Almost back to OUR NORMAL

Since there were waaaaaaay to may near death experiences since I wrote last, I will just let you wonder at what they all were and know that I am not certain how I survived the last couple of months.

I do hope to write once a week (every Sunday) in the future. Get your notifications set up so you can see where we are traveling and come meet up with us or just check out our pictures.

It has been almost 3 months since our return from the Virgin Island and although I have died numerous times since our return, I couldn't be happier. We are taking the next couple of months traveling to WI to pick up our home and visiting as much family as we can along the way. 

We began our journey in Raleigh NC visiting our daughter Charlotte, husband Steve and newest granddaughter Ana.  Took way too many pictures.  I guess that is what you do with a new grandchild!

We had way too much fun hanging out with all these guys.  We resumed visiting breweries and Dick started playing disc golf again while I walk in the woods and take crazy pictures of nature.

We watched baseball, ate a ton of food, drank way too much, way too often, checked out the new theatre room, painted a bathroom, painted the pool room, raked the yard, cleaned windows, cleaned the garage......Hey wait a minute....this isn't our house!!!!!  We stayed 3 weeks then thought we better move on before we die from too much work!!

On to Pennsylvania for a few day with daughter Alex, husband Andy, grandson Brennan, grandson Stephen and granddaughter Lily.  We only had a short two days there, but it was a great visit.  The kids were still in school and when they got home, they were off to play, off to work or off hanging with friends so we didn't see them much.  Another time, another day!

Headed to Beaver, PA to drop off a power washer at daughter Roni & husband Dans place.  We had a quick lunch with them and didn't spend any nights because we are going back for a whole month from August 1st-30.  They are having grandchild number 5 at the end of July, and we want to spend a little time there checking out this new grandkid before we begin our travel adventures again.  I did leave my phone out on the roof of our truck when went in for lunch and it rained a ton and ruined it!!

Had to wait until we got to WI to get another one which was kind of a bummer, but I survived. One thing I will not die from is electronic disconnect!

To Burton, OH we roamed for a family wedding!  What a rocking good time this was.  We saw a shit ton of family and danced the night away. OK we watched people dance.  That is equally as fun without having to show off my Ginger Rogers moves and a lot less sweaty. It was great seeing more extended family.

Wisconsin here we come.  Our 1st stop was Dick's Mom, Paulines house in Waukesha.  From there we went back and forth to Fond Du Lac where our rolling home has been stored at Dick's cousin Glenn & wife Cathy's home.  We spent our time visiting with all the family in the area and prepping the home for travel.  We had boxes and boxes of stuff we took out for storage and boxes and boxes of stuff we returned with.  We downsized again!!!  Getting rid of a ton of stuff was the goal and we succeeded!

We had a great trip traveling to see my family on the west side of Wisconsin.  There was another wedding which was super fun and we got to see most of my family. How it has grown and changed.  We see most of these folks about once a year and had a great time. We then went to spend a few nights at my brother's house close by then on to the great north woods to camp for 10 days at Musky Lake with Dicks side of the family.  Back to our resort spot in the driveway of Dicks cousin once again which is where I will leave you and hopefully post every Sunday from here on out!  

Hope you enjoy the pictures and follow our adventure of near-death experiences!  

It's been fun

Well....we are moving on and moving off Water Island 🏝  a year sooner than expected. We will truely miss all the cool people we've met,  the warm weather, and we are so glad we got to experience tropical living! So many great people welcomed us into their homes and we became part of their Island family!

Beautiful scenery, plants🪴, animal and people. Truly an unforgettable experience. When you see us, ask to see all the pictures. Sooooo beautiful 😍 

I almost died at least once a day and should have kept you all posted but the experiences may have made you cringe 😬  and we can't have that!

We are all packed and leaving Tuesday the 26th bright and early and heading to Raleigh to spend about a month with Charley, Steve,  and newest granddaughter Ana. We will meander up towards Wisconsin to get our rolling home and hopefully see each and everyone of you in person.

