If I chose one word to describe my year, it would probably be transitory. In 2005 I lived in three different states, worked three different jobs (plus a dozen or so pieces of contract work), drove about 25,000 miles, and racked up another 30,000 or so of frequent miles.

And, if you know me, you probably also know that I have an absolutely terrible memory. So rather than say this is list of most memorable moments of 2005, I would prefer to call it 20 moments I actually remember. The first five, in no particular order, are below.

Road Trip: MA to CO

My first drive across the country – I didn’t make it all the way to the west coast, but I wasn’t far off with Colorado. I somehow duped Liz in to coming with me, and it ended up being a great time. We took a fairly slow pace, covering the 2,400 miles in about four days and stopped at a lot of great diners, rest stops and tourist traps. Highlights of the trip include seeing Frank Lloyd Wright’s Falling Water, St. Louis, and a stop in Terre Haute, Indiana, my mom’s hometown. The less exciting moments include Kansas.

Falling Waters

This was a stop on the cross-country tour, and is one of my favorite chunks of architecture. The design is amazing, and the thousands of photographs you see don’t come anywhere near to doing it justice. Designed and built in the 30’s, it looks as if it could have been created yesterday - definitely worth the trek out to middle-of-nowhere Pennsylvania.

Pike Place Market

On a trip out to the west coast, we found ourselves in Seattle for a day. One of the highlights was wandering through this huge market near the water. This place is fantastic - you can grab a hand printed t-shirt, a 30 pound salmon, a great latte (see below) and incredibly cheap flowers all in one place. As an added bonus, there always seemed to be a busker playing a tiny piano that he pushed from one end of the market to the other.

Drinking Coffee

My last memorable cup of coffee was at a wedding when I was 12 years old. It contained more sugar than coffee, and didn’t really do much for me. Aside from a few indiscretions as a teenager, I’ve been coffee free for the last 13 years. When I found myself in Seattle, I decided I would give it another shot, so I tried a latte. Those things are pretty tasty, and they quickly lead to other coffee products. (My latest cup being at 4AM in the hometown hot dog joint, where I proclaimed that I would be drinking “coffee black� several dozen times, to the enjoyment of all my friends, I’m sure.)

So, I’m back on the stuff, sometimes enjoying as many as three cups in a month. I know, it’s crazy.

The beginning of that part of your life when everyone you know gets married

The title sort of says it all on this one. If I know you, chances are you probably got married or engaged in the last year or two. If you haven’t yet - you probably will this year. Congratulations Brian, Bryan, Eric, Jared, Jill, Jim, Joanna, Jon, Margaret, Molly, Priya, Sabrina, Shayna, and Summit.

Australia: Frasier Island

Whenever I tell people about my impromptu trip to Australia this August, I usually end up talking about Frasier Island. It’s a 70 mile long sandbar off the east coast of Australia, about 2 hours north if Brisbane. (They call it a sandbar, and it is, but in addition to the sand, it has lots of forest and a couple fresh water lakes). The only way to get onto the island is via Ferry, and the only way to get around on the island is via a very rugged four wheel drive vehicle – the kind with an exhaust snorkel out the top so you can go through the many small (and sometimes large) rivers that run across the highway. Oh, the highway is the beach a long one side of the island – there are no paved roads anywhere.

So, Adam, Tiffany, and I picked up our diesel Toyota Land Cruiser (complete with 75 gallon gas tank) and headed off for three days of off-roading, hiking, camping, and nature watching. We saw whales, dingoes, alligators (or were they crocodiles?), beautiful sunsets, lots of Aussie’s, giant sand dunes, and even an eagle or two. And the best part? Australian’s call beers stubbies. How great is that?!