Tuesday, January 05, 2021

2020 Year in Review

 And what a year it was!

January saw us back in Florida for the winter months. We fell into our old routine pretty quickly, going dancing on Wednesday nights, playing Trivia on Fridays, and even joined a gym so we could both get in shape.

We went to the Florida RV Supershow and met one of our favorite YouTubers, Traveling Robert! Phil and I really enjoy camping in our pop-up trailer and wanted to look at some bigger "couple's trailers" because one of us wanted to upgrade to something with it's own bathroom. I won't say who.
 
 
February saw the arrival of this guy, and by March we were stocking up on toilet paper and hand sanitizer and isolating ourselves from others as best we could. No more dancing, no more trivia nights, no more working out, no more dining in. 

 
My daughter and I had been planning a big trip to Colorado in July to hike Grays Peak but that had to be canceled. We were both so disappointed but vowed to try again next year.
 

May saw us back in Michigan, a month later than originally planned. We had to get used to wearing face masks in public places which hadn't been required in Florida at that time. Phil continued to work from home and we did our best to get out of the house as much as possible.

When Indiana opened up their state parks, we hooked up the pop-up trailer and went camping at Turkey Run and Brown County. 

Even the trees look like they're maintaining proper social distance!

Since our Colorado trip was canceled, my daughter and I decided to do the Lake Michigan Circle Tour. We spent five days driving from one point of interest to another, visiting lighthouses, hiking trails, dipping our toes in three different Great Lakes, collecting pretty stones, and acting like total goofs.

Phil and I had narrowed down our trailer search to the R-Pod 180. We had fallen in love with the blue exterior that was only available for a couple of years, but finding one in our area was next to impossible. Plus people seemed to be buying up used trailers as soon as they were listed! We'd all but given up when Phil spotted this one online. It had only just been listed so Phil contacted the seller right away to make him an offer. He accepted it, and we started making plans to go pick it up... in Rhode Island! We turned it into a week of camping and had a great adventure!

In September, during a mother/daughter camping trip, I lost the battle with a picnic table and fell and broke my hip. People keep telling me I need to come up with a better story but that's exactly what happened... I tripped and fell. Hard. On my hip. But me being me, I did not want to ruin a camping trip, so I held out as long as possible, roasting hot dogs and doing crafts with my daughter for several hours, until I just couldn't bear the pain any longer. They put three screws in my hip and had me stay off of it for six (long) weeks, but I am better now. Much better.


I know there's been a shocking lack of cross stitch here but whilst recuperating from my injury I worked on the Women of the Mayflower by With Thy Needle and Thread. I didn't complete the sampler during the 60 days that the Mayflower traveled across the Atlantic to Plymouth Rock, but I brought it with me to Florida and do plan on finishing it soon.

I'd been upgraded from a walker to a cane by November so it was time to head out camping again! We spent two weeks on the road, traveling to Branson MO, Hot Springs AR, Crater of Diamonds State Park, Mother Neff State Park in Texas, Fredericksburg TX, and finally Hickory Creek Campground near Dallas where we spent Thanksgiving with a couple of our kids who live in the area. We also "moochdocked" at my brother's house in Louisiana before heading down to Florida.

Phil took a couple of weeks off from work for the Christmas holidays, so we headed over to the east coast of Florida to visit family for a couple of days and camped at Lion Country Safari where we were woken up every night by the roar of lions! Some people might not care for it but we were thrilled, and I actually missed it after we'd left! We also went down to the Florida Keys where we got to hang out at Sloppy Joe's, and then on to Midway State Park in the Everglades to round out the trip.

You would think we'd be a little gun shy about making plans for 2021 but we're already off and running! (Well, one of us is running, I'm still a little slow!) I'm heading up to MI for a visit at the end of this week and then as soon as I'm back we're heading out for another camping trip and the Florida RV Supershow. I'm also hoping to get back into the stitching groove soon! I brought a bunch of stuff with me and for the most part it's all kitted up and waiting!

If you made it this far, thank you so much for visiting!

And Happy 2021 to everyone!

4 comments:

melissa said...

You are AMAZING! Sorry about the hip. Least you're getting the broken hip, old lady thing out of the way! You should be good to go.

You inspire me. Living life to the fullest. Happy you have a faithful partner to travel with. 😘

Vickie said...

wOw! Sounded really great until the broken hip. Where did that happen? In Michigan or Wisconsin?

Robin in Virginia said...

Paisley, it sounded like your 2020 went well even with the pandemic and the broken hip. I look forward to hearing more of your adventures in 2021.

Terri said...

Oh wow! I am jealous of all your trips! And you probably came very close to where I live when you went from Turkey Run to Brown County. I love Michigan! Grew up in RVs, traveling along the great lakes mostly. I hope the pain in your hip is gone. Glad it wasn't worse!