we celebrated it by cruising Alaska’s Inside Passage on Norwegian Cruise Lines. This was our second time on the Inside Passage and it was more relaxing with fewer excursions and more sightseeing on our own.

We weren’t done RVing for the year. We took Elisabeth and the twins for a weekend in Westport on the Pacific coast and had an enjoyable time. A few days later, we took Elisabeth with us to Whidbey Island Naval Air Station. We spent a week hiking and sightseeing with a side trip on the Washington State Ferry to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island.

Back in the Tacoma area, the twins were in Cross-Country season, which meant a lot of traveling to support and cheer for them.

Bob has kept up with his musical performances and has been busy busking at a local Starbucks as well as playing at local senior homes and the Narrows Bridge VFW.

Our big excitement for December was a two-week sailing cruise in the Virgin Islands. This was not your ordinary cruise. We went in with three other couples to rent a sailing catamaran and sail it around the US and British Virgin Islands. We were our own crew and did the sailing, cooking, and organizing ourselves. We had great weather and visited many different sites. We snorkeled in sparkling, clear water and saw all kinds of aquatic life.