6 Months Later... #84

    

 

 October has arrived in New England and with it brings cooler evenings, shorter days, changing of the leaves,and cranberry harvesting.  I took a walk yesterday afternoon - we live a block from the schools complex (elementary, middle, and high schools) - and watching all the after-school activity as I passed by made me smile.  Football, soccer practice, the track team sprinting around their newly built track, band rehearsing their march to the sound of a single drum beating. It was a plethora of sight and sound!

 

For the past two years, October, much like our feathered friends, has been time for us to head south for the winter. This year we ultimately made the decision to spend the colder months snuggled at home. I have mixed feelings, but overall for me - it just came down to the shear amount of work for me to prepare and the mental capacity I needed to plan everything. I just didn't have it in me. However, staying home doesn't necessarily mean - staying home.  We still will plan getaways all through the winter. And on the upside, it's nice to spend more time with family and friends!

Since we returned home, the summer just flew by! We did a lot of traveling: a getaway to Maine:

visiting friends in NY:

a couple of nights in CT to spend time at our favorite casinos:

 visit to family in Maryland:

 and the highlight - a family trip to Miami to board the Disney Magic Cruise Ship to Castaway Cay and Cozumel, Mexico. 

 It was a great summer and have gotten just a bit addicted to cruising! I have already booked a 24-day cruise next summer out of Boston on the Holland American Volendam - traveling up the coast of New England, into Canada's Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Labrador and over to Greenland and Iceland.  This is a dream cruise for me and I'm counting the days!

On the other side of things, we've had a lot of doctor appointments this year, but for the most part, we are doing well.  Some issues just come with age and even though it's sometimes frustrating, it's still better than the alternative. 💼

Right now, Charlie and I are working on projects around the house.  I just finished painting all the exterior doors to the house - a nice, bright red.  This was high on my list and I'm glad to get it done. 

Last week we washed, winterized and covered the trailer.  That cover has certainly seen better days and this might be it's final year. 

We pulled out our rowboat from behind the shed and put it up for sale. We are hoping to buy a kayak; I think we will enjoy it more.  

I drove by a place giving away free pallets so I pulled over and called Charlie to get them. We are going to restack our wood pile on one and use the others for various projects. 

And then there's the never-ending yard work! I started taking off the exterior pillows and cushions, washing them and storing them away, I need to move all the outdoor furniture and cover, the list goes on... a lot to do before it gets really cold. Thank goodness this week will be pretty nice!

    

I really miss Bay St. Louis and Bandera and the lovely people we have met.  I hope we can get back that way next year at some point.

The final bloom on my hydrangea

There’s No Place Like Home - #83

 

No truer words have ever been spoken. We are SO glad to be home! 

We actually arrived home a day early - Wednesday 4/19.  Our brakes were still functioning, tires all intact- why tempt fate? Charlie and I were so stressed from the driving; every time we had to stop in traffic- I wondered if the brakes would give out. It was no wonder we were exhausted! Our muscles were so tense, we both still have back and muscle aches. But we are home!! 

Home - after being away for over 6 months feels quite surreal.  It does take a bit of adjusting. Towards the end of our travels, we weren’t as careful packing the trailer and truck and being as organized as I usually am; we just didn’t care and couldn’t focus on anything besides getting to Massachusetts. I spent the last two days getting most of the stuff out of the trailer - in increments, so I could put away as I brought things in. I did three loads of laundry, made our bed, hung up and folded all the clothes from our trailer and the laundry and put the small amount of food we had leftover, away. We had to reset the TVs, phones and computers as the kids got new providers during our absence and we are enjoying good Wi-Fi and TV! Our apartment was once again in the pristine condition we had left it which made things a lot easier but I still have so much more to go through in the trailer plus cleaning out the storage compartments and the bed of the truck. 

Today, after a good night’s sleep - I went food shopping, to the bank, stopped by the senior center to pick up a schedule and picked up photos I ordered to replace in our frames on the wall. 

                                        

My mind has a long list of things to do, people to see, places to go. Yup - good to be home!

