Happy 90th Dad! Thanks!

November 21, 2020, was my Dad's 90th birthday.  Living 90 years is something!  My siblings and I refer to him as the man with 9 lives.  He has definitely lived through some challenges but I would assume anyone who lives 90 years has lived through some challenges.  The last month has been another one of his challenges.  A trip to the hospital due to an infection resulted in minor surgery followed by a move to a rehab care facility.  This week he was moved from rehab to long term care.  Needless to say, he is not a happy camper.  His body may be failing him, but his mind is fully intact.  He knows this is not where he wants to be....especially on his birthday...during a pandemic.  I know....because he told me.  "You want to know what I want for my birthday?", he said.  "What?", I asked.  "Out of here!", he replied.  Sigh.

Happy Birthday!

As I walked this morning on a path I have walked many times, as far back as 2004, listening to some retro tunes, I was thinking of things to be thankful for this year.   Thinking of things to be thankful for and of my Dad's birthday led me to think of things to thank my Dad for.  After all, I am who I am because he is who he is.  

I can attribute my love of sports to my Dad.  From Sundays spent watching the Green Bay Packers coached by Vince Lombardi to betting in the Masters pool at "his" bar, I learned to love sports.  I grew up knowing about football, baseball, golf, and...of all things....bowling.  I may have also inherited my competitive spirit from him.  Although Mom is no pushover either!

I would like to thank my Dad and his Mom and Dad before him for making "the shore" a huge part of my life.  If he had not loved the shore and made the often herculean effort to get our family there in the summer I may not have known heaven on earth in Nova Scotia.  I know and love our large extended family because of him. When a man is willing to pile 5 kids into a van and drive for 5 days to spend the summer with over 50 relatives, you know family is important.

I can thank my Dad for giving me the "Dixon pause".  When asked a question, my Dad would take forever to answer!  There were times we thought he just wasn't going to answer or times we wondered if he had even heard the question.  I would muster up all of my nerve to ask him a question when I was growing up only to sit and squirm anxiously awaiting his answer wondering if he had even heard the question or if I was going to have to bravely ask again.  Inevitably he would give a thoughtful reply.  Dad is a thinker.  While I was sweating and squirming he was considering all the angles to my question before answering.  This would go for questions like, "Who is going to win the World Series?" or to more important questions like, "Can I use the car tonight?".   Pack a lunch if you ask him what he thinks about climate change!   I too have been accused of taking forever to answer a question.  Just ask my husband... or my kids!  They may even give you a timely answer!

I am not intimidated by many people because of my Dad.  If you know him, he can be an intimidating presence.  Growing up and having to hold my own with him gave me the ability to deal with strong personalities.  If I could face my Dad...I could face almost anyone.  I also learned that underneath that rough exterior was someone who cared and maybe thought he was teaching me a lesson by making me "work for it".

I attribute my laid-back personality to my Dad.  His ability to not over react has been passed down to me.  Consider the fact that after countless car breakdowns, on our many road trips to and from Nova Scotia, he always seemed to matter-of-factly deal with the car repair and get us all back on the road safely.  I may not have inherited his matter-of-fact way of dealing with car trouble come to think of it.  I go right into the fetal position if my car breaks down.  PTSD!  Thanks...for my over reaction to car trouble come to think of it!  Most of the time though, I am pretty laid-back, as is he.

I have been told I look like my Dad.  It must be true because I definitely do not look like my Mom!  Like my Dad, I enjoy a good meal and from time to time those good meals show up around my waist...like his did.  I can only hope I also inherited his longevity and his sharp mind.  

So... 

Happy 90th Birthday Dad...Thanks! 

  

Time Outs and Awards

We are still alive and kicking here.  It only took us three weeks of being home to go on another road trip.  We went to Baton Rouge in September for my mother's birthday, which turned out to be a lovely celebration.  She was deservedly treated like a queen for the day.  I had not seen my parents since before our road trip this summer and we did our few weeks of safe isolation before we visited them.  It already seems like ages ago!  

