Happy Easter

We are in our third day as we travel towards Washington DC.  We are camped about 15 miles north of Brunswick GA.  We will spend the day around the islands here and then head a bit north tomorrow. We drove most of the way in FL on A1A highway which is mostly along the east coast.  Pretty drive and much more interesting than Interstate 95.  We have eaten two meals out and have hit a home run each time with great sea food.  There is a place on St. Simone Island here that Terry wanted to go to but we called yesterday and they are closed Sunday and Monday so we may have to come again.
We have tiny tiny bugs here which are a big time pest, not used to many bugs in FL. Our tiny camper continues to get stares, thumbs up and many comments.  It is not unusual to have someone pass us and do a thumbs up as they go.
We will spend most of the week along the east coast and get into the Brands near Washington DC late Thursday afternoon.  Will take the train into DC on Friday and then head out Saturday noon for China.  We are trying to get ourselves UP for the 14 hour flight from Toronto to China :(  After China we are looking forward to the drive into New York and then west to South Bend, Chicago, Madison and then home.  About the time we arrive in St. Paul we should be able to greet a new grand baby--boy or girl???
Every other letter is wrong as I swat those bugs so will close.

TWO

We celebrated our second anniversary yesterday by going to Figs Grill, a place where John and Mary treated us last year.  We are holding the gift certificate we received from John and Mary for Christmas.  It was a very fun evening.  Both of us had fresh fish which is always so delicious here in Naples.  They did not have the wonderful wine that we had with John and Mary but we did get one almost as good! 
The entire day was fun.  Terry played tennis for the last time this season.  I walked over near the end of their playing time to walk her home but they were having so much fun and laughing so much they continued to play well beyond their court time.  It is fun to meet and get to know people from around the country.  Her playing gals yesterday were from New York and New Jersey.  The day before they were from Cape Cod, New York and New Jersey.  We enjoyed many congratulations from friends during the day.  A couple we share our anniversary with, who are from Duluth, stopped by with a card as they headed out for dinner to celebrate their 48th.  We finished the day by calling a gal three doors down and walking over to say good bye for the season.  Judy's husband is in a Veteran's Home for guys who are having memory loss. 
We plan to leave tomorrow but we are not sure everything will get done today!!  Packing for the China trip and a bit of camping and the trip to St. Paul is somewhat overwhelming.  There are NO campgrounds with sites available tomorrow so if we leave it will be stopping in a Walmart parking lot or at a truck stop.  For Saturday and Sunday we have a spot near Brunswick GA.  Our plans have changed a lot.  We were not thinking very well when we planned a camping trip into the New England States in April.  Some friends said they were pretty sure campground do not open until later in May and of course that would be true as they most likely have snow yet.   Not thinking very well I would say.  So after we arrive back in Washington DC we will head north to New York City and then west towards St. Paul.  It looks like we will arrive in St. Paul a bit earlier than we had planned. 
No, it is time to get some things done as the FP is no longer warming my hands when I pick up the cup.  We have had a cool front the last few days and have seen the temps in the morning as low as 45.

Not all!!!

Here are the tennis players who came for our Sunday afternoon meet and treat time a couple of weeks ago.  I think everyone goes north for the summer.  They are from Canada to Minnesota to New York to Wisconsin and pretty much every state in between!  Only one couple are not tennis players but they live a few houses down and were out for a ride.  They stopped to say hello and stayed for a couple hours.
We have been in the packing and good-bye mode for a while now.  The guys were out to Miller's Ale House last night while the gals were at a wine and whine time, dinner with the next door neighbors tonight, tennis with a couple today at nine, dinner with two couples last Friday and mean while the time ticks away so we had better get serious about packing the bags, the camper and the car.
I am bummed out as the wide angle lens Terry gave me a year ago is not working so it will be on its way for repair as we head to China.  I was thinking with that lens I may be able to set it up and get a picture of Terry and I with all 1500 miles of the wall behind us---well it is a wide angle!  Anyway I guess I will have to settle for less. 
Our spring here has been a bit warmer than in Minnesota and North Dakota!  We are hoping that the north weather will warm a bit by the end of April.  We are headed to Washington DC next week and hear they were supposed to get 8 inches of snow maybe early this week.  Not the ideal camping weather.  Terry and I were talking a bit this weekend and realized that even in late April it may be cool to camp in the New England States and maybe the camp grounds will not even be open.  We will have to wait and see.
No, it is almost 7:00 AM, the FP is 7/8 gone and there is work to do.  I am not really sure about the 7/8 FP but I am beginning to get into the woodworking mode.

