Four days into February, and it’s the perfect day to reflect on my favorite moments from January!  Can’t really go anywhere, since THIS happened yesterday:

 

 

It looks much prettier today with the sun shining.  Here’s the current view outside my window:

 

😂😂😂

 

But wait…this is a post about my January Favorites, not the weather!  Very unusual for me, but I did not do a December Favorites post.  December was actually a bit of a difficult month for me.  But things got better headed into the new year, so I will actually begin this favorites post just a few days before January arrived.

 

Favorite #1

Spending Time with Danny and Erin

In December, Danny and Erin had traveled from Lithuania to Florida and spent Christmas there with Erin’s parents and sister.  Big Eagle and I drove to Orlando to meet up with them and spend the end of 2021 with them and the beginning of 2022.  We all had lunch together in Orlando, and then Danny, Erin, Big Eagle and I drove to Titusville.

Cape Canaveral Area

We spent the next day at Cape Canaveral.  We were surprised by how crowded it was! I don’t know why I didn’t take any pictures. 🤷‍♀️ When we left there, since we were so close to the cemetery where my brother Frank’s ashes were inurned, we went to visit his site.  When we were there in September for the ceremony, we saw the site, but his marker was not yet erected, and we wanted to see it.  We didn’t realize all of the markers would be decorated with wreaths!  I knew Wreaths Across America did this at Arlington National Cemetery, but I didn’t know they did it at all of the National Cemeteries.  It was such a neat thing to see!

I removed Frank’s wreath briefly to get a picture of his full marker.

Before we left, we each put a penny on his marker to show we had visited.  I just recently learned about this tradition and the meaning of other coins left on a veteran’s marker from my brother Tom.

Since Tom doesn’t live too far from where we were, I contacted him to see if he could meet us for dinner.  I was so glad he was able to do it, especially on such short notice!

It was so great catching up with him and Carmen!  Plus he had never met Erin before, so that was a fun thing. 😄

The next morning we went to the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.  We did their auto tour and also walked down one of their dike roads to get a closer look at some of the wildlife.  It was the first time I’d ever seen a roseate spoonbill.  I didn’t get a picture of one, but I think Danny got some good ones.  It was a very peaceful and interesting outing.

San Augustine

When we finished at the wildlife refuge, we drove up to St. Augustine.  There we went to the St. Augustine Lighthouse and Maritime Museum.  Danny, Erin, and I went up to the top of the lighthouse.  The stairs were a bit of a challenge for me, but I made it!  Danny and Erin were kind enough to climb at my tortoise speed.

This picture is looking down from the top of the lighthouse.  See that red dot on the sidewalk down there?  That’s Big Eagle!

 

We walked around the city some, and we visited the Castillo de San Marcos National Monument.  It is the oldest masonry fort in the continental U.S. having been built by the Spanish in 1695.

Here you can see the fort in the background:

 

Crystal River

We stayed in Palatka that night, and headed to Crystal River the next day.  Erin was hoping to be able to see some manatees there.  Our first night in Crystal River was New Year’s Eve.  We had a great dinner at a waterside restaurant where we could see fireworks going off across the water.  Then we went back to our hotel and played euchre the rest of the night and welcomed in 2022.  Why didn’t I take a New Year’s Eve picture?  Duh!

The next morning we went to the Three Sisters Springs.  Manatees are known to populate there when the weather gets cooler, because they seek the warmth of the spring waters.  It was beautiful warm weather the whole time we were there, so they hadn’t had many sightings.  There did happen to be one there when we visited, though, so we felt pretty lucky.

Erin’s mom met us for lunch after that and went with us to the Crystal River Archaeological State Park.  It is a pre-Columbian site with burial mounds and temple/platform mounds.

This is one of the temple/platform mounds.  Erin and her mom Ann are almost to the top of the stairs.  We all went up to see the view from the top.

After checking out the platform mound, we were walking along the riverfront when Danny heard breathing in the water behind him.  He turned and spotted a manatee that had come up for a breath!

It turned out there were two of them, and we were able to observe pretty close-up for an extended time.  So cool!

