Monday, July 28, 2008

THE PAST TWO YEARS IN A NUTSHELL

My friend Lisa J mentioned today that she had no idea we lived in an apartment. I'm thinking that many of my new readers have no idea about my past, so thought I'd do a quick update, detailing the last two years of our lives.

In June 2006 hubby and I retired from working at a small Lutheran college in Minnesota, he as the director of maintenance, me as the assistant registrar. We sold our home, gave away all our furniture and stuff, and bought a 35 foot fifth wheel trailer and a big white Ford truck and took off for Alaska with two grandsons in tow, an 11 and a 13 year old. We spent the summer in Seldovia, a small fishing village across the bay from Homer, where we ate salmon and halibut daily and enjoyed visiting with our son Chris, who makes Seldovia his home.

We returned the boys to Minnesota in August so they could go back to school, and so we could recover! We then headed off: Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Georgia, Alabama, and finally to Florida where we parked at Tindall Air Force Base, near Panama City. We flew home in December for Christmas. In the spring we headed up the east coast: Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia, Virginia and Maryland, spending a month at Fort Meade Army Base near Baltimore, and then headed back to Minnesota again, through West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin.

We attended confirmations and headed off again, this time through Wisconsin, Michigan, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and New Foundland, this time traveling with friends from our Air Force days, Dick and Bev. Then it was back through Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, and back through Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin, and back to Minnesota for a month.

After my mother's 85th birthday we again headed off, this time through South Dakota, North Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, to Nellis Air Force Base In Nevada. Our friends, Dick and Bev, joined us again at Thanksgiving time, and we again traveled together to Arizona and California. We had flown home from Las Vegas in November for my nephews wedding, and then after we went to California, we flew home again in December for Christmas. And that's when our life changed.

We noticed that my mom was experiencing some forgetfulness, and things were changing for her. So after flying back to San Diego we set out again, but I could no longer enjoy traveling so far away from home. I felt that my mom needed us back in Minnesota, so in the middle of January, from Seal Beach by Oceanside, California, we headed back to Minnesota. We had sold our house in June of 2006, and you can't live in a 5th wheel in January in Minnesota, so we found the lower level of a two story duplex and sold the trailer, and again became residents of Minnesota. And we did the best job we could taking care of mom until her recent death.

Now you know the rest of the story. We like our apartment, and plan to stay here for the time being. But we do plan to do some traveling again. As you read above, we sold the big 35 foot 5th wheel, but we did pick up a small 15 foot travel trailer. It has a sink, stove, potty, shower, table, and two side benches for seating and for beds at night. Nothing fancy, but we can manage in it, just not for months at a time. We'll take it out for the first real test in August, and if it works, we'll maybe travel in the winter, say January or February, down to the warmer climate. I think we'll always come back home though, and we consider this home.

So, in answer to your question Lisa, yes, we live in an apartment.....the lower level of a duplex.

3 comments:

Lisa said...

Well thank you so much for sharing that information. I knew you had been traveling, but my my, that is a lot of miles. I would love to do that also, especially the Alaska trip. (we were there a couple years ago and I have said I could live and work there six months a year) My big holding back factor is my family as well. I just don't think I could be away from my parents/children for that long. And I can't hardly travel with three big dogs, my boxers,who mean everything to me. They are my joy in these days of retirement. Even when Callie wakes me up at 4:30 just because. Because she wants me to get up and be with her. And.....I usually do. We need to think of questions we want to know about each other and start our own tag game. I must give this thought....be back soon.

Robbin said...

I had actually read back a little on your blog and had some idea of what you'd been up to but that summed it up well.
I hope your day is a good one, and I'm glad I got you for my friend.

L'Adelaide said...

well, thank you for updating as I had no idea you had traveled so much! wow, I wondered what area of the country you liked best, besides Home, of course...I am glad you are doing better as time goes by...

and thank you for your kind words on my blog too :)