Toward the end of November and early December we planned to drive to Florida and visit the three Florida National Parks. All three of these parks are built around water. We also planned to stop at Key West.

Our October began with pickleball. Tammie and I try to play once a week. But we also have been helping our grandsons learn to play. They have gotten pretty good. Our first time playing in October was just two weeks after Hurricane Helene.

September began with a trip to Darlington, SC. One of my bucket list items was to get my wife to attend a NASCAR race with me. Mission accomplished thanks to our daughter-in-law who gifted us with tickets to Darlington Raceway and the Southern 500.

In mid-July we took a morning trip to the northernmost part of Greenville County in South Carolina to hike and investigate two waterfalls. Our first stop was at Twin Falls. As the name implies there are two separate falls at one location. From the parking area, it is about a 1/4 mile easy hike.

Our busy summer began by returning to one of our favorite places when we toured South Carolina as part of our Ultimate Outsiders experience in 2023. Oconee Station Historic Site was one of our top five experiences last year. However, when we went the two historic buildings were closed.

Our 31st national park was Lassen Volcanic. It has a lot of geothermal activity like the pictured boiling mud pot. We planned to do a lot of hiking to see all the geothermal activity. Unfortunately, the main park road was only open for one mile because of snow accumulation.

After our trip to Channel Islands, we decided to take a rest day. We traveled to Bakersfield where we spent the day with Tammie’s niece and her family. That evening we drove towards Pinnacles National Park. This is the smallest of the nine California national parks.

This was our longest and most national parks visited trip so far. We planned to visit 12 national parks, 2 national monuments, a river, a bridge, and a road. All of this in about 2 weeks.

When did going to the Zoo become about things other than seeing animals? We took all three of our grandchildren to the Riverbanks Zoo but for the express purpose of doing the ropes course and the climbing wall.

In April we planned a trip to see 4 national parks in the southwest and do some sightseeing on our way to Texas.

2024 started quiet and slow. But it soon became the busiest year of our life.

In 2022 we spent the month of November in Myrtle Beach. This year we decided to mix things up and try spending the month of December in Myrtle Beach. We got a really good off-season rate on a two-bedroom condo at the Andersen Ocean Club and Spa.

A week before Thanksgiving we drove to Tammie’s mom’s house just outside of Pittsburg, TX. We had Thanksgiving dinner with Tammie’s mom, two cousins, and her aunt.

In October 2023 we had a trip planned to Missouri to attend the C.O.P,S. Parents’ Retreat. While there we also planned to visit Hot Springs National Park and Branson, MO.

It was a busy fall for travel. We started off in September with another trip to Dollywood but this time our daughter went with us. Can you tell we purchased a 1 year pass to Dollywood?

For our anniversary this year we decided to take a trip to Charleston and Savannah. During the trip we also stopped at several South Carolina state parks (see this post).

Grandkids, swimming, pickleball, zoo trips, rope courses, climbing walls, birthdays, Dollywood, reading, and anniversaries. That just about covers Summer 2023.

While researching things to do around South Carolina I found out about the Ultimate Outsider program sponsored by the state of South Carolina. It is a program that encourages people to visit all 47 South Carolina State Parks and Historic Sites (40 parks and 7 historic sites).

Our busy spring began by attending Beauty and the Beast musical at Bob Jones University in March. It was fun getting dressed up for a night out. My wife looked fantastic.

Our first major trip after Tammie’s retirement was to the Big Island of Hawaii. This was our third trip to Hawaii. In 2003, we went to Maui and Oahu for our 25th wedding anniversary.