Happy Holidays 2017

Greetings of the Season!

I wonder sometimes how long it takes other people to write these annual letters.  Do I take an extraordinarily short amount of time or an excruciatingly long 
time? Maybe I’ll start a timer and see. I’m 97% sure of this:  it will take longer for me to write it than it will for you to read it.

Timer:  3 Seconds

The timer should stop now b/c I just switched to GChat with Tim.

Timer: 23 Minutes 20 Seconds

2017 was a great year for the VA Castros and for #castrotravels. But let's start off with some good news for those of you who may have actually read one of 
these letters in the past few years! Here it is:
You will NEVER have to read another letter with Jed complaining about doing homework for grad
school. I FINISHED!! And as the saying goes TGTO. That's really not a saying as much as it's an
acronym. But it's really not that either, it's more like 4 capital letters with no spaces. Anyway, my response to grad school is the same as yours is in regard to this paragraph: Thank God That's Over.

Here is a smattering of some of the stuff we did.
We went to some US cities this year:

We had a few extra hours..

Las Vegas:  to see the Grand Canyon, and well, cuz it’s Vegas

The last year of Joe Louis Arena. Don't know the guy in the back, but we asked him to join

Detroit:  to see a game in the legendary Joe Louis Arena before it closed. We explored an extremely underrated city with great friends.  We totally recommend giving this place a chance.  The Motor City is on the come up.

Waiting in line for the SuperDawg.  It was hot.

Chicago:  We got some Superdawgs & Ginos East.  Even that is miles ahead of Lou Malnati’s. Take that, Jay.

Colorado Avalanche game.  Hockey was boring but company was unbeatable.

Denver: We saw friends, smoke weed (j/k?), watched hockey, drink wine & beer, and saw the Rockies, of course.  But not the baseball team.

We're smiling cuz we haven't fallen yet.

Pittsburgh:  The Steel City has an underrated St. Patrick’s Day celebration, mediocre baseball in an outstanding stadium and great nightlife.  We tried ice skating with our niece:  and it wasn't a pretty sight.  But hey, it could have been worse, there were no broken bones.

The quest to get Prince Pepto to NYC for Christmas. We could not let him down.

NYC: the GCOAT (Greatest City of all Time)

Timer: 35 Minutes 21 seconds
but should be reduced b/c I accidentally closed the tab on my browser that this letter was in.

We also saw some concerts this year:

• BoyzIIMen:  Like we were young high schoolers in love, talking in the lowest, bass-iest voice possible, and breaking out the sweet Boy Band Moves for “On Bended Knee”

• U2:  The Joshua Tree Tour, like we were rebellious Junior high kids rocking out to the Album of the Year.  

• The Lumineers:  No pictures of this one. We saw them for 1 song, b/c we were idiots and got there late.  Thanks alot, Central Time. You suck.

• John Mayer:  Stacie went w/o me on this. Super-talented, and always puts on a great show.

Ed Sheeran:  Great show in a great venue for Stacie’s birthday.  Probably her favorite concert of the year.

Timer: 1 Hour 6 Minutes 44 seconds
I’m really wasting a lot time looking at this timer.

Lest you begin to think that our life is overly glorious and utopian, here's Boring Stuff that no one talks about in Christmas letters and we put in here for Becca:

- We ruined our kitchen floors

- We had to get our plumbing worked on (that’s not a euphemism) because we were tired of lukewarm showers
- I still look like someone punched me in both eyes.
- We switched to a new mouthwash
- We got colds.  
- We both got to that point when you have a cold that your runny nose becomes boogers.  You want to pick them b/c it hurts when you blow your nose b/c
your nose is full of boogers, but you can’t pick them b/c you are in public and it’s socially unacceptable to pick your nose in public.

Timer: 19 Hours 45 Minutes 53 Seconds.
Wow.  I guess it takes a lot longer to write boring stuff than I thought.  
(Now you say, “You should know how long it takes, Jed. You’ve been writing boring stuff in Christmas letters for 15 years now”)

And here were the Big Highlights of the year:

Jed put down the camera for his first HokiesFootball game since 2005, got to sit in the stands with Stacie and see Virginia Tech hammer ECU 64-17 on Stacie’s birthday #SorryNotSorry, Todd.
AND..

Stacie got to get work a Virginia Tech game ON THE FIELD for the first time ever!

We made our first visit to the Swamp in Gainesville Florida, courtesy of Alicia.  It’s a great college football venue, even though it was a rough season for the
gators. 

Banff National Park, Canada:  

Moraine Lake

Lake Bow, on the way to Glacier Falls.  This is the lake I fell in. Stacie laughed. Eric grabbed my drink. Only Audrey helped.

A bear on the side of the road. I wish I had video of Eric freaking out.

Admittedly, I had not heard of Banff before we started looking into going in early May. It was
absolutely stunning.  We struggled through some knee-high packed snow, saw a grizzly bear and
some avalanches.  Had some more poutine - I think we don't like it.Also, Jed fell into an icy lake and Stacie laughed.  Also, Canadians are SOFA KING friendly!

Australia and New Zealand:  

A trip of a lifetime and a dream come true.We saw our 6th continent, and our 5th ocean. We went snorkeling/scuba-ing at the Great Barrier Reef.  It’s still unbelievable to write those words.  We swam with sea turtles. We held koalas.  They are not bears, by the way.  We saw an operetta in the Sydney Opera House.  We ate kangaroo and Vegemite. We listened to U2’s One Tree Hill while sitting at the top of One Tree Hill.  We drove on the left side of the road in the rain
to see  glo-worms.  We fed kookaburras and wallabies.  We even got back to the states in time to spend about 14 hours with at #CastrOBX for July 4th! This one was certainly one for the ages.

A koala-ty picture of a lifelong dream

The famed Sydney Opera House. 

This is for the birds. Literally.

Loch Ard Gorge, along the Great Ocean Road, on the southern Australian coast.

The view from Rangitoto Island in New Zealand, complete with rainbow.

Only 1 of the 3 survived.

Every year, I begin to write this letter with and ironic, satirical and almost flippant attitude, figuring that no one really cares about what we do.  And inevitably as I look back at the year, I realize how fortunate and blessed we are to have such great opportunities in life and such great people to share it with.  
Thank you all for being part of our life and our journey. Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! Merry Kwanzaa! Happy New Year! Let's make 2018 the best year yet