Until then....

Crazy??? YES!!

We are indeed crazy!  We are living in another persons house, sitting on extremely uncomfortable furniture,  sleeping in a bed that is super uncomfortable and eating left over food from the campers kitchen refrigerators.  Are we happy??  YES! 

Everyday is refrigerator surprise day!  I invent what I can with what is available.  It is a total hassle to go on the ferry to the grocery store.  You just don't realize how lucky you all are to jump in a car, run to the grocery and get back before you food molds or goes bad. OK that really doesn't happen but it could.  We are 5 minutes from the ferry dock.  The ride to St Thomas is 8 minutes. The walk to the grocery is maybe 10 minutes.  There is a great selection of food and beverage at the Pueblo Grocery but the workers are on snail time.  If you are not a local you are definately put on the back burner.  You have to have, or aquire massive patients if you are to live here.  If you know me at all, you know that this may take some time.  I am never in a hurry but I do not know if I can tolorated lack of customer service.  The clerks can chat for 10 minutes, ignoring you while you wait in line.  It is crazy!!  For this reason alone I am happy to eat what ever the campers leave after their stay at the campground.  This is stuff that has not been opened (for the most part).  We get all kinds of meat, bread, butter, vegies, and of course alcohol can not be taken back with you so we have never had a more well stocked frig or liquor cabinet.  Mostly rum but we will get over it.  The other day we made the most amazing margaritas from scratch. Limes included. Fear not we are not withering away to nothing and after all this venting.....we are happy!

Beach day yesterday!  There was only one person checking in (because all other cottages are full)  so we grabbed our beach cooler, some beer and the towels and drove to Honeymoon beach.  The water was fab and the crowd was thin.  We hung out with a couple other couples that are staying at the camp.  We hang with the folks that are camping when we can, and for multiple reasons.  Mostly because they are so cool and nice but also so they can let us know what they are doing on their vacation. In doing this we gain knowledge of the islands, touristy things, foody joints, charters and all the other fun stuff.  We can pass this info on to other then since we have no time to explore this stuff right now.  It will slow down and we will get out.  Hurricane season is upon us so reservations are winding down for the summer.  August looks to be slower and we are closing a couple cottages down completely mid month and securing it with cables so they don't blow away.  Sound crazy??  Yes!  It is a different life style.  I have hang out the laundry every day.  9 rental units, tons of guests, a million sheets, pillow cases, matress pads, beach towels, bath towels & cleaning rags!  NO dryer.  I think back to my younger days when I complained about hanging out diapers every day.  That was a cake walk compared to this.  On top of that....The wind is so strong I almost died when I got body smacked by a beach towel. This is real.

If this all sounded like a giant complaint....it isn't!  Just wanting you all to know we love it and we are having a great time. We accept the challenges and change our ways. Going with the flow! Enjoy the pictures!!

The islands MON!!!

We have been here a few weeks now and have little to show for pictures and what we do have would not do this island justice!!

Lots of cool sunrises, sunsets, moon rises, and crazy creature!

We are the green dot in case any body wants to know! Just south of St Thomas!

We have been super busy making all kinds of repairs and shopping for supplies. Kind of a pain in the ass to have to take a ferry to the grocery then back to the ferry to get home but it is a way of life we will figure out!  Today I went shopping, loaded the truck with $700 woth of stuff, put a tarp over it, left it parked at the marina and tomorrow Dick will go over and put the truck on a truck ferry and bring all the stuff back.  Who just puts a tarp over $700 worth of stuff and leaves it. Me! I guess that's the norm!! Crazy!! The truck needs new tires, breaks, and oil change while over here so I guess Dick puts on his mechanic hat! They say the fix it guys screw you over on St Thomas so we do our own maintenance then ferry that truck back over with the four tires from the other truck to get new tires then bring the new tire over on a private rented boat to put back on the what we call the garbage truck. So....do you get it. Yea, me neither, but we will!!

