Remembering....

Late today, we learned of the sudden passing of a warm hearted and generous man who left us with good memories of good times. Jerry was my sister Maureen's husband. This was on our cruise to Alaska a few years ago. He will be missed by his many friends , his family and especially, his dogs.
He was a great cook and king of the barbeque. We'll plan to fly west when plans are finalized.

July 4th

Just a quick note to let you know that we are here.......the beautiful mtns of North Carolina....we've been here enough that it is all looking familiar and comfortable. We are actually in Flat Rock, about 30 min or so from Asheville. Flat Rock is the home of Carl Sandburg and I've written about the area in the past. We are heading out to see the Biltmore Estate. The Scott's have chastised us for not exploring this in the past but we were saving it for another day, which is finally here......pictures at 11.

Last night we drove over to Brevard for their fireworks display. We had no idea where they were but planned to follow the crowd. We found that crowd at the Ingles grocery store parking lot. People were parked everywhere and sitting all around waiting. So we parked, climbed a small embankment, put down our chairs and had a good show. The parking lot lights remained lit but after awhile, they weren't noticeable. I'd show pictures but forgot my real camera and the iPhone didn't do them justice. There is a Starbucks inside the store and two ambitious barristers came out to serve iced coffees and lemonade and iced tea. It was cute with their rolling bar. I also had a pic of that but your imagination is better.

Altho the weather is cooler, neighbors around the camp say it has been hot and humid and we had arrived after the rain.

Hope your 4th was sparkly and cool.

And we're off...

It seemed to take forever to get going today. Someone was checking and rechecking tires and finally getting the pressure equalized while someone else had one eye on the Casey Anthony trial (yes, it is a very big deal downhere with practically 24 hr coverage) and carrying load after load of clothes, shoes, food, wine and electronics....... For "camping" we require: 2 laptops, 2 iPhones, 1 iPad, 1 Kindle, 1 DirectTV box, 2 Sonicare toothbrushes, 1 GPS, and various sensors and monitors. It's all a bit much if you ask me but what should we leave behind? Actually, we did leave the electric corkscrew behind and the can opener........so that will require some manual labor.


We saw this cute bus at a rest stop....it said Legoland and was filled with teenagers. The new Legoland will be opening this fall at the old Cypress Gardens site. ( click to enlarge)


P is wearing his souvenir shirt from the Clinton museum....it might be more tolerated outside of 'the bubble'.
We're somewhere in Georgia and the campground is resplendant in crepe myrtle blooming in many colors.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Perry, Georgia

Ready, set......

Not quite to GO yet but getting close. We'll head out in a day or so and go to Asheville. It's cooler there, we enjoy the mountains and the views and the art culture is appealing. We have no plans beyond that until about the middle of the month when we will head up to Andy and Mason's house. We also will go up to the Finger Lakes in NY for a meet up with camping friends for a few days. (Dean/Diane, come join us !) Because our travel plans are so fluid, we are packing clothes for all seasons and occasions. Add in bikes, golf clubs, and electronic must haves, we will be pretty full....and yet , we still call it 'camping'.

You remember this cute little dog that we enjoyed meeting at Jeff and Jen's.....Guiness. We'll, he has some issues ..... but cuteness will get you far. Anyhow, like so many dogs, he becomes psychotic during these days of fireworks. At my urging, they are trying out "The Thundershirt" on him and so far they have seen some results. Paul thinks its a quack and a gimmick but I'm hoping that Guiness will prove him wrong. All he needs now are some noise cancelling headphones and soothing tunes and he'll forget all about stress.

I'm aware that some bloggers don't like to advertise that they are not home......thinking that the local burglars are reading all of this dither and just waiting to invade. Well, since we are taking EVERYTHING with us, they are welcome to the rest. Plus we have old and wise and seeing- all neighbors that I wouldn't want to tangle with......and, the killer geckos are always in wait. The other night we left our garage doors open and got a call the next morning from Community Watch to see if we were OK. They should just have a universal door opener so they could just close them all since we are not the only ones. A bigger problem for our neighbor is a rodent that has taken a liking to hoses in his car. It cost him over $400 the first time and now he's finding nibble marks again despite traps and poison.

So, between rodents who can disable the thief's car and roving CW keeping on eye on the old people, we feel comfortable announcing our plans.

Definitely, maybe........

Any plans we had for travel are again up in the air. Not a problem but soon, we'd like to know which direction on the compass we are going to follow. The memorial service for Romayne has been postponed until fall. It will work out better for everyone.

We could stay with Plan A and head west.....or deviate a bit and head North....or combine them into one lonnnggg meander. We'll decide this week when P gets the FAA and simulators out of his brain.

