One early July morning we got to spend some time thanking the officers and volunteers who are running the 10th annual Allen Jacobs Summer Camp ‍for the Greenville Police Department. This camp is a free weeklong program focused on violence prevention, leadership, and building positive relationships.

After breakfast, we got in an ATV with another couple and were driven to a local lake where our seaplane awaited us. Our pilot flew us in a DeHavilland Beaver seaplane north from Bettles to our 52nd park, Gates of the Arctic National Park. Each year less than 15,000 people visit this park which makes it the second least visited national park.

The previous night our flight was delayed 2 hours and after getting our Uber we arrived at our hotel, Clarion Suites, around 11:30 pm. We got to bed around 12:30 am (yes, it was still light outside) and woke up this day around 5:00 am. We were picked up outside our hotel at 6:45 am and were transferred to the airport by Rust’s Flying Service. We got on another 10-passenger plane for a 90-minute flight to our 49th park, Lake Clark National Park.

Ever since we retired, we have been planning our trip to Alaska. Because of the distance and the difficulty getting to some of the most remote national parks that are in Alaska, we knew this would likely be our longest and most expensive national park trip. Normally Don does site visit planning, and Tammie does the airfare and accommodation planning for our trip. Because of the difficulty in making arrangements for small planes, sea planes, boat excursions and specialty accommodations, we hired a travel agency, All Alaska Tours, to do the main planning and logistics for this trip.

Both of our grandsons completed the Law Enforcement Career program at the Enoree Career Center. The Law Enforcement program is part of the South Carolina Public Service & Safety Career Cluster. Instruction introduces students to the fundamentals of policing, corrections, and public safety while preparing them with certifications and experiences that strengthen both career readiness and future study in criminal justice. Both grandsons earned the following certifications:

Every year the senior group from our church plans a trip. This year we were able to join them for the first time on a four day/three-night bus coach trip to eastern Pennsylvania. Part of the fun was joining 38 seniors on the bus as we travelled back and forth. During the two long days of travel we got to hear about everyone’s background as well as eat, pray, and sing together.

Spring is always a busy time for us. It usually includes lots of work getting the yard and garden prepared and taking care of various outdoor maintenance need such as fence repair, trimming bushes, weeding and tilling the garden, mower prep, and removing weeds from the lawn. Every spring we also increase our physical activity and exercise. This includes spending time in our fitness room, walking on the Swamp Rabbit Trail, restarting our time playing pickleball, and dance practice. March is also a month where we remember the loss of our youngest son. Finally, this month included a trip to Texas for a special celebration.

Our February was split into halves. The first half of the month we returned to Myrtle Beach for a relatively quiet vacation. The second half of the month we were home entertaining and making preparations for our travels for the rest of the year.

January was a cold but busy month for us. It included two winter storms, lots of exercise, game nights with friends, a movie date with our granddaughter, and a date night to the theater for us.

During the first week of December, I made a solo trip to the Detroit area to visit with my mom and drop-off our old minivan to a family member. On the way up I saw some snow in Ohio and Michigan. While in Michigan, I was able to shovel about an inch of snow. After dropping off the minivan, I flew back home on a very early morning flight. After I arrived home, I discovered my family in Michigan received about six inches of snow a few hours after I left. That’s pretty good timing.

Our final week in Myrtle Beach was quiet as we celebrated Thanksgiving together and started the Christmas season with various light shows. We went out to eat twice, and Tammie cooked us a fantastic Thanksgiving dinner.

Week 3 began quietly but things got a little more exciting as the week progressed. First the weather was amazing. We began the week with high temperatures in the high 60s then progressing to high 70s and ended with a Saturday high temperature of 82 degrees. We spent a lot of time walking on the beach.

Since we do a variety of things each day at the beach, it is difficult to describe a typical day. But Monday of Week 3 is as close as you can get to typical. I started the day by waking up at 5:00 am, getting dressed, pouring a cup of coffee, and reading my Bible. Just before 6:00 am I walked down the steps from the 20th floor to the 3rd floor Fitness Center which opens at 6:00 am.

Our second week in Myrtle Beach was exciting because it was my 70th birthday. Our daughter joined us to help celebrate. On Monday evening, after our daughter arrived, we attended the Pirates Voyage Dinner & Show. This was our third time attending this show although it was slightly different with a Christmas theme.

Most of our travels during retirement have involved lots of travel and sight-seeing. A typical trip involves multiple days of car trips, hiking, more car travel, and multiple hotels. But at least once a year we do a slow travel trip.

Happy birthday to my beautiful wife. I first met Tammie when she was a 16-year-old freshman, and I was an 18-year-old sophomore at Bob Jones University. Over her four-year college career, we started as acquaintances, then became friends, then best friends, and finally fell in love. She has been an amazing wife, an outstanding mother, and the world’s best Gigi.

Just three weeks after our trip to Michigan to visit with Don’s mom, we loaded up the van for a trip to Texas to visit with Tammie’s mom. We normally make this 853 mile trip in 15-16 hours and do so in one long day. Usually, we start the day by leaving between 4 and 5 am (Eastern Time) and arriving in Pittsburg, TX around 6-7 pm (Central Time).

After returning from our trip to Michigan, we did some much needed maintenance on our house and our cars. We got in one last visit to the pool with my granddaughter, picked her up from school a few times and stopped for ice cream, and when on a quick trip to North Carolina to pick some apples.

Michigan was my home for the first 22 years of my life. All six of my brothers and sisters still live in Michigan. I’m the only sibling who moved away. My dad passed in November of 2022. My mom who is 89 lives in Lincoln Park, Michigan.

Our final national park of this trip was Mount Rainier National Park which was our 47th national park to visit together. It was stunning. Every pullout on the scenic road gave us amazing views of Mount Rainier. Our first stop was in the Longmire Historic District.