Adieu, 2012!

As I ponder the possible subjects for the last of my 366 daily snaps of the year, and Paul considers the first of his for tomorrow, we find ourselves reflecting in the final hours of 2012.

This was a year that didn't exactly go as planned. (Do they ever?) Instead, our travel itinerary was shaped by Bullwinkle's faulty heat pump and our ongoing efforts to get it repaired. Two largely unproductive trips to Forest City are definitely among the lowlights of our year. But, discovering our new favorite repair facility (That's DM Mobile RV Repair in Loveland, CO. Love 'em!) was an unexpected and welcome treat. Our now trouble-free moose has made us happy campers, indeed!

A silver lining in our unexpected Summer travels in Colorado was two one-month stays in lovely Gunnison. We hadn't planned to spend any time this year in our most favorite town. But, it turned out to be the perfect spot for us to stay cool with our crippled heat pump while the temperatures at lower elevations sizzled.

As fun as it was to revisit familiar places, we also enjoyed exploring some wonderful new-to-us spots. We rang in 2012 on the north shore of Louisiana's Lake Pontchartrain, where our Cajun neighbors redefined good home cookin'. (Yum!) We spent the next two months at lovely Bella Terra, our new favorite RV park, just north of the beautiful white sand beaches of Gulf Shores, AL.

Along the way, we had the great pleasure of meeting some wonderful people this year. We're sure we'll leave out somebody, but here's the best our collective memories can muster.  We enjoyed our first-ever meetings with Tricia and Keith, Norm and Linda, Don and Gloria, Kim and Christi (whom we had fun catching up with again earlier this month in Oklahoma), Larry and Kathy, Ken and Ruth, Courtney and all the good folks at Bella Terra, Mike and Mo, Terry and Randy, Marti and Paul, Loralie and Lee, Carrie and Bill, and have we mentioned Don and Mary Ann of DM Mobile RV Repair? At our first-ever Escapade, we met more great people, including Sam and Donna, Angela and Kenny, Len and Phyllis, Sylvia and Glenn, Ginger and Jesse, Marcia and Joe, Cathy and Bud and Angie and Greg, just to name a few. Our most "small-world" encounter occurred in Kansas City when we met our park neighbors Heinz and Theresa. Turns out Heinz lived around the corner from us when we were kids!

One of the best things about this mobile lifestyle is reconnecting with fellow travelers we already know. 2012 was a year of many fun "meetups" with friends, including Karla and Eric, Darryl and Judy, Mike and Peggy, Chuck and Anneka, Lisa, Tony, Tez and Rick, Gary and Francile, Steve and Cathy, Deb and Rod, Craig and Anne, Fred and Sharon, Karen and Arvin and family, Doug and Nona and Bill and Linda. Of course, the Escapade provided a wonderful opportunity to exchange hugs with friends Bob and Molly, Donna and Keith, Dortha and Mark, John and Bridget, and Ken and Cindy. Two very impromptu gatherings reconnected us with some California Winnie friends: We literally bumped into Rod and Gaila in the waiting room at the Winnebago Factory Service Center (We've spent way too much time there!); And, an early morning Facebook exchange resulted in a fun meetup in the middle of Kansas with Bill and Linda, who spent a few days parked nearby in Salina. Our most recent reconnection was just a couple of weeks ago with locals Mike and Sandy. What a treat to spend time with y'all!

As we celebrate with dear friends tonight we'll raise a toast to our friends new and old, near and far. Thank you for making 2012 a most memorable year. We wish everyone a safe, happy and healthy 2013.

Cheers!