As the quote goes: “May you live in interesting times.” 2022 was indeed interesting.
While we are wishing you the best of all things in 2023, we would like to share with you some of the moments shown below that shaped our 2022.
A good amount of Skiing
The year started out in perfect form. With our season passes to Monarch Mountain we enjoyed many of the regional slopes including Copper Mountain, Ski Cooper, Loveland, and of course Monarch Mountain.
A long weekend getaway to Moab
In January, right in the middle of ski season, we decided to mix it up and take Mark on his first trip to Moab! More details on that can be found here.
Leslie diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease
June brought the unfortunate news that Leslie has Parkinson’s Disease. We have ramped up our exercise regimen, the only thing known to slow its progression. In the new year, we will participate in an online support group/ educational program for both those with PD and their care partners.
A joint birthday celebration in Portugal
A couple years ago we decided to book this trip to celebrate Leslie’s 60th birthday and my 65th. You can see details of our wonderful trip here.
Hannah, may her memories live forever
Hannah, Leslie’s beloved dog, died on September 27th. She was full of love and lived a life of adventure. Hannah’s memorial video can be found here.
Sailing across the Atlantic Ocean
Mid-October to November Leslie and her mother sailed the Atlantic Ocean from Lisbon to Barbados on the Royal Clipper, a five-masted tall ship. The ocean crossing took 17 days with two quick port stops; one in Morocco and the other on the Portuguese island of Madeira. Exploring the steep, vegetated back roads of Madiera was a highlight of the trip.
We count our blessings for the wonderful experiences and moments we have everyday and for the beautiful people that touch our lives throughout the year.
If you read my post on Portugal you may already know that Leslie and I brought a guest home with us – the COVID virus. I am writing this post to be informative for those curious to gather anecdotal evidence about what it’s like to get COVID. Here’s the timeline of my experience to date.
UPDATE at 6 Weeks: The information below was written in real time for the first 15 days, when, near the end I felt I was better enough to consider myself near done. However, now at the 6 week mark, I will tell you that weeks 3-5 were more difficult for this asthmatic blogger than the first couple weeks were. While I kept active throughout, when I felt up to it, I was struggling with the dizzies and difficulty breathing for more than half the time during those latter weeks. As of today – the six-week point (9/11/22) – this was the second day my breathing was somewhat normal, and my light-headedness was almost non-existent. I truly hope this is my last update on the subject. Be well.
Day 1: Woke up feeling dryness in my throat. Thought it was perhaps a result of sleeping with my mouth open, or perhaps some bad air quality from a nearby fire. The dryness was very mild and I could notice it when I thought about it, but it was mostly off my mind.
Day 2: (Walking around Porto) Just like day 1, but the dryness was slightly more than it was the previous day.
Day 3: (Train ride to Lisbon) More of the same, but on this day I took measures to stay indoors incase the outside air was really the problem.
Day 4: (Flight home) Feels more like a cold that got progressively more so as the flight progressed. Seemed to enter my lungs more and irritated my nasal passage more. Started to suspect a cold or COVID for the first time. Took a COVID test as soon as I got home: Positive.
Day 5: Woke up feeling some energy, so took a morning bike ride. Feeling like COVID was going to be super mild and go away quickly. Was able to work with good energy until about 3pm – then felt like crap for the rest of the day.
Day 6: Feeling like a real cold – no energy. Worked some, but didn’t feel good most of the day.
Day 7: More like Day 5 – took a morning bike ride and felt some real strength toward the end of the ride, but good feelings dwindled quickly and was dragging the rest of the day. Felt pretty bad that evening.
Day 8: (Saturday) – woke up feeling horrible. Was it the Benadryl? Was it COVID making me feel that way? Need to get the yard work done, so did that, but otherwise lots of nasal dripping and dry (unproductive) coughing.
Day 9: (The day I started to author this post) Slept pretty well. Woke up feeling better than the day before. Took a nice hour-long walk. Will see how the day goes. 5:50PM… kept somewhat active today, though energy level was pretty low most of the day. Nothing too serious, more nasal congestion dripping into the bronchial ways – clearing my throat all day. Nevertheless, I thought I would do a home test to see if I can get some indication that I am free and clear of the virus.
