Sunday, April 3, 2011

Thoughts on the Past Five Months

(Wauchula, FL) Hi 87 Lo 67 -- Restless night, sneezing!  I finally figured out why my allergies are so bad this week. Mowing grass makes me sneeze. As people are leaving, the empty lots are being mowed by park workers. Also, the recent rains have made grass grow quicker and more mowing is being done around the whole park.  Every time they mow, I start sneezing.  That was one reason we moved from a house to a condo years ago, we can't mow without me going into sneezing fits. It's time to move. :)

As we get ready to move from our winter home here in Florida I thought I'd take a look back on our decision to stay in one place for five months. First of all I'd like to thank all our wonderful readers who have kept up with us during our stay. Sometimes the blog wasn't real interesting because there were a lot of days when we didn't do much, at least not much that was interesting to write about. But we're not "adventurers" or "outdoor" people, and we get a lot of enjoyment from relaxing in our home with each other, and with our PC's and satellite TV. We had just enough day trips for sightseeing and visiting friends and relatives to make our stay here worthwhile.

We became full timers so we could see the USA and Canada at a slow and enjoyable pace. We've heard how some RV'ers had to give up the lifestyle because of travel burnout or spending too much money. It may seem like we've been here in one place for a long time. However, in the past year we got to spend more time with our kids and grandkids than we have in many years, went to two rallies, and got to "live" in a total of 11 different states! Between the two of us Jim is more of a home body, and I like to be on the move. We try to strike a balance between the two, while trying to stay within our budget. I like moving around, and feel we need to see as much as we can in the limited years we have on the road. We compromised this year by traveling throughout the summer and settling in one place for the winter. And we're both very happy with our decision to spend the winter in Florida.  We forgot how perfect the winters are here. We both love Florida, it will always be "home" to both of us. People have asked us what will we do when we go off the road. We just started and have no intentions of giving up this lifestyle any time soon. But we have put a down payment on a lot at the Escapees co-op park in Wauchula, just in case we need to settle down  for health reasons, or something else changes in our life that we have no control over. We take life one day at a time, and we're very thankful for for the opportunities we've had.

Tomorrow we start getting prepared to move on with our summer plans. We're hoping to be in Canada by mid June, then work our way back to the midwest to see the kids and grandkids. We still keep our moms in our thoughts every day. And it's great to know they support us and are happy we're on the road while we're still healthy enough to enjoy it. We're looking forward to a great time this year.

The afternoon was spent watching the NASCAR race from Martinsville, VA.  I took a walk around the park after the race. It's humid today, so I didn't walk long. The rest of the evening was spent reading more blogs and working on the budget. We did well this month, not as far off between the eating out and the groceries.

2 more days till we head North.

3 comments:

Jeff said...

We look forward to continuing to follow your journeys as you head north. Be safe in your travels.

Margie and Roger said...

Glad to know you enjoyed your winter Florida stay and hope to see you next winter too - and maybe out on the road somewhere this summer.

Well, Dale Jr. did pretty well today - it was an exciting finish for me but I thought he was actually going to win a race finally.

Speedy said...

Do what makes you smile I always say. Seems to me you two are smiling a lot lately so I would just keep on doing what your doing the way your doing it. Hope our paths cross again soon. We both enjoyed our visit so much and want to continue it as soon as we can. Stay safe and above all have fun.

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 Shalimar, FL  (Hi 64  Lo 40)   This week went so slow. When you're retired the days get all mixed up and some go so slow you skip a day...