2021 - A year In Review
2021 was an extension of 2020. We didn’t expect too much travel, however…
We are grateful to be able to mark our footprints onto a few new territories - 8 US national parks in total, among which 7 were new to the family (4 were new to me). Check out my previous posts about these trips:
👉 4 National Parks Over 4 Weeks - From Caribbean To Washington (covering Virgin Islands National Park, Everglades, Biscayne, and Mt Rainer.)
👉 Our Favorite Hike In St John US Virgin Island
👉 Our first trip to North Cascades National Park
👉 Two trips to Mt Rainier National Park in the spring and fall
👉 Our first trip to the beach section of Olympic National Park
👉 Olympic National Park And Our Favorites after many dozens of trips to this amazing place
👉 Gateway Arch National Park in Missouri, Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado (see this post)
Beyond national parks, we did some small and big road trips, including:
Canyon Creek, Glacier, WA
👉 Our first trip to Mt. Baker in Washington
👉 11-day year-end cross country road trip across 10 states
Beyond the US, we dipped our feet briefly into the Caribbeans, the Bahamas, US Virgin Island to be specific. While the trip was cut short while we were in Miami Beach, we completely enjoyed every moment.
As a family, we took our first sailing trip, living on a sailboat for a week while exploring the Exuma Cays in the Bahamas. That was certainly the highlight of the highlights in 2021.
Imagine feeding the swimming pigs and all kinds of tropical fish. Or swimming with sharks, in pirate caves, and in natural bubble bath next to the ocean. We were fortunate to have turned these imaginations into realities, and couldn’t have celebrated our growth in better ways than these new experiences.
After 2 years of no school, our older son proudly became a 1st grader in the fall. He was a joyful student busy making new friendship, something we missed during the pandemic.
On the down side, we lost a family member - the kids’ grandpa. My husband was away taking care of his family, and we had a total of 4 months separation throughout the year.
On those days when I was solo parenting, I managed to start a new hobby: gardening! While I couldn’t claim to have a green thumb, I did enjoy the process of adding new colors in our front and backyard. Among all the animal visitors to our house, the most amazing one was a big owl that showed up on one of our trees every morning and evening. I wish I had a longer telephoto lens to capture a more closeup shot of him.
I even lucked out to photograph northern light one night. It was certainly a very rare occasion in Washington (see How I Photographed Northern Light And Star Trail).
Now some hiccups…
I lost my wallet, twice!
The first time I left it with my entire camera bag (with 2 full-frame mirrorless cameras and 4 lenses) in the Seattle airport. When we found out, we were already in Bahamas. For the first time over the past 15 years, I documented a trip in a new country (ie. Bahamas) with a phone and a drone. (See One Week Chartered Sail In Exuma Bahamas)
The second time, we were on our year end cross country road trip. I left it in a restaurant in St Louis, Missouri, and didn’t realize it until we were in Kansas City 4 hours away.
Miraculously, I recovered all my belongings in both occasions. I must have been super, super, lucky!
In addition, our little guy fell on a rock and cracked his head in our first trip to Mt Rainier National Park. That was a serious heart attack for me. But he survived a 5 hour wait after a long drive to the nearest hospital. He even revisited the rock the second day (see the last image of this post).
On another occasion in US Virgin Island, we got stranded on a ferry terminal at night, but was magically “adopted” by a sailboat owner at midnight and spent the rest of the night on his boat. (see detail story)
Despite these hiccups, I’d say our 2021 was still an amazing year! We certainly were grateful for all the opportunities to see the world, to grow stronger as a family, and to stay healthy (until covid hit in 2022) and happy.
In case you are new to my blog, check out our previous annual reviews:
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It’s that time of the year again. I’ve started writing our year in review since 2019, and find it a healthy “habit”, even this habit takes me just once a year to practice.