Certainly a different way of life. Now I must drink vodka!! Until next time........

This is it

Count down to the Virgin Islands is on.  We have had a great time in Wisconsin visiting with all kinds of  family and friends. We have been to Fond du Lac, Green Lake, Waukesha, Wauwatosa, Fountain City, Genesee, and even made a stop in North Prairie.  I can not name all the great people we visited because there were way to many.  But know that we enjoyed the visits with each and every one of you and we hope you will visit us at the Virgin Island Campground!!  Virgin Islands Campground  If not we will see you all again in 2 years!

We've enjoyed much beer and Dick has played as many disc golf games as the weather would permit.  I may have mentioned that there are no disc golf courses on Water Island and I am certain over the next two years he will miss it something terribly. He rode his bike many miles into a head wind to go today.  He could have drove but I am sure he wanted to get another speedy ride in on his electric bike.   I know there will be plenty of work on the island to keep his mind off these little life pleasure and will find new hobbies. Snorkeling & paddle boarding to name a few.  I have been actually working this whole last month getting to know the invoice, check in, check out calendar and entering the guest information in a scheduling program that works for us.  I have probably put in more hours than need be but I want a smooth transition when we arrive.

We are headed into the islands slow seasons. The hurricane season is June 1st - Nov 30th and prediction for a higher than normal season by some weather experts is on the way.  I will keep busy on the beaches making footprints in the sand!!

Even though there won't be as many guests, that doesn't mean we will be just lazing around the Glamp! 

I am sure we will have some projects that need to be done since after all we are the fix it/maintain it people as well.  We are so excited to see what this place is all about and as usual, we are excited to meet and talk to new people about their adventures.  Signing off until we are safe on the island!!

**I need 6 months vacation twice a year**

All Packed up!!

 After many, many days we are finally packed up!!!  What a mess it was!

We have been parked at Glenn and Cathy's house in Fond du Lac for the past week.  Nice quiet spot in front of his garage. We are going to store all our stuff inside the house so it is safe from critters and then parking the home on the side of the garage and covering it for 2 years.  I already miss it!!

We finished!!!! Covered and ready a for a long nap. Fun was had in Fond du Lac.  There was coyote killing, fabulous fish fry at cousin Jessies house, cribbage, food, shopping, and just fun.

We are in Waukesha Wisconsin now staying/visiting with Dicks family and plan to go to Fountain City in a couple days to stay/visit with some of my family.  We plan to see as many friends and family as we can before we go.  We think everyone will come visit but are just not sure.  We are letting them know that we just might die in a hurricane so they better come visit.

Life is still good and we are so looking forward to this new adventure!!

**Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones**

Wisconsin......we have arrived!!

We made it out alive from the wind storm on the Texas/Oklahoma border.  What a hellish thing that was.  Who on earth chooses to live in such an environment where this happens all the time??  Crazy people, that's who!!!  We traveled on to Kansas City Missouri and spent a couple of nights at our Sister-in-laws brother Steve's house.  We had a great visit and stayed three nights in his driveway. 

 Steve and his son Jake were very hospitable and we had a great time eating KC BBQ, visiting  a couple breweries, playing cards and disc golf.  He says we can return but I think he was just being nice!😅😅

Dick had a great time playing with Jakes dog as well.  I believe he had his dog fix for the next 20 years.  We know how much it upsets our youngest daughter how we take pictures of our knees so.....here's another just for you Roni!!

We are now planted out side of Dick's mothers house in Waukesha gathering boxes, totes and suit cases to pack all our stuff in.  Hopefully the coppers won't come and hassle us about a giant trailer on the city streets of Waukesha.  We head to Fond du lac, WI this Friday to set the trailer up and really get down to the business of packing and storing.  

Until next time....here is a funny!!!