Off We GO! New Home with Pictures

 Where am I?

SHALIMAR, FL.  ( Hi  79   Lo 58)

The visit with sis was over for awhile on Saturday. We always have a great time and it may be awhile before I see her again. I got tires on the way home since the tire light came on again while going to her place and  when I got to her driveway the light went out. The tire guy said there had to be a tiny leak somewhere if it was going off and on and traveling that far. I'm not taking chances for the Florida trip. 

Monday, I had lunch with my friend Ruth. It was a goodbye  lunch, I'll be back quite a bit, as long as I'm able to travel. We talked for a couple hours then  I went to Frank's for dinner. I stayed with him awhile then home. 

Tuesday I packed the entire day except for the lunch with one of the hospice gals that quit work recently. We had a good chat and she helped with how I'm coping without Jim. She gave me quite a few tips and wished me well in Florida. 

Wednesday was packing the Uhaul truck. The fun had started. It was a windy cold day, but no rain. It took 90 minutes to pack all we could without another persons help. Frank and I took out loads and he put them in place. It's like playing Tetris. (Click photos to enlarge)

                                    Car is loaded with breakable items. 

Thursday,  Rick got here about 12:00 from Aurora, Il, to help pack. The sleep number bed and frame were the last to go in to hold everything else in place. What a close call, one more item may not have gone. Good job packing!!

We were on our way about 2:00pm. Rick drove my car and I was with him. Frank drove the Uhaul. We had a great trip and no rain till we got to the middle of Alabama. We stopped at a couple hotels but no vacancies since it was after 6:00. We did miss all the severe weather but just a few miles and found a hotel in Decatur. The price was cheap and we got what we paid for, not good, but at least no bedbugs and the bed was comfortable. We all had our own rooms to keep it simple. We started Friday's travel at 7am with five hours to go. Again we missed the big storms and had rain off an on. We turned off the main highway and it seemed forever to get to the Eglin AFB with Bob Hope Village just 9 miles ahead of us. We arrived at 1:30. 

I got signed in and I got answers to the questions I had. We got started on the unloading, which was quite different with high 70's and windy. We were all a sweaty mess by the time we finished 2 hours later. I lived in an RV at 300 sq feet, then the mobile home 850 sq ft, then moved to the apartment which was 816 sq feet. Now I'm in 650 sq feet. It's just a little bigger then the RV and I have too much stuff. 

I'll have to rethink a lot of the space. It's better then what I thought it would be. I have towels and sheet area closet.  I haven't had that in a long time. A new washer/dryer and walk in shower. It's super!  The kitchen is bigger then the RV. The living room is perfect. I may get a small couch later, but right now I'll work with a couple chairs. I'm using my cedar chest for the TV stand and love it. The remotes can go in the drawer underneath it. I have to think about what I want done with the pictures and working on the bedroom.  The kitchen still has 4 cabinets with nothing in them, so I'm spreading out  a few things that I put all in one place. Wine glasses are important, I'm already joining a wine "clutch". 

 

I took pictures before moving in to show the difference on what space looked big, but then unloaded, not so big. 

                                                    Bedroom

                                                      Closet in bedroom

                                                       Bathroom

                                                     New washer and dryer

                                                     The bathroom closet for towels and sheets

                                                      Living room looking out into the patio

                                                    Let the unloading begin. 

The boys got to stay in the next village beside me for the two nights. It's furnished and I wanted pictures on how it was setup. It's for guests, the bare essentials, but I liked it. I have too much stuff. 

When everything was in we went out to eat on the beach area in Destin. It's 15 miles but it took about 45 min to an hour to get there. It was so warm and nice we sat outside on the patio. 

                                            This house is right on the beach. It's gorgeous

                                            Frank and Rick,  the best sons in the world 

Saturday we did some checking around the villages. They're laid out in wheel spokes and I have to learn which one is mine, not as easy as you'd think. Here's views of the activity areas. 

                                            Pickle ball court

                                            Workout room

                                                Card playing

  Dining area

                                           Library, this is where you sign up for all the activities. 

I found out there's WII bowling and they have many trophies to prove it. 

 The bulletin board telling what's going on and where. Then you go into activities room and sign up for what you're interested in. I signed up for 14 activities this month, that's in addition to the card playing and other things with no signup. 

We wanted to see several things so we didn't linger around. We headed out to take the Uhaul back then back to Destin Beach. 

                                Rip tide was so bad you weren't allowed in the water too far

                                After the beach we went to the base to the armament museum. It's quite interesting.                                 The first picture is my favorite, the SR71. 

                                                Radar working to keep an eye on people around the site. 

While we were close to the base we went to the commissary. Instead of eating out we bought pizzas and stuff for breakfast. 

The apartment is basically done in the living room and kitchen, The bedroom not so much. Most of that is for crafts and it's going to stay in boxes. The WIFI person will be here on Monday to set me up. 

Here's what the end results are for now. Pictures need to be put up and I'm not in a hurry for anything. I want to think it out and get it setup. I don't plan on moving again. 

                                The legos are top three shelves. Then the books

                       I'm very proud of how Jim's Memorial area looks. I'll have the maintenance team put up the shadow box with the medals on the wall. 

                                                Living room

                                                                    Kitchen

           Living looking out to the patio. The window are very old. We'll be getting new ones next year. 

                                                        Bathroom

 Bedroom still needs a lot of work, but the peace plant is near the window I may have to move it but it seems ok at the moment. 

I have an RVer friend that lives here and has helped with doctors and dentists and all the life changing things we all go through. The tough part is the doctors are giving up their practices for many reasons, and some are no longer taking military insurance. It's a mess, but I'll get through it. There's always an answer. 

I took the kids to the airport on Sunday morning. They had a noon flight. They got back to O'Fallon just fine and Rick then went on up to Aurora. They were great! I freak out on a lot of the little stuff and they're just like Jim very quiet thinking and kept me grounded. They did a wonderful job. I think they realized by the time they left that I'm going to be fine. I'll fly back and forth and if there's a dangerous hurricane I can always drive back to them. I'm very comfortable with my "tribe" . 

It's so peaceful and so nice out. There's a lot more work to be done, but I have plenty of time. I'm loving it. I'll continue the blog, and I'm sure I'll have a lot to talk about. Thanks for your support.