In August 2017, Eileen took a business trip to the Pacific Northwest. As has become somewhat a form of vacation, Bruce joined her and they spent a few days in Seattle.

Bruce's mother passed away in early February, but did not want a funeral. Instead, her wish was that her ashes be spread in the Gulf of Mexico off the Florida coast. This trip happened on Mother's Day (Linda's idea...a great one). Our cousin Bobby Blakeman arranged the boat trip with his neighbor, who just happened to have about the right size boat.

Our plan was originally to have this visit with Eileen's Florida family earlier in the year, but it got pre-empted by the somewhat expected passing of her stepfather, Alex Kaczetow. We made the best of the situation and even got to spend some quality time with Aunt Ruthie, who's in her 90's in these photos.

In June, Bruce and Eileen flew to Denver, CO, for a week+ vacation. Bruce's primary objective was to scout retirement locations, while Eileen was apparently just on vacation. We traveled to Denver, Colorado Springs, Golden, Pueblo, as well as Taos and Santa Fe, NM. We also hit Boulder and Fort Collins.