Just like last year, our new year started out in Bonita Springs at Mona's place, except this year we spent New Year's Eve on the beach (due to Covid) watching fireworks. Since we're becoming Snowbirds, we tried a full month at Mona's place - aptly named: Monita. That was probably a little long to be away from home...next year, only two weeks.
Good news while in Florida, we got to reconnect with Angie & Tammy, along with old frat bro Otis. Unfortunately, we lost Katie's mother on New Year's Eve. She lived 95 wonderful years, but missed having family and friends around during her final year due to Covid. Coming back to freezing weather in Indiana was couched by a new hot tub sitting on our back patio awaiting us. We finished winter at our timeshare in Orlando for another two weeks. This year, Steve & Bonnie joined us.
Heading into summer, we upgraded sailboats to a Capri 26 - the max size allowed on our Eagle Creek Reservoir. We loved our Catalina 25, but this 26 is nice! A highlight of the summer was a visit to my brother Doug's place in Chicago joined buy oldest bro, Cliff. Meanwhile, Katie also got to reconnect with old friends Constance & Susie.
Left: Evan & Katie taking a cruise in the Naples area.
In August, Katie's family gathered for a Celebration of Life for her mother, Tess. After that, Katie and I continued east in EJ's RV for a trip to the New England area. We stopped near Cooperstown to visit Cozz, then in Massachusetts to visit cousins Paul & Carolyn. Once in Maine near Bar Harbor, we met up with the Ashworths (from our Sailing Club) who took us sailing in the Southwest Harbor near Acadia National Park. We finished off our trip with a Clam Bake on Cabbage Island before heading back in time for EJ to use the RV for tailgating at a Purdue football game!
We started in St. Thomas for a couple days including taking in a cruise to St. John. I found one of my best drinks ever...Bushwackers!
Left: EJ & Rachel in White Bay on Jost Van Dyke.
We then boarded our 45' catamaran and cruised around Tortola hitting all the fun spots: Willy Ts, Cooper Island, Leverick, Anagada, Trellis Bay, The Soggy Dollar in White Bay, and finishing at Foxy's where we met up with Tony, Cristina, & John from two of the other four sailboats also being chartered there from our sailing club.
For Evan, he's in his 18th year now as IT Manager at VS Engineering...keeping the computers and data systems going for around 150 users. He jumped back on the Board at our sailing club this year...along side EJ who's also on the Board and a committee head handling publicity. Evan is also helping the IU Rugby alumni as well as announcing local Zionsville high school rugby games. His favorite summer pastime is cruising on his 150cc scooter around middle Indiana.
Katie is in her 5th year now as social-media digital assistant for Vida Aventura - a business-coaching venture. Just as Evan loves his scooter, Katie loves her Tesla...and, she even keeps it better charged than her cell phone! With the planning of her mom's Tess's Celebration of Life and disposition of her belongings, Katie had a great opportunity to re-bond with her three siblings.
Left: Katie on her favorite perch somewhere in the BVIs.
Erika is still hanging her hat in her house in Denver along with boyfriend, Mick. She's now working at Guild Education, still in finance as a manager. We're pretty sure she averages over 200k vertical feet of skiing every season in that area. And, she and Mick are becoming frequent pardners with us in our travel ventures since they joined us in Aruba this year. Erika celebrated her (first) 30th birthday in May, and is already planning the next bash for the 1st annual anniversary of her 30th birthday. Mick is in his final year of an Internal Medicine residency at St. Joe's hospital in Denver. Katie has already claimed him as her personal medical consultant. Keeping them entertained & busy now is newcomer, Ranger, a rescue puppy with an interesting lab/boxer mix.
Rachel is still doing her nursing thing in downtown Indy at the Eskenazi Hospital ER, albeit part time. The two of them managed to ski 8 days this year in Colorado and Utah...seeing friends and family in both mountain ranges. Finally, they capped their summer travels with a trip all the way to Croatia with 15 of their friends to live on boats for a week as a part of "Yacht Week." As if they weren't busy enough, EJ is in year two of coaching the Purdue sailing team and Rachel has enjoyed her many home-renovation projects.
Below is a pictorial of many of the events throughout this last year.
We hope you and your family enjoy the Christmas season and most of all, be sure to enjoy New Year's Eve...Evan's favorite holiday!!
Season's Greetings to All! Our 18th Christmas newsletter!
After enjoying the summer mostly in Indiana, we took to traveling again come fall/winter...starting out with Katie's nephew Steven's wedding in the Detroit area. In later October, we ventured back to Aruba once again...this time with Mona (as usual) and Erika along with boyfriend Mick. In November, we finally got to take our 2nd sailing excursion to the BVIs...a trip twice Covid-delayed. Shipmates were EJ & Rachel, Doug & Jean (Rachel's parents), Hegan & Kelly, and Bonnie.
