Yeah, yeah, those "year in review" blogs are supposed to be written on New Years Eve. Whatever ... we were busy playing Scrabble that day. Besides, we only write this so when we have a friendly disagreement about when something happened, whoever is right can use this entry as evidence. :)
First, some fun stats. In 2012, together we mountain biked 469 miles in 4 countries and 2 US states with a total elevation gain of 59,543 ft. We hiked 110 miles in Arizona with a total elevation gain of 28,515 ft. And Jen ran (Doug is too smart to run) 212 miles in 5 US states with a total elevation gain of 26,218 ft. Thanks to Garmin for those year-end reports that make us feel like studs (and those numbers don't count all the times I forgot to start the watch, or charge the watch the night before!).
January was our transition time of 2012. Jen got reacquainted with the good life after six mons in Afghanistan and we packed our shit for our 8th move in 5 years. Oh, and there was a great long weekend in Portland, Oregon with James, Brookes, Patrick, Kat and Pete (apologies for the lack of photos ... those glasses of wine are the last thing I remember.....).
February was our road trip to sunny Arizona and moving into our new house at Ft. Huachuca. Of course, settling in meant lots of beer, mountain biking, and a trip or three to In n Out (which took most of March, too!)
April started with a Pink Floyd tribute concert and a long weekend in Vegas, where we evenmanaged to get a few rides in and bond over sushi with James & Brookes. After Vegas, Doug tortured himself with another bike mechanic course in Portland (although judging by his pictures, it wasn't ALL painful...).
May was a month of road trips and beer (shocking, I know). The AmeriCAN Beer Festival (celebrating canned beer, of course) in Scottsdale was one of the best beer festivals we've ever been to (well, what Jen remembers anyway). By the way, planning to ride in 103 degree heat the day after a beer festival of that magnitude was a really really bad idea -- lesson learned. Jen turned 40-something two weeks later and the entire pack took her up to the swanky Phoenician resort in Phoenix. Even though Richie chased all the hotel bunnies, we didn't get kicked out.
June was a big travel month, too. We went to Maui, where we drank Mai Tais, went diving, and attempted to MTB, but got rained out by a "freak" storm (Norvell Luck was alive and well). After Maui, we made a pit stop in Seattle, where we caught a Seether and Nickelback concert and drank beer with the Seattle peeps. From there, Jen went straight to a work thing at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island while Patrick and Doug went on an epic motorcycle trip that included enough In n out to shorten both of their lives at least a decade (but they had fun!)
July and most of August were just too damned hot to do much of anything. At the end of August, we both went back to the East Coast again so Jen could attend a work thing at the JAG school in Charlottesville, VA. Jen's parents drove down to Virginia and spent some time hanging out with us in different brewpubs in Virginia.
September was easily the highlight of the year, with our epic trip to Asia. We were lucky to have Patrick come down to stay with the pups, so I don't think they even noticed we were gone for two weeks. We also expanded our toy collection to include a new motorcycle for Doug, so the rest of September was filled with long motorcycle rides all over Arizona with Patrick. Also in September, Jen competed for and earned her German Armed Forces Proficiency Badge (but got neither a trip to Germany, nor even a decent German beer out of the deal). Except for getting up at 0330 for a long ruck march in the dark, it was fun.
By October, Arizona was finally cooling off enough to enjoy being outside again. Jen ran the Bisbee 1000 (Doug was too smart) which was a crazy 4.5 mile "race" through the hilly streets of an old mining town -- and up 1000 stairs built into the sides of the hills. The good news was that it ended at the Old Bisbee Brewing Company! :) We were also happy to have James & Brookes come visit, and we took them horseback riding and to (of course) a brew festival in Tuscon (for which we inexplicably have no pictures....). Jen also got to go back to Virginia again for another work thing, but Doug stayed behind to do more motorcycle rides with Patrick. When she got back, Jen took a class to get her motorcycle license too (but Doug still won't let her drive the GoldWing).
In November, Jen went back to the East Coast again - this time to New Jersey to visit her parents. Pat went back to rainy Seattle after Thanksgiving (but left his motorcycle behind .... Jen's still trying to get up the courage to ride it!). After Thanksgiving, Doug taught a Land Navigation course for Jen's office -- 18 lawyers and not a single one got lost!!
December was our final road trip - back to rainy Seattle (where it rained the entire time of course). We were psyched to be able to celebrate the pending nuptials of our two good friends Katy & Kath and then spend some quality time drinking beer with James, Brookes, Patrick, Pete and Kat. After all of that, we happily spent the holidays close to home!
2012 also marked the longest time we've lived in any one place since we met .... and fear not, we are already restless. While it looks like the Army will keep us here until June 2014, we're keeping our ear to the ground for other opportunities. I mean really, you can only ride so many trails and drink so much beer in one state.....