No such luck. Think I’ll sip some Johnny Walker Black.
Tomorrow’s another day.
Day 10: Woke up this morning feeling pretty normal. A little nasal congestion. Almost no coughing. PulseOx reading was 95. I haven’t mentioned PulseOx yet, mostly because I am not very knowledgeable on the topic. I will say that yesterday my average was in the low 90’s and on day 8 it was consistently at or slightly below 90. I am glad to see some improvement on that today.
Day 15: Days 11-14 were will filled with congestion, coughing, breathing tightness, low blood-oxygen, and a little bit of feeling OK in between. On day 13 I called the doctor to see if I should get attention, but the advice was to keep doing what I’m doing (symptoms described are common, and add some Zyrtec to the mix. On day 14 I nearly killed myself with a 28 mile bike ride – all good except I was ready to pass-out during the last mile or so – I think mostly heat exhaustion. I call it an exorcism. Well, it may have worked – today (day 15) I woke up feeling 95%, and stayed at that level for most of the day (it’s late afternoon as I write this). With that said, I am ready to call this the last entry for this Covid-19 experience. I prefer not to do that again, and count my blessings that it could have been worse.
We left Denver on July 22 and returned on August 2. The trip started and ended in Lisbon. The on-board (cruise) experience was along the Douro River from July 25 to July 31. I loved the shores and small towns along the river and I especially like the towns of Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia. I hope you enjoy the trip report.
Leslie introduced me to this hike a few years ago; this is one of her favorite hikes out of the 4th of July Trailhead near Eldora. This is now one of my all time favorites as well.
I am in the Colorado Springs office today. From the office you can see the Airforce Academy across the highway. Today was their graduation flyover celebration. Very cool!
Leslie and I took advantage of the long Martin Luther King weekend for a getaway to Moab – a place I have yet to see even though I have lived in neighboring Colorado for over 20 years.
This is the Botanical Gardens of San Miguel de Allende. It’s an amazingly large property and I thoroughly enjoyed exploring the grounds with many plant and bug varieties.
We arrived late afternoon. The house is beautiful. This is the courtyard of the house.
We then ventured out to get some groceries and have dinner at Don Felix.
We wrapped up a great first day with a view from our top balcony.
Sunday
A morning surprise: Balloons!
This morning we were delightfully surprised by the sound of hot air balloons overhead. At first we thought it was just some local noise we weren’t familiar with, but then we realized it sounded just like summer weekend mornings back home.
Today we spent most of our time walking to and around the city center. We also took care of necessities such as food shopping and preparing dinner. It’s a beautiful town even though I feel there is so much more to see and do.
Today was sort of an artsy day. Leslie and I started this morning with exploring our garden and taking close up and other interesting photos.
After breakfast we set out for a walking day. First we walked from the house to Fabrica la Aurora.
Walking to Fabrica la Aurora
Fabrica la Aurora
Then we walked to Mercado de Artesanias.
We did some shopping and then had lunch at “The Restaurant” – an amazing meal. Then I walked home, taking a new route to see a different part of town.
Wednesday
Touring Guanajuato
We had a fantastic tour of the beautiful city of Guanajuato. Our tour guide, Fernando Ibarra (415 145 4316) was incredibly knowledgeable and speaks English extremely well. He walked us around the city giving us the background of many of the key places and in doing so he conjured up vivid imagery of historical moments, people and places. The city is amazing in its beauty but also it history and infrastructure. There are tunnels below the entire city for vehicle traffic, but the tunnel network, complete with intersections and winding turns has no relationship to the roads above it.
Temple de San FranciscoEl Pipila – the hero of a great revolution.One of the many entrances to the underground tunnelsKissing AlleyBasilica de Nuestra Señora de GuanajuatoFernando and Diego Rivera near Diego’s HomeUniversity of GuanajuatoTeatro JuarezA View of Guanajuato
The Mummies of Guanajuato
(To be verified) These mummies were buried during an outbreak of Cholera during the early 1800s, and subsequently disinterred between 1870 and 1958 because burial taxes were not paid.
