2017 was an amazing year for us.
January: We
started out celebrating our 34th anniversary with a fabulous trip to Costa Rica
with friends Rick and Sharon.
We saw birds, snakes, frogs, monkeys, etc. and had a wonderful time.
We spent a few weeks home before we headed out to our
summer volunteer job in Washington.
February: After
leaving Texas we spent a very short time in New Mexico before heading into
Arizona where we visited friends Randy and Serene. Mark and Randy played disc golf while Serene
and I visited.
Mark, Serene, Randy, and Elko.
We saw London Bridge in Lake Havasu City, Arizona.
Mark walking across London Bridge.
Next stop was California where we saw plenty of flooding. With terrible weather we were not able to get
out and do very much sightseeing.
Heavy flooding on IH-5 in California.
We spent a couple of days in Oregon where we saw very
little sunshine. Then headed on to our
summer gig at Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge in Sequim, Washington.
Mark on "The Spit". Dungeness NWR.
March: We spent a
little over 4 months at Dungeness and were able to do quite a bit of
sightseeing.
New Dungeness Lighthouse.
Snow! March might not be the best time to be in Washington.
We tried to visit as many tourist attractions as possible
while we were in Washington: Olympic
National Park, Marine Life Center, Neah Bay, Hurricane Ridge, Hoh Rain Forest,
Naval Undersea Museum, USS Turner Joy Destroyer, the Bug Museum and lots more.
Pacific White-sided Dolphin. Marine Life Center.
Troll Haven.
Undersea Naval Museum.
We also celebrated 7 years of retirement on March 31st!
April: While still
volunteering at Dungeness NWR, we went on a 3 day cruise to the San Juan
Islands with Puget Sound Express. We
spent our evenings at the beautiful Roche Harbor Hotel while taking day trips
on the Glacier Spirit. We saw whales,
seals, birds and many other interesting things.
Aboard the Glacier Spirit.
Dall's Harbor Porpoise Hybrid.
Our friends Randy and Serene visited and we had a fun
filled day at the Olympic Game Farm.
Feeding the animals at the Olympic Game Farm with Randy and Serene.
May: We took a two
week vacation from Dungeness in order to take a cruise to Alaska. It was an unforgettable adventure aboard the
UnCruise Wilderness Discoverer. While
on-board we also celebrated Mark’s birthday.
Alaska inside passage.
Dawes Glacier.
Watching critters from the skiff.
Humpback Whale.
June: By the end
of June we had finished our job at Dungeness and decided to start heading
South. We received
word that we could start work at Ladd Marsh Wildlife Area in La Grande, Oregon.
Finishing up the trail work at Dungeness NWR.
July: Our main job
at Ladd Marsh was to get the volunteer site cleaned up and ready for use.
Before.
After.
We were only at Ladd Marsh for 7 weeks but during that
time we saw some beautiful areas such as Anthony lakes and Hell’s Canyon.
August: After
leaving Ladd Marsh we quickly make our way south. We spent a couple of days in Idaho where we
visited friends Randy and Serene and saw the Devil’s Washbowl. Then it was on to Utah for the solar eclipse
and finishing the month in New Mexico.
September: We made
it back home! We spent a lot of time playing our favorite
disc golf courses and eating at our favorite restaurants.
October: By this
time we know that, due to hurricane Harvey, we will not be volunteering at
Goose Island State Park. We make some
calls and are on the road to Martin Dies, Jr. State Park in Jasper, Texas by
the end of the month.
November: We spend time hunting for the Red-cockaded
Woodpecker, play several new disc golf courses, hike, bike and kayak while volunteering at
Martin Dies.
December: We’re
finishing up our 2 month stint at Martin Dies with 2 1/2 weeks of stump
grinding. Our last work day was December
31st.
We volunteered a combined total of 1,454 hours in 2017!
2018 is going to be just as exciting and fun. We’ve got an amazing trip planned for our
35th anniversary and have locked in our summer volunteer jobs.
Stay tuned!
You did have a fun and interesting year! Glad we got to be part of it a few times. Interested in hearing about this new trip!
ReplyDeleteIt was fun going back and looking at all our pictures from the past year. It was hard to just pick a few for this blog!
ReplyDeleteWe fly out in 5 weeks - can't wait.
What a terrific review. And it must've been a great year! You guys really know how to do retirement! -- Sharon
ReplyDeleteRetirement is fun!
Delete