My first time sailing the laser for the year was on the last weekend in April and I had a nice sail into stiff wind out of the south at 16-20. I did some exploring and sailed 1h 45m upwind through Hills Bay to Queens Creek. I got to check out Jess’ parents place from the water. The trip back broad reaching only took 40 minutes.
The second leg of our trip took us to Sacramento to visit my sister and her husband to meet my new nephew. Monday afternoon we arrived in Sacramento and intended on checking out the art museum there only to realize it wasn’t open on Mondays. We explored old town Sacramento before meeting up with Cheryl, Dean and Calvin to visit a neighborhood sports bar to watch UVA win the NCAA Basketball Championship.
Tuesday we all piled in the car and headed towards Sonoma and dropped Calvin off at his grandparents house for the day. Calvin’s grandfather was a sailor and has a huge train layout in his basement that was fascinating. Our next stop was Iron Horse Vineyards for a sparkling wine tasting.
We got lunch in Boone and then went to Porter-Bass winery for another tasting and met back up with Calvin. Next we drove out to the coast to see the ocean and walk on the beach which was made a bit treacherous with the high winds blowing the sand around. It was still pretty.
Wednesday we took the dog hiking in the Auburn State Recreation area. We hiked about 6 miles around the North Fork American River across the No Hands Bridge and under the Foresthill Bridge – one of the highest bridges in the country. The views were amazing and the trails were very nice. The whole park was just under an hour away from Sacramento and an easy drive.
Jess and I returned to Dallas for a long weekend of seeing friends, revisiting favorite places and attending a wedding. We started out by visiting her old neighborhood and a taco joint we both loved to frequent. We did some shopping and got dinner with Sydni, Andrew and Doug.
Friday, we met max for lunch, visited Deep Ellum for an art festival, rode our first electric scooters, and went for an evening sail on White Rock Lake with with Tim & Griffin. Friday night was dinner in the Greenville neighborhood.
Saturday we slept in and relaxed before heading to Grapevine to check into our hotel – the Gaylord Texan which was nearby the wedding. The wedding of Ashley and Zach was held in a beautiful winery event space and we got to meet many more of Ashley & Zach’s family and friends as we celebrated. We also kept our eye on the score of the UVA/Auburn basketball game and stopped looking after the 3 pointer at the buzzer was missed only to find out later there was a foul that led to 3 foul shots to win.
Sunday we visited the Dallas Art Museum and went for dinner at another favorite Mexican restaurant with Andrew before checking into our airport hotel for the night.
For the 2nd year now I got out to run the Hill Topper 5k in Church Hill. While it has been pretty cold both years I’ve run it – it has served as a good race to train for and start getting in shape for the Monument Ave 10k a month later.
Mumford & Sons came to Charlottesville and we were able to see them play. Before the concert we stopped for dinner with Jen and Janek at The Local in Charlottesville for a fantastic meal. At the concert the stage was set up square in the middle of the floor and our seats were in the corner. It was a cool setup having people all the way around.
We spent the night in Charlottesville and then next day we visited Pippin Hill Farm & Vineyards and Albemarle Ciderworks.
In February Caroline and Ian got married. It started with drinks out at a brewery which led to late night margaritas with out of town sailing friends and followed up with a beautiful wedding and reception on Saturday. Congrats Caroline & Ian!
In the middle of winter Jess and I got to escape the cold weather for a thaw out trip to Cancun Mexico. We stayed at the Grand Palladium in the Rivera Maya about 1h 15m south of Cancun in their all-inclusive adults-only TRS Yucatan property. It is a gorgeous property with some good restaurants, cool pools and an expansive beach. Over the course of 5 days and 4 nights we spent time all over the resort. We especially liked the Bali beds at the far end of the beach where it was nice and quiet.
Our room was a bungalow on the lagoon with a patio, canoe and an outdoor shower that was nice except the night it rained.
On our last full day there we visited the spa and all of the gardens, pools and hydrotherapy areas. We wished we had discovered this sooner and spent more time there.
The last several years have seen Jess enter more and more into my life (and the blog!) – and now she agreed to marry me! I couldn’t be happier and can’t wait to see what’s next for us.
Another year of adventures. Here are my favorite photos from 2018:
Jimmy Buffett Concert in Charlottesville
Model Sailboat racing on Lake Rooty
The Parthenon during a VCU class trip to Greece & Cyprus
Old boats in front of the sunset during the Laser D10 Championship
Beach scene in Kitty Hawk during a week trip in June.
Jackson Creek Sunset from the dock at FBYC after the Smith Point Race
Raven at its mooring during the US Laser Masters in Brant Beach NJ
Snowman in front of the house during a December snow storm.
Here are the 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011 and 2010 photos.
