2023 was certainly a year of wonderful adventure. We saw beautiful new places and met many interesting people along the way. The year was full of "go and experience" trips. Our luggage really got a workout this past year. Of course, adding a beautiful daughter-in-law, Eliana, and grandson, Nicollas, to the family were a highlight! We also learned to play pickleball and acquired a time share at the family enclave at Lake Chelan. Thankfully we remained relatively healthy, and we both joined the ranks of Americans who benefit from a life of paying into Social Security. Yes, we packed a lot into 2023 and we are extremely thankful! This is indeed a sweet time of life!
It is impossible to write about all the cool things we did in 2023 without first pausing for a moment to reflect on 2022. Maurina's two successful knee replacement surgeries were game changers. Without the benefit from these procedures and her hard work rehabbing that followed, we would not have been able to enjoy many of the things we did. My hip resurface procedure also gave me increased mobility. After spending a week in the hospital, several of those days in the ICU, in mid-November, much of our travel plans were in question. An issue with internal bleeding had resulted in the loss of about half my blood volume and threatened more than just our travel plans. Thankfully the Lord determined that He was not finished with me yet, and I was able to recover much of my strength by the end of the year. We welcomed in the New Year with Amanda, Sean and the boys as well as Jordan on Lopez.
January was mostly a month of recovery and preparation. The first week of January, Jordan and I made a day trip to San Juan Island so he could process some paperwork to help him transition to life in Brazil.
We began our South American adventure on January 31st with a flight to the frozen tundra of Dallas, Texas. After a fight with sciatica during my recovery threatened our trip plans, we boarded our flight to Santiago with a connection in Dallas. A freak snow/ice storm in Dallas shut down the airport shortly after our arrival causing us to spend the night in the airport. We learned two important things during our unplanned overnight in Dallas. First, don't try to catch a cab in Dallas during an ice storm. There aren't any. Second, the Dallas airport is not heated, and all the glass windows only add to the cold draftiness.
Santiago, Chile - Jan 31 - Feb 7: To read more about our time in Chili visit this blog: https://wind-guatemala.blogspot.com/2023/02/gran-adventura-de-south-america-2023.html
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