Tag / ARM

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2021: The Year In Travel

In normal times, this is where I would take a look back at all of the trips I took over the past year and look ahead to what, if any. travel plans I already have for 2022.  Unfortunately, 2021 continued to be far from normal times, as the global pandemic raged on for a second year, though things did manage to open back up slightly.

My first “trip” of the year, if you can call it that, was in March.  On a Friday afternoon, I drove down to Purdue to pick up Danny, before continuing on to Indianapolis so we could watch Purdue in the NCAA tournament.  They managed to completely crap the bed, which made the whole effort worthwhile.  After the game, we traveled back the way we came and I was home early the next morning.

In August, I made my only big trip of the year, driving down to Florida for some fun in the sun.  I had rented a condo on AirBNB that was right on the water, which, thanks to the spacious deck, let me enjoy the view while relaxing and reading.  I also managed to make my first two trips to Tropicana Field, as the White Sox were in town to battle the Rays.  Those experiences did not turn out quite as well.

On the drive home, I stopped in Atlanta and managed to take in a game at Truist Park to see the Yankees battle the Braves.  The following day I completed my journey, making it home in the midst of a torrential downpour, which made the last hour or so of driving so much fun.

The only other trips were back down to Purdue for football games, one in October and two in November.  We didn’t manage to make the second game in November, but it’s the drive that matters.

Looking ahead to 2022, despite the rise in COVID cases due to the omicron variant, I’m planning to return to Hawaii later this month and the family is headed to Boston in May for Angelina’s graduation.  Other than that, there are some baseball trips I want to take this year, but nothing is solid just yet.  Here’s hoping that the world returns to some sort of normalcy, though I’m not optimistic.

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2022 Calendar

After a year of old pictures thanks to the corona virus murdering 2020, we are back in the game with next year’s calendar and, now that Christmas has come and gone, we can unveil the cover to this year’s calendar gift, given annually to my mom and sister, and made up of pictures I have taken throughout the year.  Lack of travel made getting pictures of Angelina difficult, but between last Christmas and this Thanksgiving, we were able to make it work.   As in year’s past. the calendar was produced by the good folks at Shutterfly and we will unveil each month’s photo(s) on the first day of the month throughout 2022.

This year’s cover features Angelina, Danny, and Michael masked up as we visited the primates from South America at Brookfield Zoo.

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Yuletide Greetings

We wrap up the year with looks back to a four different trips to the Florida, the Sunshine State.  Starting clockwise from the top left, we have sign to orient us as being in Florida, Angelina, Danny, and Michael posing with Phineas and Ferb from our 2013 trip to Disney World to celebrate Angelina’s 8th grade graduation, Angelina in front of the castle in Magic Kingdom from our one day jaunt to Disney World to celebrate her high school graduation, Danny and Michael trying to get their wands to trigger actions in Diagon Alley at Universal from our 2016 trip to celebrate Danny’s 8th grade graduation, Danny trying to get in to Disney World after breaking the scanning machine in 2013, Angelina, Danny, and Michael posing with the conductor of Hogwart’s Express from our 2010 Thanksgiving trip to Universal, and, finally, with Angelina, Danny, and Michael drying off after a ride or two on Dudley Do-Right’s Ripsaw Falls.

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A Double Birthday

Just like two years ago, we celebrate Angelina’s (and my) birthday with this picture of us, taken just minutes before the end of our birthday as Danny’s band competition wrapped up at the Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis and we were getting ready to go out and “celebrate” with a late night dinner at a dive diner, which went about as well as you can imagine, considering it was the Saturday night before Halloween.

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Wake Me Up When September Ends

School is back in session and, as we head into fall, we visit our neighbors to the east in Indiana, with photos from three different trips, two Purdue football games and Danny’s marching band performance in Indianapolis in 2019.  Clockwise from the top left corner, we have Danny and Michael posing with the Neil Armstrong statue outside the Neil Armstrong Hall of Engineering, Danny kneeling in costume of the field at Lucas Oil Stadium, an Indiana state sign to indicate location, Danny and Michael in the stands at Ross-Ade Stadium, a younger Danny posing solo with the Neil Armstrong statue, Michael cheering Danny on, and, finally, me with Angelina, Danny, and Michael at the Engineering Fountain.

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The DC Days Of Summer

We head into August with a plethora of photos from our family trip to Washington DC back in June of 2019.  Clockwise from the top left, we have Michael and our tour guide from our tour of the Capitol Building, Angelina resting by a reflecting pool, Danny and Michael at a fountain at the World War II memorial, Danny photobombing by the Capitol Building, Angelina resting (again) in Michael’s lap, the kids with the Abraham Lincoln racer at National’s Park, the three of them posing at the Smithsonian Zoo and resting on a curb, Angelina and Michael at the Capitol, and, finally, Danny, Angelina, and a photobombing squirrel resting by a tree.

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Show Me Some Good Times

We start the second half of 2020 by looking west to the state of Missouri.  These pictures come from a single trip, for Danny’s band competition in 2018, starting with Angelina posing in front of a statue, the Gateway Arch to indicate where the pictures are from, Danny performing on the field, Angelina and Michael cheering in the stands, Danny and Michael standing in front of a giant chess piece at the World Chess Hall of Fame, and, finally, another shot of Danny during the performance.

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Mass Appeal

We wrap up the first half of 2020 by turning our gaze to the east and the state of Massachusetts.  These pictures come from two different trips our east, the first with Danny and Michael in 2017 to see the White Sox battle the Red Sox at Fenway Park and the second in 2018 to see Angelina skate with Boston University.  The first row has Angelina performing at the BU Skating Show followed by Danny in a small chair at the Boston Science Museum.  The middle row sets the scene with a cool looking Boston Red Sox sign, followed by Angelina with her friends at the free skate after the show and, finally, Danny with his now famous Lendall Pitts card from the Boston Tea Party Museum.  The bottom row has Angelina and her teammates competing in the Cape Cod Synchronized Skating Classic, Michael measuring himself at the Science Museum, and Danny and Michael in the stands at Fenway.