It had been nearly four years since my last blog update, but on August 1st, I shared highlights from 2020. Highlights? In 2020? What was I thinking? Yes, I know - I’m a bit nuts. Even as the COVID-19 pandemic continued into 2021, upending life as we knew it and bringing personal challenges, I’m back with another blog post to share the "highlights" from my 2021.
2021 was a trying year, perhaps even more so than 2020. At the beginning of the year, my dad was diagnosed with bladder cancer, and life as I knew it truly flipped upside down. However, after navigating the uncertainty, I had time to reflect - about three years’ worth of reflection. My almost-always-optimistic mindset reminds me how grateful I am to have been able to be there for my dad on the East Coast, thanks to the pandemic and resulting school closures.
My 2021 began on the West Coast, where I attempted to get in a shape other than round by completing the “75 Hard” challenge. By March, Bentley and I were once again embarking on a cross-country road trip, this time in a hurry to arrive before my dad’s first chemotherapy session. We accomplished that mission - and, more importantly, my dad beat cancer. With that spoiler out of the way, here are some highlights from the year:
I actually started the year in Buffalo, having been there for the holidays. I returned to Los Angeles in early January and settled back into pandemic life. It was boring; I read a lot and began working out more. As I mentioned, I started the “75 Hard” challenge, which involved working out twice a day (at least two 45-minute sessions, one outdoors), drinking a gallon of water daily, taking a progress picture each morning, following a diet, avoiding alcohol, and reading at least ten pages of a self-help book every day.
To break up the monotony and indulge my love for Fairmont Hotels, I booked myself a little staycation at the Fairmont in Santa Monica around Valentine’s Day. I distinctly remember completing one of my workouts in the hotel room, as well as calling my boss to inform her of my dad’s cancer diagnosis.
I stayed in Los Angeles just long enough to get vaccinated, and by mid-March, Bentley and I hit the road. We hardly stopped, driving across the country in about two and a half days, with brief stops near Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona and in what was a new state for me, Oklahoma. It was nearly impossible to continue the fitness challenge, but I proudly made it to day 60 (of 75), reaching a weight I hadn’t seen in a long time - though, of course, it’s a number I haven’t seen since then!
Bentley adjusted well to my dad’s house, and I found solace in hiking - lots of hiking - to cope with everything that was happening.
I continued working remotely (thank goodness) and even gave a presentation to a potentially large audience when I was invited to speak at the school board, albeit virtually.
As I did in 2020, I took online cooking classes and workshops as they became available. My dad had started his first round of chemo, and while I was excited to share my culinary endeavors with him, he politely declined my offerings due to his treatment side effects.
I hiked, and hiked, and hiked some more. I found both refuge and solace in the Western New York Hiking Challenge and will forever be indebted to the challenge created by Outside Chronicles. It may have been subconscious at first - a way to cope with everything life was throwing at me - but I was determined to complete every hike in the challenge that year, and I wanted to be among the first to finish.
Thank goodness for my obsession with taking pictures, because I honestly didn’t remember dyeing Easter eggs with my dad and brother, but alas, we did!
Something I definitely do remember is my episode on “Wander to the Edge,” where I talked about national parks, sports, and adventure with Adam Asher of The Edge of Adventure and Zanne from Where Gals Wander.
More hiking - long ones at that! Not only did I want to complete all the trails in the WNY Hiking Challenge, but I also aimed to tackle the Ultra Hikes, which were upwards of 20 miles!
A great highlight was getting dinner with one of my Yelp Buffalo friends at a fantastic restaurant - just look at this picture!
Spending time with my dad was important to me, but it was hard for me to sit still. So, I read a lot while he rested. Doing activities with him (and my brother) was challenging due to his treatment side effects, but we did manage to shoot some guns - safely, of course!
I never thought I would reach a point where I longed for interactions with humans, but I really did! So getting to hang out with friends as they passed through the most random area of New York State definitely deserves a spot on my highlight list. Thank you, Jen and Scott, for grabbing drinks with me - and Tom, too - which was extra special as he completed his quest to visit all of the counties in New York!
In June, after my dad finished his rounds of chemo but before his surgery to remove his bladder, I snuck south for a road trip to visit some national parks (and new states!). From Silver Creek, New York, I drove through the night to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. Am I the only person who had Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, on their bucket list!?
I explored the Flight 93 National Memorial (wow, speechless) and Shenandoah National Park, where I met up with my friends Mike and Rachel. Then it was time to visit three states at once at Cumberland Gap, where I got caught in an epic rainstorm. I was determined to make lemonade out of lemons all year - I certainly wasn’t going to let rain stop me from exploring.
Though fog, not rain, inhibited some of my views at Great Smoky Mountains National Park, I might not have seen any bears, but I did add another national park to my collection, and I’ll take that as a win! On my way back to New York, I stopped at America’s “newest” national park - New River Gorge - and basked in all its national park glory. This is a little tongue-in-cheek because really the only thing that changed was the signage.
The last stop on this road trip before returning to my dad’s house was another night indulging my love for Fairmont Hotels. I stayed at the Fairmont in Pittsburgh. Unfortunately, many amenities were unavailable due to the pandemic, but I will always get great joy from giving my filthy, dirty car to the five-star hotel valet guys and explaining my road trip!
Around this time, the school year finally came to an end, and major changes were just around the corner. I constantly go back and forth on whether I want to share the details of the insanity that was about to ensue in my life. The very long story short is that my dad went into the hospital to have his bladder removed (part of the cancer treatment plan), and I more or less got back together with my toxic, no-good ex-boyfriend (definitely NOT part of the cancer treatment plan).
I continued hiking extensively and again found solace and peace in nature. I challenged myself with these hikes but reveled in the accomplishment of every outing.
