Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

2015 was a very good year for me and my 2 dogs.

I celebrated the beginning of 2015 in Europe while traveling with a former Phoenix friend who was stationed in Germany.  We were in Berlin for Christmas, Amsterdam for a few days, Frankfurt area for a few days and then to Hamburg for New Years Eve.  I was also able to visit Ann-Katrin, who we hosted as an exchange student years ago while living in Tempe.  (LINK)

In January my cousin Kathy visited from North Dakota, as well as my old Army buddy, Zenon who visited for a few days and came out running with me and the Hash House Harriers (drinking club with a running problem).  It is always great when Zenon visits!

My parent’s annual 2-3 week Phoenix visit kicked off at the end of February!  They golfed, visited family, explored Phoenix and just relaxed in our warmer version of winter.  Having them here for longer than a few days is always one of my favorite times of the year.

March and April zipped by with my usual activities here in the Phoenix area:  hiking, running, mountain biking and skiing (up north).

In May I went back to Disneyland for the first time since I was 11. It was an excellent weekend spent along the ocean and running around Disneyland as if I was 11 again.  As packed as it was, I think I can wait another 30+ years to go back. (LINK)

May also was time for the annual houseboat trip to Lake Powell.  This was our fifth year and it was as fun as ever.  We went back to the Rainbow Bridge national monument again and it was as impressive as ever!

May ALSO included a Las Vegas trip to celebrate my friend’s birthday.  We went to “O” at the Bellagio, which was an amazing show!

June was spent remodeling my master bathroom.  Earlier in the year I had tile installed (LINK) to replace all of the carpet & linoleum in most of the house and needed to finish the master bath after doing the guest bath first, then procrastinating for months in getting started on the master bath.  I really like how it turned out and have only to pick out what lights I’d like to replace the standard light bar that comes in most homes. (LINK)

On July 3rd I left for Rapid City on my motorcycle to visit family and finally ride with Jerrod (brother), who was bringing his motorcycle out from Indiana to Rapid City for a High School class reunion.  We all enjoyed riding together through the Black Hills during our visit. Jeremy brought Brady along on his bike so we had a fun guys day together. (LINK)

In August I started my annual big motorcycle ride.  This year I rode directly north(ish) to Idaho to visit family gathered at the Meier cabins on Priest Lake. From there I rode north into Canada and then west through the Canadian Glacier National Park through the Canadian Rockies to Vancouver.  From Vancouver I went south to meet up with more family along the Washington coastline. Jeff’s family and our parents were there for a few days longer. After that I rode south to Portland to stay with friends, then south to Leggett, CA (where I ended my northerly route last year) and then inland southeast to Yosemite and then back to Phoenix.  The mileage ended up totaling around 4,600 miles and I was ready to get back to driving the car for a while.  (LINK)

At the end of August, Callie had a growth removed from her hip and a cracked tooth removed.  She healed quickly, and is back to her normal self.

In September the pergola was installed over the back patio and we are loving it so far!  Callie and Theo spend much more time outside and it really expands the use of the patio by months.

September also included a trip back to Portland for a Hash House Harriers running event.  There were people from all over the world and it was a really fun weekend!

I always wanted a garden, but didn’t want to build a raised bed in the backyard, deal with the dogs digging things up, bugs, etc., so I bought an Aerogarden and am loving it!

October was our annual run in Las Vegas and the weekend didn’t disappoint.  We had great trails and goofing off in Vegas is always a great idea.

I led one of our runs in November on South Mountain (near my house) in Phoenix and it was a beautiful day

November also included a work conference in San Francisco (Atlassian Summit) and then staying the weekend to see the sights and go to a Leon Bridges concert at the Fillmore. We rented an AirBnB for our time there and it worked out really well! (LINK)

For Thanksgiving I was able to fly home for my annual turkey (non-turkey) trip for some family fun time!  This year was special in that I was lucky enough to get in contact with some old friends from Elementary / Junior High School and we all got together during the weekend.  I also spent some time downtown Rapid City, just enjoying the main square and local shops.

December is going to be a slow / non-travel month. No plans for anything major, just relaxing over the Christmas break and hoping that we’ll get new snow in the mountains so I can go skiing a day or two at Sunrise Ski Resort in Northeastern AZ.

With the weather cooling down, I have been taking Theo on our HHH runs and he is loving being around other dogs and all of the fun people.  A friend took this picture and sent it to me after one of our runs.  We were taking a running break and walking at the time.

We did have our annual Christmas BASH-n-HASH and 75 bicyclists and runner showed up.  We had a S’mores and Hot Chocolate stop, a bar stop and then finished up at a restaurant called, People’s Pizza Pub”.  We light up our bicycles and wear Christmas apparel / costumes.

It’s been a year full of happiness, some sadness, and lots of in betweens!  I’ve been so fortunate by having a loving and supportive family, outstanding friends and my dogs, who make me laugh everyday even.

Thank you all for helping to make this an exceptional year, let’s keep moving forward into 2016!

Darin, Callie, and Theo