                                               

It’s Not About The Destination… #82

 

Just 350 miles more before we reach home!

Tires still inflated -✅

Brakes still working -✅

We had a wonderful time visiting our family in Maryland! They were so supportive of all we had gone through in our travels. They definitely made our time in the Chesapeake state easier; it was good to focus on things other than our vehicle troubles - and we had fun! We celebrated our Mom’s 98 birthday ( a little early), went on a walk by the C&O Canal, watched Top Gun Maverick and had delicious dinners! 

Yesterday we arrived at Boulder Woods Campground in Green Lane, PA. The traffic ( even on a Sunday) leaving Maryland on Route 95N was horrendous. Not to mention a tie up from a bus engulfed in flames shortly after we left. ( we were glad it wasn’t us!!!) We could feel the intense heat from the fire as we passed by! But we finally made it! 

Boulder Woods is definitely a “campground”.  The sites are spread over 75 acres of rocky woods.  The campsites are spacious and our section “Hickory” was virtually empty. This was a pleasant contrast to the crowds and inconsiderate campers we encountered at Cherry Hill Park.  As I said to Charlie  - “I must be getting grouchy in my old age”! This was a relaxing stopover. 

Today, Tuesday 4/18 - we are on our way to New York. 

That is our final stop before home! We can’t wait!

Onward…And The Fun Continues - NOT! - #81

4/11 - Tuesday

In the past two days, we have traveled about 500 miles. So far, so good. Right now, we are stopped at a KOA in Richmond, VA. Tomorrow is our shortest leg, just over 100 miles to College Park, MD.  We will be there four days.  

The weather has been so unpredictable. One day it’s damp and cold, we need the heat; then 75-85, sunny and have our ceiling fan on. As we’ve been driving up north, the trees are all budding with new life. We hope Massachusetts will be gentle with us - temperature-wise - when we arrive home next week. 

Today I feel exhausted and headachey - and I haven’t even done very much. We’ve both been feeling stressed about getting home safely. 

I’ve been doing some thinking; Charlie and I have been briefly discussing our future RVing. Ultimately, we’d like to keep our truck; hopefully it can be fixed to be reliable again. A new truck would be very expensive; I just want to do RVing travel for one more year - our big trip across the country. I am mulling over some ideas about what we can do after. If we have to adjust our plans, we will. We’ll see what happens after we get home. 

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We arrived the day before yesterday- Wednesday 4/12 in Maryland. Cherry Hill Park is a great RV park - just outside of DC. It is very large, offers so many amenities; it is truly a camping resort. We always love coming here! It’s also convenient to my Mom’s and sister’s homes which make it even more perfect. 

Shortly after we arrived and set up our trailer- I had a moment of deja vu. I said to Charlie “ I think that trailer tire looks low”.  Yup! Same tire. We had another flat. 

Yes - we are very fortunate none of our problems have occurred during travel, but come on now! We just need a break. 

Since we already had plans for Thursday with the family and are camped here until Sunday- we decided to wait until Friday ( today) to address the tire problem.  Kindly, our brother-in-law Jerry offered to make it easy on us and picked us up for the get together on Thursday; that helped relieve a little stress and it was good to get away from the truck and trailer.  We had such a fun day! It was great to see everyone- especially my mom.  Even though her birthday isn’t until 5/31 - we celebrated her 98th birthday! She isn’t as good getting around; her short term memory is shot, but her thinking, reasoning and intelligence is all intact.  We played a game of Rummy-O and she was absolutely amazing and won too!

Today, Friday the 14th- dealing with the tire problem. 

Charlie jacked up the trailer and we got the tire off. We decided to put our spare on ( which is a regular tire, just different rim) and use it for the duration of the trip. We took the flat  tire down to a small tire place just over a mile down the road, and they plugged it right away. We were back to the trailer in 15 minutes! 

For the rest of today, we are taking a mental health day. 

Doing nothing and not thinking about anything!  It feels good! I went for a walk, Charlie is playing with his radio. The weather is comfortable and for the moment- we are at peace! Ahhhhhhh