The Road Ahead

A whole lot has changed since last we sold a home, so it was a surprise to us that we would sign the closing papers on one day, and the buyers would sign on the next day. As fate would have it, our realtor Lynn was on her yearly vacation, so her partner Ann stepped in for her. We met at a title company downtown...

and within about thirty minutes, we began the moving on process. We both thought it was so weird to not have the buyers there, in fact it didn't even feel real, but apparently that is how it is done in 2017. Although we gave Ann most of the keys, I still had one, and technically the house was still ours, so I made one last trip over to check on the pool, and bring up a garbage can. I cooked many a meal in this now spotless kitchen...

I took one last photo of the MINI in our driveway before saying goodbye to a third of our lives together.

If you are a long time reader you may recall picking out the paint color, and what I put myself through for that! The windows, the blue door, it all belongs to other folks now as of Friday afternoon at 4:30PM.

 Meanwhile back at the condo the birdies have been good...the owl was nowhere to be found this morning, but one of them has been around for several days prior.

The ducklings are growing up...

and just this morning a Snowy Egret showed up for a photo shoot.

Although I got rid of a whole bunch of stuff, this was not something I could part with. A tiny little journal of our first trip across the country, and interestingly enough, the timing is pretty darn close, at least the month is. The year was 1977.

Another page in this notebook details every time we filled up with gas. The total for 2,500 miles? $81.00! I suspect we'll spend nearly that much by our second day, don't you?

This post is written in great haste as the day has somehow slipped away...Bruce is anxiously awaiting my completion, so he may find a place for my computer. I really want my sewing machine with me, but I HAVE to take my computer ...how else will we stay in touch?

Wish us luck as we leave bright and early in the morning for a GRAND ADVENTURE...or so we hope!!

yours truly,

Gail

p.s. I will try and blog along the way but no promises!

A Peek Inside

Bruce and I are heading out for some adventure later today. We've been puzzling about where to go to spend a few days. Naturally I have more ideas than we have time, but hey, a girl can dream can't she? He asked me which way we were headed, north, or south? My response at 1 o'clock was--I'm not sure. I was thinking of the Fort Myers area as I've wanted to see Thomas Edison's house for ages. When I was a girl I was enamored of inventors--maybe that's why I married one. Did you know that about Bruce? He can not only fix anything, but he can invent stuff as well. Re: my booth display as the latest example. People are usually very impressed with the booth if nothing else!

Another idea was Charleston, South Carolina. I've never been there, and the idea of actually leaving the state is appealing. My friends from the northeast can hop from state to state like nobodies business, but here in Florida, it is a commitment. I believe I have mentioned in the past that if you drove from Key West to the Panhandle it would be something like 1,000 miles. At least lots of it is pretty. When we were just babies, (24), we moved to California. I thought we would never get out of Texas alive as it is 880 miles across nothing but scrub--or so it seemed at the time. As well, it was late August with no AC in the car. My goodness, it was quite the trip. Traveling through Palm Springs, CA, I thought we would surely melt. It was about 130 degrees. We wet towels and put them over the open windows for what seemed like a bit of coolish air. How people lived out there before air-conditioning is beyond me.

Jonathan and Alissa are on the road to their new life as I type. Last we heard they were in Alabama, the car packed, and the cat on Alissa's lap.

So, there you go--when I return, you'll find out where we went.