Reflections, and the Year

It wasn't the easiest year, given Mom's passing in the spring, but it was good to see how all the siblings pulled together. The time surrounding her last days and the services that followed was made easier by our shirt-tail relatives at Glory Farm that enveloped the whole family with love.

We didn't use the Scamp as much this year as last. I used it 118 nights, 26 of which were driveway surfing in Bullhead City while working on Helen's dory and 10 were on my solo trip to Zion. We did put nearly 7900 miles on it this year including the 77 night trip to Nevada, Oregon, and Washington during the summer.

I was privileged to join Helen and friends on her Grand Canyon river trip in March for 24 nights on the river in the canyon. BJ joined her gal friends for 5 nights of hiking, snorkeling, and kayaking in the Channel Islands in August but she couldn't be convinced to do a blog post about it. In late September & early October, BJ and I enjoyed 11 nights on the Green River between Ruby Ranch and the Confluence with my solo canoe, her kayak, and good friends .

In addition to helping with Helen's dory in January, I was able to help Kathy build her kayak. It's great fun to build boats with someone else's money and making a mess in their garage! She used the kayak locally through the summer and then used it for the 11 night Green River trip.

You thought I was kidding about reflections - I switched from Zep polish on the Scamp because with 15 months in the desert it was starting to yellow. The Scamp is all shiny now with a Nu Finish applied. We'll see how this stuff handles desert sunshine.

We're looking forward to a new year of just finding our way around this beautiful country.