2012 seems hard to summarize, maybe that's why it's taken me until the end of January 2013 to try. The year involved healthy doses of the things I love the most: family, friends, and experiencing the outdoors, often all at once. Tough to pick the highlights, but I'll try a few:
MORE LITTLE PEOPLE
New Niece - Jane!
New Nephew - Noah
New Hayes twins! Eloise and Ainsley
New Trotter - Jack
MORE FLOATING
White-water rafting Class 3-4-5 at New River, West Virginia
Brandywine River Canoe Trip, Branywine Valley of Pennsylvania and Delaware
Two days of sea-kayaking trails and camping on a platform at Jane Island State Park, Chesapeake Bay, Maryland
Jet-boat tour through the canyon at South Fork Snake River, in southeastern Idaho. One of the nation's best trout fishing rivers, thanks to 20+ years of conservation work protecting the land along the river.
MORE MOUNTAIN BIKING
Overlook in Cle Elum, Washington. Biking with the Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance during the Western Governors Meeting
Obstacle park in Park City, Utah
Keystone Mountain Trails, Colorado
MORE CONGRESS
Always fascinating to meet Senators in person (and to try to figure out what to say!) I spent more time meeting with the Wyoming Senators, Montana Senators, and other Senators, and took my parents-in-law to a breakfast with Senator Al Franken for Minnesota constituents.
Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) always has the most animal decorations!
MORE CACTI
Photo: Bear Canyon Trail to Seven Falls, Sonoran Desert, Arizona. Took a few trips to Arizona this year - visiting Tucson, Oro Valley, Saguaro National Park, Petrified Forest National Park, Sedona, and Phoenix. Can't wait to return in 2013.
MORE TEDDY
Still obsessed with Theodore Roosevelt. Read Colonel Roosevelt, the third book in the Edmund Morris series, spent a lot of time running around the Potomac's Roosevelt Island, and kept learning more about the man who in many ways provided the foundation for the American conservation movement.
MORE MARRIAGE
One year anniversary with Tom. We celebrated with a backpacking trip in the Wilderness in Shenandoah National Park
MORE OF THE WEST
Family trip to Lake Dillon and Keystone, Colorado. Thanks Mom and Dad!
Pagosa Springs, Colorado, for The Conservation Fund board meeting
MORE BOOKS
Felt like I did a better job reading this year. Some favorites include:
OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
Meeting Sally Jewel, President of REI, and hearing about how much she cares about conservation. I've heard she's on the short list of possible candidates for the next Secretary of the Interior.
Not sure if seeing massive fires up close in Idaho were a highlight, but definitely memorable!
Climbed a 14'nr! Gray's Peak, Colorado
This unexpected picture happened. My mother-in-law and I were touring various embassies in D.C., but stopped in between at a mosque with an open house, where they gave us head covers in order to experience the mosque.
Standing outside the Supreme Court when they announced the decision to the Affordable Health Care Act.
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