Snowbird Christmas Poem (by Irene Taves)

'Twas the week before Christmas and all through the park,
Not a camper was stirring as it started getting dark.
Our Montana fifth wheel was outlined with many twinkling lights,
Our little Christmas tree inside warmed our hearts this peaceful night.

As the moon shined so brightly on the palm trees below,
How can we think "Christmas" without any snow?
While watching the Weather Channel and the cold way up north,
I know now why we snowbirds travel back and forth.

When all of a sudden, on came the colored lights
All over the park.  Oh, what a festive sight!
All the neighboring campers joined in the celebration,
Ringing in the season without hesitation!

Some carolers were singing as they walked through the park,
Greeting their RV family with joy in their hearts.
When what to my wondering eyes should appear,
A man dressed in red, standing by his mechanical deer.

So jolly and laughing as he walked down the street,
I knew in a moment that soon Santa I would meet!
His hair and long beard were as white as could be,
No surprise in the 55 plus community.

He greeted all the campers, bringing joy to everyone,
Now this holiday season has officially begun!

As we welcome the season with our surrogate family,
We thank God we're Americans and able to be free.
Free to travel throughout this amazingly great land,
Free to enjoy our retirement for as long as we can.

So our wish to you all as our eggnog we sip,
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL...AND HAVE A SAFE TRIP!

 

Exploring Bradenton and Sarasota, FL

We've been in Bradenton for the month of November and have explored the area.  Although very busy and sometimes congested area, the weather and beaches have been super!   Saw the Ringling Bros. mansion in Sarasota and Anna Maria Island.  Meeting some great RVers here in the park, Arbor Terrace, from New Jersey, Michigan, Delaware, Ontario, and Wisconsin.  Had a very nice Thanksgiving feast with our group. 

Will be heading to Sebring for December.  Looking forward to exploring a new area of Florida.

Homosassa Springs, FL

Arrived in Homosassa Springs.  Staying at Turtle Creek RV Park for a week.  Enjoying lots of local wildlife.  This is a friendly, laid-back community.  Seeing the sights with Pam & Todd and Todd's parents, Jim & Verla.

Enjoying the Beautiful Sunshine State--Florida

Finally made it to Florida..starting out in Mexico Beach.  What a quaint beach community!  Enjoying the quiet side of the panhandle Gulf side.  We had dinner with Pam & Todd (fun cousins!!) at Tucan's on the beach and caught up on everything since we saw them last.  I'll take pictures and post them later.  Really enjoying this new lifestyle!  No hurry!!!!

On the Road...Our First Trek as Fulltimers

Well, we're finally on the road.  We left Wisconsin 10/17, but got a chance to see our first snowfall for the year (& hopefully last!) Our first stop will be in Illinois for the night, then to Nashville, TN for a few days.   We've got almost 2 weeks to get to Bradenton, FL for our November reservations, so we'll take our time and see the sights. 

Feels great not to have a rushed agenda, like we've been used to doing all our lives.  Retirement....it is grand!!  Of course, Irene isn't really retired...still doing her medical transcription from the RV, which has been working out great.  We'll both be doing some job searching in Florida...some part-time work to keep us busy.  I'll keep the updates coming.

Plans for the Winter in Florida

We're heading to Florida for the winter...leaving Wisconsin in mid-October. We will be in Bradenton for the month of November and Sebring for the month of December. Pam & Todd from Club Forest will also be staying at these same parks, so we'll have fun catching up with them and being able to celebrate the holidays with family!

We'll get a chance to research other areas in Florida and decide where to go after December, and where we can start our Workamping experiences. Dennis is anxious to get back into working somewhere. I continue doing my medical transcription from our fifth wheel, which is working out great!

The kids are throwing us a party to celebrate Irene's retirement, Irene's big 6-0 birthday and our new life as fulltime RVers...party to be Oct. 4th.

Looking forward to our first travels as fulltime RVers!

Tina & Scott's Wedding

Tina & Scott's wedding is over (Sept. 19th). It was a great day...beautiful ceremony and a fun reception! The weather was perfect and everything came out as planned. Great meal, fantastic music (ended up to be an 8-piece band...with my dad playing the trumpet, Scott playing his concertina, and my brother Kevin joining in on the concertina) They all sounded great and made it a memorable evening.

God bless you both, Tina & Scott, and here's to a long and happy marriage!!

Officially retired!

It's official. We are now both retired. My last day at the mall was 9/4/09! After 22 years, it was really bittersweet leaving the mall for the last time...as the property manager. But...time for the next chapter in our lives.

We're almost finished cleaning out the house. The sale was successful and we got rid of all the furniture and most of our "stuff." Never believed how much stuff we've accumulated over the years. It's been quite a stressful process, but hopefully the end will justify the means! We just have the last of the things that we have to move into the fifth wheel. Not sure if there'll be enough room for everything we think we need to keep. We'll see.

The closing is 9/14 and then we'll officially be RV fulltimers. I'll keep you posted on our destinations after Tina's wedding.

House is sold...moving out underway!

We're very busy getting ready to move out. We're going to hold a big "everything must go" sale on Aug. 28th-29th. We will move into our fifth wheel right after the sale. Hopefully, there won't be much left in the house to get rid of at that point.

Lots of work to be done and feeling a bit overwhelmed right now, but we're looking forward to everything being completed by the closing on Sept. 14th...then we can "relax" and just focus on Tina's wedding on Sept. 19th.

After the wedding, we can make our plans to head south for the winter - sometime in October!

Received offer on our house

It looks like we've sold our house...pending all inspections and contingencies! The buyer does not have a house to sell, so that helps. If all goes well, our closing date is September 14th. So considering the fact that our daughter's wedding is September 19th, we will be VERY BUSY from now till then! To top it off, we're heading off to Michigan for a Montana owner's rally at Mackinaw City July 29th-August 2nd. So we'll take a week to "relax" before hitting it hard when we return. We're planning to possibly have one more moving sale, see what the kids want yet, and then take the rest of our "stuff" to auction.

We'll keep you posted on the progress. Wish us luck!!

Update on Sale of Our House

Thought I'd better post an update on the sale of our house...which is no update! The economy has really put a wrench in our plans, but we're hoping this will just be a slight delay in getting the house sold. We intially received an offer shortly after listing, but it was contingent upon them selling their house. Unfortunately, that did not happen and they took their house off the market, and the offer has now expired.

So, all we can do is wait and continue our life as usual until further notice. We're hopeful that we'll get some renewed interest in the spring and we hope the economy will start turning the other way...upwards!!

We'll keep you posted!