The next morning we went on a kayak tour that was supposed to be a manatee sighting kind of thing.  The kayaking was fun, but we sure were glad we managed to see the three manatees we’d seen the day before, because we didn’t see a one on the kayak tour!

From there we met back up with Erin’s mom, and said our good-byes.  Big Eagle and I began our long drive back to Texas while Danny and Erin finished up the time they had left in Florida.  Being able to spend time with Danny and Erin was a great start to the new year!

 

Favorite #2

Whew!  That was a LONG favorite!  These next few will go a lot quicker.  After getting home, it was time to take down all the Christmas decorations, which always leaves the house looking kind of naked.  These tulips I picked up at HEB helped to lift my spirits.  Love the orange tinged with yellow!  I also bought some white genista to add in, and I really liked the result.

 

Favorite #3

My mom and dad gave me this clock when I graduated from college.  It had been a few years since I put batteries in it, and it had kind of been relegated to an out-of-the-way shelf.  After clearing the garland and Christmas lights from the mantle, I decided to return the clock to its rightful place with a fresh pair of batteries in it.  I am LOVING the gentle chime it makes every hour.  I’ve missed it!

 

 

Favorite #4

We enjoyed our kayak trip in Florida so much, it inspired us to invest some money in a couple of kayaks for ourselves!

Definitely too chilly to venture out in them right now, but once things start warming up, we’ll be taking them on their maiden voyage!

 

Favorite #5

In the second half of the month, I flew to Louisiana to see Cara, Paul, and my two favorite granddaughters!  It’s always a favorite when I get to be with them!

 

I got there on a Friday and was able to watch Helen at her swim class that afternoon.  They swim in an outdoor pool, and it was really cold outside.  Thankfully, the pool is heated.  It seemed really weird being all bundled up in my heaviest coat and still shivering while watching her and her teammates swim.  I was so impressed with how good she is!

On Saturday, Paul drove us all down to New Orleans and we went to the aquarium.  I think all of us were able to touch a stingray while we were there!

 

The aquarium is right on the Mississippi River, so we walked down to the riverside to take in the view before leaving.

 

On Sunday, Paul and Cara had another family over for brunch, and afterward we played a couple of games.  Codenames was fun.  I have played it a couple of times previously, and I’ve always enjoyed it.  And then we played Among Us.  It’s a game you play over the internet with each player on their own device.  It was fun, but a bit of a learning curve for me.  I guess it’s been around for a few years, but I’d never heard of it before.

I felt like I was getting a LITTLE better at it as we played.  We played for over an hour.  So much fun!

Cara also introduced me to a boardgame called Wingspan while I was there.  We only played it one time, but I really liked it, and I wish we’d had time to play it again.

Monday morning it was cold and raining when Cara walked with Edie to the corner to wait for her school bus.  I couldn’t resist taking this picture as Cara was walking up the driveway returning home.

Tuesday afternoon, I went with Cara and Edie to her tumbling class.  Cara and I stayed and watched.  I would love to have even a tenth of the energy Edie displayed during that hour!  And the flexibility!  Amazing!

Wednesday it was time to fly back home.  Sure would be nice to live closer to family!

 

Favorite #6

Orangetheory distributed loyalty cards to all its members that stayed with them over the past two years through COVID.

With the card, whenever they have these special workout events, I’ll be able to participate without paying the extra fee.  YAY!  When I first joined, they didn’t charge extra for these events, and I always enjoyed participating.  But when they started charging for them, I quit doing them.  So I’m excited to participate in them again.  At least for a year anyway.

Favorite #7

On the last day of January, UPS delivered this:

Our backpacks and travel documentation for our trip to Antarctica!  Never did I ever think I would be seeing Antarctica in person, but this is really happening!  As long as we can pass our COVID tests with a negative result, this dream can become a reality! 🙏

 

Those are my favorite things from January!  Believe me, not everything was a favorite.  Big Eagle came down with COVID, but at least it was a mild case, and he’s recovered now.  And somehow I didn’t catch it from him.  But aside from that, it really was a pretty good month, especially for January.  It usually drags on for me, but this year it seemed to go by fairly quickly.

Would love to read about any favorites you may have had in January!  Comment below if you have something you’d like to share.  Even if it’s not a favorite, but just something you want to tell about.  Feel free!