We have remained home in Northern California well past our normal departure date, primarily because our oldest grandchild, Devan, graduated from Sacramento State University on May 19, and we just had to stick around for that!
When we arrived home last fall, the plan was to kick back and enjoy the holidays with our family, and we did that. Our family is the best! Supportive, caring and thoughtful. This winter we suffered a bit of disruption in the family dynamics as one member became persona non grata. While those closest suffered greatly, and continue to do so, the process will be a positive one, with healing in progress. Thank you, Lord!
In February we went to Arizona. Good friends of ours were traveling there and we were able to spend a week with them in Quartzsite during the Big RV Show. Then on to Tucson for our usual stay at Rincon West RV Resort. We had reserved a site for three months, February, March, and April, but threw in the towel after February. We "enjoyed" the flu for three weeks straight (along with hundreds of our best friends in the park), and were so happy to be getting over it that we shot straight home.
Along with plans to attend the college graduation, we also had plans to install a patio along the passenger side of the motorhome. It turns out that this project was a bit more work than we had anticipated! Those of you who have installed such a patio will know that 800 square feet of pavers is a fair bit. Of course the design was not a nice regular square, and my lovely wife decided that the pavers should be laid on a diagonal pattern, which made for hundreds of cuts! It turned out ok, though, and we've almost forgotten about the wheelbarrows of gravel and sand, the compaction of same, and the 2,000 plus pavers that had to be carried up and down different levels!
Just about the time we finished the patio we started out usual six-month series of visits to doctors. It seems that at our age we need to see a half-dozen of these professionals before we do anything significant. All went well until just the other day....
My cardiologist requested that we do some research on the state of my myocardial valve. Now I've had a leaky valve for years, but just as we got close to leaving on our summer jaunt, they wanted to check it out. After visits with cardiac surgeons, two different cardiologists, and the office of my electrophysiologist, we were alternately scared witless and advised to "go have fun". We have chosen to "go have fun" and will leave the day after Memorial Day for points east.
We might not have chosen to spend another summer in the Midwest had it not been for a rash decision we made in January. We put a For Sale sign in Nessies front window! A broadcast email to a half dozen motorhome dealers led us to making a deal with Steinbring Motors in Garfield, MN, with a projected delivery date in mid-June of a 2018 Newmar Dutch Star, with a floor plan as close to Nessie's as we can get. Newmar is one of the few (if not the only) manufacturers that will extensively customize the coach, so Donna was able to get additional pantry space, custom interior and exterior colors, as well as a laundry list of additional lighting, electronics, and the like.
So...On January 1st, we listed our current coach on several online sites. We had several responses immediately, and thought that this whole thing will be a piece of cake. Uh, oh...not so fast. Over the next four months more inquiries were made, but no reasonable offers. Then, about the end of April, we lowered the price. Mike and Julie, from Virginia, had been following our coach for some time, and contacted us, eventually sending us a deposit check. They are a lovely couple, approaching retirement, who have just sold their sticks and bricks home and have a desire to travel full-time in a motorhome. They have been extremely accommodating, allowing us to stay in Nessie until we arrive in Minnesota to pick up our new coach. Turns out they have family in the area, Minnesota is closer to Virginia that Cali, and we will have time to talk to them in detail about Nessie. Win, win!
So, in a few weeks, if the good Lord is willing and the creeks don't rise, we will have a different motorhome to post in our signature. Oh, and did I mention that we have a new tow car as well? The 2014 Jeep Cherokee, while a perfect size for towing, was becoming a bit annoying when putting it into the proper transmission configuration for towing. We now have a 2018 Chevy Equinox that requires only a couple of steps to prepare for towing. So I guess that will have to be changed in the sig pic also!
So, much has happened in the last few months. We have watched our grandson graduate from college (with a good job, no less!), we've enjoyed the company of family and friends (thank you Monte and Teresa, Jeff, Devan, Hanna, and Steve and Suzi), we've completed a few chores, and we have an optimistic health outlook.
What more could we want?
