Hello from Alaska, and Happy New Year! I hope you’ve all had festive and restful holidays, and feeling ready to embrace 2024. The past few months have really been a lovely time of reflection and transition for us — here are some updates.
We spent October, November, and early December in Michigan back at Iris’ lake house in Glenn. When we pulled in there on Oct 1, we had spent almost exactly eight and a half months on the road. The transition back to domestic life took some weeks of moving stuff around, tending to camper repair, and enjoying some long sleeps. Matthew went back to work in the kitchen at Guardian Brewery, and Kayla leaned in to her ongoing work as a recruiter. We celebrated Iris’ birthday and Thanksgiving; Iris & Kayla took a quick trip to Iowa to celebrate their dad’s birthday; and our dear friends Ed and David came to visit West Michigan for a weekend.
Lots of fun times with Iris: canning her garden, making dinners, and just hanging out. 
For her birthday we pulled out all the stops and made a 7-course French dinner … 
…plus our brother & sister-in-law drove from PA to join us and surprise Iris for her birthday! 
And niece Hannah also came to Michigan! 
So happy to celebrate Dad’s 92nd birthday with him. 
The Thanksgiving turkey was grilled/smoked to perfection.
We went to Kalamazoo a few times (about an hour or so away, depending on how scenic a drive you choose) to get to know that city a little better. There’s a great brewery called One Well with lots of awesome pinball machines. They have Bride of Pinbot, which is one that Matthew has sought far and wide to find.
And, we made plans for a return to Alaska. As a reminder: Matthew landed a job working as a Legislative Aide in Juneau for the 120-day Thirty-Third Alaska State Legislature Second Session. You’ll get more details on that after he starts work on January 8.
Dec 16-17: We spent two nights in Chicago before we caught our flight to AK. We did some good city-walkin’, visited the Art Institute of Chicago, and grabbed some cocktails at The Berkshire Room, one of our favorite bars. Then we headed to one of our favorite restaurants, Quartino Ristorante. The next day we had a long journey to Seattle and on to Sitka, but got there in time for a lovely dinner to start our stay with dear friends Grace and Charlie.
At the Berkshire, one of these doors leads to a janitor’s closet, and one leads to the restroom. 
Skating downtown. 
Chicago was built on trains. 
Attempt at artistic Chicago skyline. 
The Art Institute has a lot of portraits of artists painted by other artists. 
You have to get up close to see the dots. 
And, speaking of pointillism: This is a photo taken by my phone camera on the streets … 
…and then zoomed in. No filters or tricks!
We’ve spent the last two weeks catching up with friends, and also catching our breath. Getting the camper tucked away, figuring the logistics of getting two season’s worth of clothes, including — ugh — work clothes, and generally setting up another big transition took a psychological toll, apparently. We’ve been kind of wiped out!
Now we are preparing for the short flight yet big jump to Juneau, where we will tuck into entirely different lives than the ones we’ve been living for the past year. But we’re starting to plan our summer/fall adventures, hopefully to include a stop somewhere near you! Stay tuned – we’ll reveal our “plans” soon.
A new “desert flower” series, this one of bars.
Parting shot of the Arts Institute.
Always interesting to hear your quarterly updates. Wish you well
Dear K & M, Totally awesome to see and catch up with you after all this time.
I will hopefully see you a bit in Juneau. Enjoy, Happy New Year and many more to come. Cheers, Jeff b