After returning for Thanksgiving, we left for yet another adventure - this time joining Jerry & Jackie at their timeshare in Cabo...our first time to the bottom of the Baja. Their community down there is top notch...great place to hang for a week! Coming back to Indiana, we got to help EJ & Rachel move into their "new" house just a mile away here in Zionsville. Without Tess in Detroit anymore, we'll spend Christmas here in Zville and start the cycle all over again heading to Monita for New Years!
EJ & Rachel made some major life changes this year...first taking over the Jiffy Lube "empire" that Rachel's father, Doug, built. EJ seems to be enjoying the life of a business owner....so much for his engineering degree! In December, they moved from their Broad Ripple duplex to a location in downtown Zionsville that is about a mile from us - just down the Rail Trail. They're calling it their dream property. I call it their Beech House.
 EJ & Rachel hiking The Baths area in the BVIs |  Erika with new housemate, Ranger
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 Katie skippering our new Capri 26 in the Ladies' Regatta |  Katie in a dead heat
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 Evan & Katie making a call in the BVIs |  EJ & Rachel answering that call
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 Evan with his Bushwacker at the beach near the Soggy Dollar |  EJ & Rachel on the boat in the BVIs
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 Evan, Katie, Bonnie, Doug, and Jean in St. John
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 Erika at some Apres Ski |  Mick showing off his first batch of home brew beer
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 Jean, Katie, & Rachel in the BVIs |  Jane, Katie, Berna, and Mona in Eagle Creek
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 Katie sailing in the Southwest Harbor near Acadia, Maine |  Evan & Katie sailing in Maine
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 The whole crew on Zionsville's Main Street for a Thursday "Dine on the Bricks"
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 Rachel trying to fly in the BVIs |  EJ on skipper duty
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 Evan & Katie somewhere in St. John |  Katie & Evan at Foxy's in Jost Van Dyke (BVIs)
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 Evan with his favorite dish - a whole fish |  Erika going boarding with Ranger
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 Evan, EJ, Rachel, & Katie getting ready for lobster in Anegada, BVI
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 Evan & EJ after buying the Capri 26 from Bob Lee |  When we knew the Capri 26 was right for us
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 Tony, Cristina, Rachel, EJ, John, & Katie at Foxy's |  Mona, Katie, Evan, Mick, & Erika in Aruba
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 Katie & Evan after a cruise in Naples area |  Mona, Cheryl, Katie, & Jane (and Evan) on a cruise on Eagle Creek
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 Katie, Evan, Mona, Erika, & Mick at the Nos Clubhuis in Aruba
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 Erika & Mick at some event |  Mick with Ranger and Ranger's namesake beer
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 Evan on his favorite summer escape |  Evan showing his travel bag to the BVIs
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 Our raftup after the Eagle Creek Sailing Club Ladies' Regatta
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 Katie with her 3 siblings: Linda, Eileen, & Tom |  Evan with his 2 older siblings: Cliff & Doug
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 Evan & Katie visiting Cozz in Cooperstown |  Katie & Evan at a brewery in Cooperstown
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 Our RV trip to the Northeast with Honeymoon - here at a campground on Lake Erie
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 Evan, Jimmy, Rachel, & EJ at Deer Creek |  Katie & Donna at the Wine Bar at Justin's wedding
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 EJ at his annual Monroe pilgrimage with Jack, Vince, Dave, Dave, & Dave |  Katie on her paddleboard
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 EJ & Rachel on a 420
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 Evan & Katie |  Erika with her buds in western attire
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 Katie and crew at the Eagle Creek Ladies' Regatta
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 Our Catalina 25 with EJ and our Capri 26 with Evan & Katie |  The Catamaran 45 we rented in the BVIs
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 Mick & Erika at some event |  Rachel, EJ, Erika, & Mick in Colorado somewhere
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 The first visitor (Joe) & first social on our new Capri 26
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 Katie, Bettina, & Tom at Steven\Paulina's wedding |  Katie, Paulina, & Maury at Steven/Paulina's rehearsal dinner
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 Evan & Linda at Steven/Paulina's rehearsal dinner |  Evan, Linda, Eileen, & Tom at Steven/Paulina's rehearsal dinner
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 The crew at the end of Steven & Paulina's wedding reception
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 Mark, Chad, Doug, Jean, EJ, & Rachel at closing |  A raftup at Yacht Week in Croatia that EJ & Rachel attended
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 Rachel & EJ heading out for our club Wednesday night races |  EJ & Rachel in Split, Croatia |
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 Katie & crew in an igloo at the Urban Vines Winery
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 Katie, Mick, Evan, & Erika in Aruba |  Evan somewhere
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 Paul, Carolyn, Katie, & Evan on a hike in Massachusetts near their home |  Erika & Ranger out paddle boarding
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 Katie, Mona, Erika, & Mick aboard a snorkeling booze cruise in Aruba
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