2021 New Experiences

 2021 New Experiences

Taking a look back at 2021, here are some new experiences for me...

New Places Visited

Asheville, NC - Still limiting travel due to Covid, but decided to drive to Asheville, NC for a visit.  Asheville is a small city with a vibrant art scene, from the Folk Art Center to the many downtown galleries. There is also an excellent variety of microbreweries, including the Wicked Weed Funkatorium and New Belgium Brewery.  

New Activities

Virtual Reality - I first tried this last year when I got an Oculus Quest II VR headset, but the list of new experiences continues to grow.  Some of my favorite experiences include...

• Eleven Table Tennis - being able to play against my brother, brings back fond memories of our epic table tennis matches when we were kids.  Nice to be able to play again, even though we live far away from each other.
• Mission ISS - a full-up detailed experience of being inside (or OUTSIDE!) the international space station.  Experience floating around and using your arms to pull yourself around the station, with loads of pop-up descriptions explaining what you are looking at. 
• Anne Frank House - take a virtual tour of the Anne Frank house.  I don't know if I'll ever make it to the real house in Amsterdam, but it's closed now due to Covid, so this is probably the best tour you can get.
• Army of Dead VR experience - this is a commercial VR experience that is only running in DC and London at the moment, but it looks like it rotates to other cities.  You and five of your friends are put into the back of a truck (a room that looks like a truck in VR) and shoot at a horde of zombies from the 'safety' of the truck.  A well done immersive experience that is not too scary.  I expect that we will see even more and better immersive experiences like this in the future.  Can't wait.
  

New Foods

Tried a new restaurant called My Cravings for some Turkish breakfast.  The breakfast featured a wide assortment of breads and spreads.  And that would have been filling enough, but it also came with muhlama which is a mixture of corn flour butter and cheese, for dipping the bread into.

The Brood

 It has been 17 years and Brood X is back.  Boy are they loud.

I'm thinking about trying the cicada tacos at Cocina On Market in Leesburg (photo below courtesy of Cocina).

2020 - Good Riddance

This post is usually titled "New Experiences", but "Good Riddance" is more appropriate for 2020.  2020 was mostly filled with sadness and troubles, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

New Losses

My Father - My father was a victim of the Covid-19 pandemic. As much of a loss as this was for us, it was exacerbated by the way the pandemic isolated our family, prevented us from being with him on his last days, and had made it difficult for us to grieve together.  Sadly, many families around the world are experiencing similar tragedies.  At least there is hope for 2021 that the vaccine will help us reach herd immunity.  A new normal will be reached, but it won't be like before the pandemic.

Neil Peart - Drummer and lyricist for the band Rush.  Rush is one of my favorite bands and Neil Peart was an inspirational person.  His lyrics were poetic and unique for a rock band.  He was a big part of what makes Rush special.  He died too young.

James Randi - James Randi was a scientific skeptic who has contributed greatly to the skeptical community.  I had the fortune to meet him when he gave a talk at a local University and I also attended one of his skeptical conferences, which was an awesome experience .  He was an excellent science communicator.

 

New Experiences

Not a lot of opportunity for new experiences due to the Covid pandemic.  Had to cancel a trip to Alaska, which was a big disappointment.  I'll get there eventually.

Virtual Reality - Not really my first time experiencing it, but now I have my own headset.  Playing games, socializing and taking virtual tours are great features of virtual reality, especially when real life travel options are limited. 

New Food

Became a big fan of single ingredient ice cream this year.  Easy to make and very tasty.

Discovered golden kiwi this year.  Much sweeter than green kiwi.

It IS Rocket Science

Check out this incredible visualization of what is happening inside a rocket being launched into space.  The rocket engines are shown translucent so you can see what is going on.

From left to right, these are the  Saturn V, Space Shuttle, Falcon Heavy and the Space Launch System (SLS) rockets.  Red = kerosene RP1, Orange = liquid hydrogen and Blue = liquid oxygen

Brilliant video by Hazegrayart

2019 New Experiences

Taking a look back at 2019, here are some new experiences for me...

New Places Visited
Mount Rushmore / South Dakota - It was on the bucket list.  Mt. Rushmore was not the highlight of the trip, though.  I really enjoyed visiting Custer State Park in the Black Hills.


New Activities
Topgolf - Last year I tried this for the first time, but this year I signed up for a league.  This was a log of fun and my golf swing is improving.
Pickleball - Similar to tennis, but easier to learn and enjoy without finding somebody with similar skill level.
GoApe -  A treetop ropes adventure that had a wide range of increasingly difficult challenges.  I was exhausted by the end of the experience.

New Foods
The grasshopper tacos at Cocinas were surprisingly good.  They also make a decent jalapeno  infused cocktail.

2018 New Experiences

Taking a look back at 2018, here are some new experiences for me...

New Places Visited
Downtown Denver, CO - while I have been to the Denver area many times, I don't think that I've ever spent any significant time downtown. 
Morgantown WV - While camping in West Virginia, I stopped by Morgantown.  Home to West Virginia University, it was a nice oasis in the wilderness. 

New Activities
Topgolf - Been meaning to try this.  It was fun.

New Foods
This year I've become a fan of spiced drinks such as Michelada (spiced beer).   Crooked Run Brewery is running White Guys From Maine Make the Best Salsa which is very similar to a Michelada.

Snacks

I put the following snack options out for the household to enjoy, a nice healthy pear and some HoHos.  Can you guess what happened next?  Click on the picture to see.