Looking Forward, Looking Back: A Year in Review

 

Happy New Year! As we bid farewell to 2024 and welcome 2025, I extend my warmest wishes for a year filled with adventure, good health, and peace.

Looking back on 2024, I'd like to highlight some of the year's memorable events. Our camping trip to Texas in February was truly unforgettable. I hope we have the opportunity to return there someday (see post). 

In April, we took Oliver to his first Royals game, and we all had a blast. I think Oliver enjoyed himself immensely, especially with all the other dogs around. (see post). 

We set a goal of attending many concerts this year, and I believe we achieved it. We saw The Mavericks (see post) in May, Chris Stapleton in June (see post), Air Supply in July (see post), and Alan Jackson in October (see post). We also enjoyed several other concerts, including a fantastic performance by Dar Williams in November. I'm looking forward to attending more concerts in 2025.

In October, I attended the King Biscuit Blues Festival and had a wonderful time (see post). We onlywent camping three times this year, which is fewer than in previous years. However, the Texas trip was so enjoyable that we did manage to venture out to western Kansas (see post) and Missouri (see post) for some additional camping adventures. I'm hoping to do more camping in 2025 and explore some locations outside of the state.

We also made a second trip to Des Moines, Iowa in November for a weekend getaway (see post). Sadly, just this week, we remembered the tenth anniversary of my father's passing, which occurred on December 30, 2024 (see post). 

Finally, the elections took place in November, and the incoming administration is poised to serve a second term. There are undoubtedly many questions and uncertainties surrounding this period, and while I hope for the best for our country, a sense of apprehension is undeniable (see post). 

This is just a brief overview of some of the highlights from my blog this year. I truly enjoy writing these weekly posts and appreciate the readers who take the time to visit my site. I plan to continue writing at least once a week and hope to incorporate more technology and political commentary into my posts in 2025.

Happy New Year! Stay safe and have a fantastic year ahead.

Cleaning House and Thinking About Future Kansas Camping Locations

A quiet weekend for Carrie and I cleaning to spend Saturday. More cleaning planned for Sunday. Camping the past few weekends have left us to the point where we need to spend time getting the house back in order. Following our camping trips and knowing that we would be camping again soon, we would leave camping supplies by the kitchen door. 

We spent the day Saturday getting things organized and put away. Not very exciting, but we did spend a little while looking at a Kansas Wildlife and Parks that researched Kansas State Parks. We signed up for the Kansas magazine to get future information about Kansas Wildlife and Parks. I believe Carries’ Mom found the magazine and gave it to us. Carrie and I read through the entire magazine looking at the various State Parks and reviewing those we have already visited (my blog posts Lake Melvern, Lake Crawford, and most recently Milford Lake) and thinking about those we have yet to visit. 

As we reviewed the Kansas Wildlife and Parks, we thought that we had been to some of the largest camp sites in Kansas, but realized we have not even scratched the surface. The largest camp site in Kansas is El Dorado State Park. Totally makes sense as I have always been in amazement when driving to Wichita and going over the El Dorado Lake that I-35 goes over partially. I look forward to our visiting El Dorado State Park at some point in our future camping visits. Plus, we picked out many other sites to visit in our future camping.

For now, our camping adventures are on hold. We were lucky with our last camping adventure (Camping in Hot Temperatures) and hot temperatures, but feel it is best to hold camping until temperatures drop in the fall. That does not mean we are not looking at locations and planning for future camping adventures.

Where is your favorite location to camp in Kansas? Please comment to share your recommendation for where to camp in Kansas. 

For now, stay cool through the summer months and until next week, have fun!