It seems we have been living our life in 2 week increments.  Visit someone, then isolate for 2 weeks.  Visit someone else, isolate for 2 weeks.  I have started to call it "time out".   After our visit to Baton Rouge and our 2 weeks of  "time out" we went to California to see our daughter and her husband.  We also surprised her with a mostly virtual surprise baby shower!  Life in the time of Covid.

Baby's first bank account
and a virtual audience on the screen to the left.

Macarons and flowers....a girl's best friends.

Back home for a bit of  "time out" until the next venture outside of our Groundhog Day routine.  Random thought....have you ever noticed how your laundry is a reflection of how you spend your days?  I noticed this the other day as I washed nothing but golf clothes, exercise clothes and biking clothes.  That is our life....walk, ride, golf....oh, and one of us works.  This is the time of year I am happy I live down south where I can play outside most of the year...especially this year!

All that walking and golfing has kept me from finishing the blog post I started two "time outs" ago!  I was planning to wrap up the road trip with some National Park Awards. (because I am going to milk that trip for all its worth!) The categories are custom made for each park because everyone gets a ribbon in the Mahoney National Park Awards Blog.  Sadly, once this goes out into the blogsphere our trip will finally be put to rest and I will be forced to find something else to talk about and photograph.

Largest National Park (that we visited)

Yellowstone National Park

We probably drove 100 miles...in the park!  We also stopped about 30 times!  

                

Best Bike Ride

Zion National Park

I highly recommend riding your bike through the park instead of taking the shuttle bus.  We saw so much and it was at our own pace, which for one of us was much slower than the other.  An e-bike might be a good idea!

Most Photogenic

This one is a real challenge to choose just one!  Can I say all of them?  I think the one that surprised me the most in my photos was Bryce Canyon but the one I took such great delight in photographing was Teton National Park.  You can choose for yourself!

Bryce Canyon National Park

Teton National Park
It took my breath away!

Most Patriotic

Mount Rushmore
So many flags...so many presidents

Most Iconic

Arches National Park

When your hike ends at the sight featured on the license plate in the state of Utah, that's iconic.  The view was worth the hike.

Most Surprising

Zion National Park

I am not sure what I was expecting.  I had not heard much about Zion and had never seen the landscape of southern Utah before so maybe that is what surprised me the most.  The red desert, the mountains, the way the sun lit the mountains up in the morning, the clear blue water in the streams, or the pure majesty of the park.  I mostly rode my bike with my mouth agape looking up in awe.  

It had it all... mountains, streams, trees and wildlife.

Scariest Drive

Mesa Verde with a close second by Flaming Gorge.

Flaming Gorge
The road was so curvy and high with many drop-offs that I had to relieve my vertigo challenged driver on the way there and also got to do the drive out.

Almost 9000 ft. and the drive was narrow and steep but worth it!
Mesa Verde National Park
We took turns doing this drive....

Hottest National Park

No question in either of our minds on this one....Canyonlands National Park.

Add to the 106 degrees the lingering smoke in the air from the wildfires in the west and this was less than an ideal time to visit this park.  I suggest the spring or fall and a time when there are no fires!

Perfect for a hike....it did go up to 106 believe me!

I imagine in better light this is spectacular!  Not bad as it was.

Best Sunrise

Arches National Park
Best and only sunrise....for me!

Best Sunset

The bar for this category has been set very high because sunsets are my true love.  It may surprise you that in 50 days of traveling to so many spectacular locations, fantastic sunsets seemed to allude me.  I was vigilant in my pursuit though, just ask TJ.

The Badlands
This one keeps coming up on my photo reel and makes me sigh.
I love the dust trail behind the car and the contours of the land.

But honestly, the best sunset was from my friend's deck in Park City.

There you have it, the winners of the Mahoney National Park Awards 2020 edition.  Stay tuned for the next installment....some time in the future when we find ourselves with seven weeks of time to drive around and look at stuff.  I do think once you start with the parks you get the bug and find it hard to stop at just 9...or 10.  Ten down, 52 to go!

Stay safe out there!