Every year, right about now, I see all these Top Ten of 2024 lists popping up around the interwebs. A few years ago, I decided to get into the act. At first, I did my “Top Ten  Things That Happened” that year as well as my “Top Five Things I Ate,” and of course, my “Top Ten Photos” I took. For the last two years, it’s been just the photos, and that’s what I am going to do for 2024 as well.

This does not mean that there were not ten great experiences or five great meals; it just means that I didn’t take photos of all of them, and I know you are all about the pictures. If I were to list The Top Ten places We Visited in 2024, they would include:

1. Scotland (especially the Isle of Skye and shooting the puffins on Lunga).
2. Norway (especially Geiranger Fjord and Tromsô).
3. Portugal (especially the Douro, Cascais, Sintra and Lisbon).
4. England (especially seeing Paul and Gail in Leeds and doing the Ted Lasso tour in Richmond).
5. Spain (especially our days in Toledo and Segovia).
6. Olympia, Washington (because our kids live there).
7. Chilliwack, British Columbia (because our best buddies live there)
8. Vancouver (because we celebrated our 25th anniversary there with dinner at CinCin, one of our favorite places to eat).
9. Pacific Beach, Washington (because we spent four days with the kids there during our annual beach trip).
10. Alameda, California (because we had to be in the Bay Area to settle Kathleen’s mother and brother’s estates, and there are two great restaurants and two great attorneys there.).

And if I had to name my Five Best Bites of 2024, it would have to go in this order:

1. Venison stew at Ardnamurchan restaurant in Glasgow, Scotland.
2. Grilled chicken and french fries in an unnamed restaurant in Cascais, Portugal.
3. Pickled walnuts at The View restaurant in Portree, Scotland.
4. The appetizer plate (especially the chicken) at Banca di Roma in Glasgow, Scotland.
5. A toss-up between the lemon tortellini at Rancho Capistrano Winery in San Juan Capistrano, California or the tater tots at Bureau 510 in Alameda, California.

See, I am just going to do my Top Ten Photos. Wait! What have I done? I guess you will have to come back in the next few days (before we get to 2025) to see the photos. Keep an eye out.

And now it’s time for our nightly Top Ten…     David Letterman