2023 was an amazing year of wonderful experiences near and far. I love looking at the past year and deciding on my favorite 2023 photos. Here is my 2023 “Favorites Album.” It’s really difficult to pick my very favorite but this July photo of Marla, me, and grandsons Vaughan and Owen, with our new best friend at “Elephant Eco Valley” north of Chiang Mai, Thailand, is at the top!

I love this photo of Marla visiting family in Dallas before Christmas.

While visiting the Preah Khan temple outside of Siem Reap, Cambodia, a monkey jumped up on grandson Owen. You can almost imagine him saying,…“Take a right,…take a right!”

We found Vaughan playing chess at Archer’s Restaurant & Bar in Chiang Mai. He and his brother wanted to explore the “Sunday Walking Street” after they left us to pay the bill at the restaurant next door. I was really proud of him to go into this place and sit down to play the 9-year-old Chiang Mai chess champion.

This photo of Marla on our terrace at the Chatrium Hotel in Bangkok speaks volumes! She worked so hard to improve her health the whole year with many 2-a-day workouts, physical therapy,…and the help of a great team of doctors at South Denver Cardiology Associates! We were not aware until after the trip how the extreme heat in Southeast Asia adversely effected her heart medicines!

This is a wonderful photo of our daughter Stacy at a Big Birthday celebration at “Mister Charles” in Dallas!

Our daughter Lisa and her family at sunset on Huntington Beach.

A Newport Beach memory of Lisa and I at the “Cannery Seafood of the Pacific.”

Marla and Stacy last October in Dallas.

Sunset at Waikoloa Beach on the Big Island.

Imitating the warriors at Wat Phra Keow at Bangkok’s Grand Palace.

A photo of a…photographer.

We met grandson Paxton in Washington DC for visits to wonderful museums and dinners with good friends. He is admiring “Little Dancer Age 14” by Edgar Degas 1878 in the National Gallery of Art.

Sunset at Stacy & Stan’s lake house last week.

Lunch at “Las Brisas” in Laguna Beach.

My good friend and consummate adventurer Tom Rackerby turned me on to a brand new 2023 cycling experience and tour company; an e-bike, perfect for steep Tuscan Hills, and the Canadian company, Butterfield & Robinson. The two of us are relaxing after a wonderful day of riding with an Aperol Spritz at the Como Castello De Nero Hotel.

A summer sunset.

The “Pride” march in Denver with Logan and Lisa.

Oh the stories Marla could tell about being in Chillis Antiques in Chiang Mai. “Children,…please plug your ears!”

Marla at “Buddha Point” at the Hilton Waikoloa Village on the Big Island.

It’s always a little sad saying goodbye to the family.

Marla and Vaughan at the Jim Thompson House and Museum in Bangkok. Vaughan found a silk shirt he fell in love with!

A Chinese tourist taking a selfie at the Grand Palace in Bangkok.

Hiking with Marla on the Big Island.

Dinner with Logan and Paxton this week.

After finally getting my bike back from the shop (I needed a new carbon frame!) I relished going on rides and loving Colorado’s nature. I’m on a trail next to Lake Dillon at 9017′ high.

A wonderful early morning at Hotel La Fontanelle in Pianella near Sienna in Tuscany. I loved the low mists over the distant vineyards.

A new adventure at Banteay Srei, a 10th-century Hindu temple in Siem Reap, Cambodia dedicated to Shiva and Parvati in the Angkor complex. 

At Wat Phra That Doi Suthep on the mountain above Chiang Mai.

The Ponte Vecchio in Florence.

The ancient entrance to “Fattoria La Loggia” in picturesque Montefiridolfi in Tuscany.

I’ve never seen such happy faces!

Very happy and hot while exploring temples in Angkor.

May your 2024 include new happy discoveries and explorations. Keep your curiosity knob at…“11”!

Photos: Dick Gentry. Not to be used without permission.