Welcome to 2011 “The Year of NO”

Amazingly we survived 2010 with some great highlights and adventures. So what will 2011 bring? Good question. I have decided to call 2011 “The Year of NO” because so many things I have done in the past I will not be doing this year. Mostly due to timing not because I don’t want to. Let’s look at the list:
MINIs On The Dragon – April 27 to May 1
The BEST MINI event East of the Mississippi- Since Sue and I started going we have missed it once.  We stay at the Blue Waters Mountain Lodge and have a wonderful time.  Reason for skipping it this year- It occurs right in the middle of statewide testing.

A MINI Vacation In Vegas – May 19 to 22
The biggest MINI event West of the Mississippi.  We went for the first time last year because it occurred the first weekend of Spring Break.  Reason for missing this year- I’m in school and it will be crunch time as we close out the year.

San Diego Comic-Con – July 21-24
The BIGGEST Comic Convention in the UNIVERSE!!!  Missed last year because tickets were sold out before I decided I wanted to go.  Reason for missing this year-  They sold out of some badges (those with Preview Night) at the Con last year and still haven’t been able to get registration to work properly.  Compound that headache with the cost of flying and the cost of a hotel… thanks, but no thanks.

Groundspeak Block Party – August 18
Went to the Lost & Found event  last year in conjunction with GeoWoodstock had a great time, would love to attend and go caching around the Pacific Northwest again. Reason for not attending- School starts the 15th.

MINI United – August 26 to 28
The Biggest MINI event in the World.  Went to Silverstone (which kicked this comic strip off) and met some wonderful people and had a great time. Reason for missing it- School starts the 15th.

For those who love to say “being a teacher must be wonderful… you get all that time off.” What I give up for getting “all that time off” is the flexibility to say “I’m going to take a few days off” anytime between August and June.  Not upset, just a cold hard fact.

Do I miss going to all those events and thingies?  Not really.  I’m planning on having a wonderful year.  What will I be doing?  I will be traveling & I will be attending a few conventions and events.  I just don’t know which ones, yet.  The only thing I have registered for is C2E2 in Chicago.  Sue & I are also planning on attending GeoWoodstock in Pennsylvania in July.  Sue and I have talked about actually traveling without an agenda (except for caching).  It has been a while since we did that. A possible goal would be to finally color in the rest of the U.S. Map when it comes to caching, that might be a bit ambitious.  But who knows we might be in your neighborhood.  Look for the guy with the monkey in the Mini. I do hope everyone’s 2011 is fantastic, Happy New Year!