Busy

In the world of retirement a person could have visions "what should I do today"?  That is not the world of retirement that Terry and I live in.  It seems, I am not complaining in any way, that in our real world it is thinking of a list of things that need to get done and wondering in the morning what on that list can be done today.  Slowly, very slowly, we are checking things off and getting things that need to be taken care of before we head north.  We received our Visas in the mail last Saturday.  I was a bit on edge as we had to send our passports in for that and not only did we need to get them back in time but we there is always the thought of them getting lost.  We are in the middle of getting some work done on the pool.  We are not doing that work but it needed to be done this spring.  A guy came yesterday and put a pump in the pool to drain it.  He then left and did not come back all day!!  Sort of makes me worried about the kind of work they do. 
We enjoyed having Jerry and Susan here for two nights.  They took in one of my tennis matches so here was my chance to show the world my tennis skills and I fell flat on my face!  Not literally but figuratively!  Follow through Carmen, follow through Carmen, follow through Carmen. I still remain on the bottom of the sub list so the matches are few and far between.  Still not sure what I need to do for next fall.  Neither of us have played much tennis the last couple of weeks as it has been busy but Terry will be on the court three times this week.
We had an eye opener on our supplemental health insurance.  We did not investigate it enough last year and took a plan that we were told was the best.  We found out that in the world of Medicare and supplemental  plans-- all "F" plans are the same!!  So yesterday we went and changed to a plan that covers the same as ours but for the two of us will save us about $65 a month!  I guess the thing to do is live, learn and then save money--and hope that you save money before all yours is spent!!
We are looking at camping in the Washington DC area for a couple of nights.  It looks like that may be a challenge.  We do have a place to stay if we want to go that route but will see.  Friends, Bruce and Anita, have offered to have us stay with them.  Bruce said it would be easy to travel by train to the the sights rather than try to drive.  He said rush hour traffic in DC is from 6-10 and 4-8!!  We will see.
No, the FP is gone and things need to get done around here.

Home Again





Mom & Dad 41
Ronald 16, Janet 14, Joan 10
Dave 8, Carmen 5, Helen 2




Sorry I did not get a smile on you Helen



Helen and Mike on their wedding 21 years ago
I think Helen may have just arrived from Hollywood!!

 We spent the last four days driving the back roads of AR and spending the time with Helen as she and friends celebrated Mike's life.  Each time I drive those AR back roads I think about how fun it would be to drive them on a cycle.  I don't think I have ever driven anyplace where it is more up and down and around.  Mike's daughter Melissa and her family were there as well as many friends.  The last night we were there Helen's son in law, Alan, got a call from his sister that their Dad had died.  Mike had come to Helen's from Houston where his parents lived.  So grandchildren Austin and Allison lost Grandpa Mike and Grandpa Epler in the span of a few weeks. There was wonderful food, good conversation, a great picture program of Mike and lots of laughs.  Helen is dong well as she deals with losing Mike and handling all the things one must do in that situation.  We arrived home yesterday in time for Terry to get in a PT session and then unpack at home.
We will have Jerry and Susan W with us for the next two nights.  We have had very little out of town company this winter but of course have entertained several times with parties and dinners at home.
Starting Thursday we HAVE to get in gear for travel, camping and heading north.  There is so much to do before we leave it is difficult to get our minds around how to attack it. 
I was asked to play in another tennis league match this week.  I lost my first two times so am hoping this is the win!  Of course winning is not the most important thing at my age but I have to admit it would be nice to win one before we head out for the season.  I still don't know what I will do next year as for now I am the low low person on the sub list so I have not played much.  There are so many guys on each team and some have been on the team since the beginning of time.  So of courrse when the new guy comes along even though he is so good, :) :) :) , it is difficult to get playing time.  It would be nice to play once a week next year.
It is time to enjoy the last few drops of FP and do something productive with the day.

Welcome March

I am not sure if March came in like a lion or a lamb.  For sure we are having a cool spell in Naples.  Not anything to complain about as it has been in the high 60s and low 70s but cool compared to what it has been.
We are looking a a busy week ahead.  There will be not much tennis, some meetings, and Terry's PT and then early Friday morning we will fly out to Holiday Island AR to spend a small amount of time with my sister Helen.  She lost her beloved Mike about a month ago and next Saturday Helen will honor his desire to have a party in his name to celebrate his life.  It sounds like I will be the only family as Joan spent 10 days with her in February and Dave is not in a travel mode now with his health.  I am sure there will be plenty of friends as Helen seems to be kind of a magnet for fun people!  We fly out at 7 am on Friday and return Monday afternoon.  Jerry and Susan W will be here the day after we arrive home and am looking forward to that.  They will be on a "couple" vacation as Susan's dad winters in Lakeland FL and his birthday is March 14th.  I think he turns 99!  That sounds kind of old to me as my age now is those two numbers upside down! I still think of myself as 65 so maybe there is a barrier to being closer to 70 than 60.  As I have been playing tennis lately I sometimes feel closer to 80, not really.
I got this new racket from Terry for Valentine's Day and played with it for the first time last Monday.  Kind of a disaster but fun just the same.  I then played again on Wednesday and played quite well so I guess as with all new things there is a learning curve.
We have kind of a busy weekend here.  Tonight we will entertain two couples for dinner and then tomorrow early afternoon we will have 15-20 tennis players over for bagels and coffee.  We have not done anything like that before so should be fun.
There is very little time left here before we head north for the summer.  There is really much to do before we head north on I75 towards Washington D C, then to China, then to New York City, maybe to the New England States and then west to Minnesota.  We will start thinking and preparing in earnest this week.
FP is gone and so is my news.