Meanwhile, as I think about this weighty issue, I am sorting and cleaning and packing up Romayne's things. Most everything is being donated to Habitat for Humanity for their thrift store. A beautiful mink coat will go to the Humane Society to be used for beds for wild animal babies. China and silver is being packed up for a niece who is the beneficiary. This is my dining room table....first I had to unpack it after being in this box since the original move....and then I will repack into smaller boxes. Luckily, I don't have to polish this silver

And I'm learning that I know nothing about jewelry. She left some lovely rings, beautiful pearls, assorted pins. I thought I could figure out what was 'real' and what wasnt' but just to be sure, I took it to 2 jewelry stores for a quick appraisal.....well, most of it was plated gold , zirconia and fake ....even the beautiful pearls. But does it really matter? I'm sure that like me, most people can't tell the difference and the recipients will appreciate them regardless.

It's always fun when Jon snaps pictures with his phone as he zips thru the skies and various airports.
It's good to see these familiar colors once again.......yesterday in Tampa.

Transition......

Aunt Romayne gently slipped away this past weekend. She was 98, highly independent, enthusiastic and always with a smile and positive word. She lived in Florida near us for about 3 years, but always missed her Colorado mountains.

So we are in transition as well. Travel plans have always been a bit limited due to not wanting to leave her for more than about 2 weeks at a time. Now, we have a wide open schedule and I think we are finding it a bit daunting.

We'll load up the RV and begin with a trip west for her memorial service mid-July in Colorado Springs. We will probably continue in a westerly direction altho meandering around without too many plans is always more fun.

Weather has been very very hot and dry down here. The golf courses are hurting and restricted to cart path only which makes for a long , hot game. There is a good deal offered of $6 for 18 holes after 5 on the Championship courses. We played last week and it does start to cool off about 7 and with a cold one in the cooler, it makes for a fun evening with friends. I'm loving a new Ping 7 wood that works off the tee, on the fairway, in the rough and would probably do fine as a putter. I suggested that I need a matched set but no one heard me.

Paul is working a bit, making 2 trips this month to Miami for instructing. I hold down the homestead and ward off the geckos.

Back to reality...........

We are fortunate in that we have the option of flying on Continental as non-revenue (read 'free') passengers. We have a long history of this nerve racking style of traveling, beginning with our privileges at Eastern Airlines as an employee and then with CAL as a parent of an employee. It is increasingly more difficult to try the stand- by route due to fewer flights and fuller planes. We can check boarding totals but they change rapidly. On occasion, we go ahead and buy a Southwest ticket to have in our pocket as they have a good change policy. We did this for our trip to Vancouver and we had to use the ticket when CAL fell apart. Coming home, we opted to try the red-eye and there were plenty of seats on Continental and we got 1st class which makes it even sweeter.......plus, add in the new seats that recline into a bed, and I could have flown to China. So, thanks Jon for going to work just so your old parents can recline and relax.
Florida sunshine looked pretty good after our days of rain and chilly but we miss the green views, the excellent food and welcoming charm of Jennifer and Jeff's beautiful home.

(I'm writing the blog on the computer again......the spacing is better and the pictures are bigger but for travel, the iPad is the way to go.)

Raining cat and dog...

It has rained much of the time we have enjoyed being here. Sometimes it is just sporadic and then was a sideways deluge when Jennifer and I were shopping in Portland. We were carrying bright red shopping bags from Nordstrom's big sale and they became soggy and left their color on her white coat and on my pale gold bag. Fortunately, we were able to sponge it off my bag and her coat will go to the cleaners but you'd think someone would have considered the results of red bags and rain.












We haven't been able to enjoy this colorful patio but Jeff braved the elements to finish this perfect dinner prepared by Jen.








I tried to get a decent picture of Kitty but she is a bit shy.








And speaking of shy, here is the cutest but quietest dog ever.








This is Guiness and he is a minature Akita, or a shiba inu. He is about 30 lbs and prefers the solitude of his room upstairs to the chatter down. His coat and markings are beautiful.








Paul and I drove over to Cannon Beach yesterday and it was chilly but bright and sunny













































A pattern in the sand. We'd love to park the RV somewhere along the coast and enjoy the view for awhile.

And.....if you're wondering why I've become such a prolific blogger of late, ( and I know you have been thinking that !), it's because of this easy app on the iPad that makes it a snap to add pictures. They are a bit smaller but most are clickable for enlarging.

Location:Vancouver, washington

On the river

We were invited to go for a boatride last night. I had no expectations until we got to the Vancouver Yacht Club and walked among the boat slips.











These are the 'boat houses' and there are many,many of them along the river. Once the door opened, we gaped in amazement.








John and Louise welcomed us aboard and we had a spectacular cruise on the Columbia River.






















































































I believe the 'boat' was powered by wine.......

Location:Vancouver,Washington

On the road again

We left the searing heat behind yesterday and headed West. With a quick stop in Denver, I had initial concerns about our flight path leaving Florida. It seemed tp me that we would have to fly right thru the nasty weather plaguing the center of the country. But knowing I had my trusty loyal traveling companion to allay my anxieties,I was prepared. As it turned out, my seatmate snored thru it all and the bumps were mostly in my mind.



We arrived early to chilly misty weather but it actually feels good for a change and it's not snow.
Today we pack up the Spanx and head out to search for a non-matronly MOTG dress. Stay tuned.

Location:Vancouver, Washington