It's not the same.

 

We miss The Wanderer! While traveling in The Beast is quicker (3-1/2 days vs. 9 days) and one could argue a bit more comfortable, especially for Captain, we tired quickly of hotels and restaurants. And we missed meeting other travelers at Harvest Host stays.

One thing we have learned is, all Hampton Inns are not the same. Having made many trips over the past 30+ years to Captain’s hometown in College Station, TX , we were familiar with the one in Texarkana, AR, so that was a no-brainer. However the one in Las Cruces, NM and the one in Midland, TX (a TRU hotel) are on our Never Again list.

Traveling the familiar route to Arizona, a lot of our conversations were about previous trips, so we revisited a couple of our past Harvest Host proprietors.

It was not the same as our memories were of sipping wine on the patio visiting with other travelers after the winery closed.

Our memory of this Harvest Host stay was sleeping in the parking lot, waking to a construction crew.

We did find an interesting brewery in Midland, TX.

On the other hand, there are pluses to traveling in a SUV over a motorhome, other than using a lot less gasoline; there is no worry about parking spaces; consistent high speed internet; and no need for dumping stations.

Even though we miss our “home”, in the vacation rental we enjoyed the full size shower, no laundromats and a full kitchen.

Our Airbnb in a retirement community was very nice with all the modern conveniences and many miles of walking trails.

We missed seeing the beautiful western sunsets, the view of the mountains, camaraderie of other travelers and the familiarity of our tailor-made comfort creatures. But we were conveniently located near Fry’s grocery, Trader Joe’s and many other commercial entities. Most importantly, we were located midway between our friends in Gold Canyon and family in Chandler, and we had the opportunity to share our space with other friends and family.

To live life to the fullest as we age, we are embracing the changes.

 

 

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Have you heard?

In case you haven’t heard, we had a “Winter Weather” event over the weekend. For us, that meant about 8 inches of snow followed with a bit of sleet and ice. Of course everything was closed, grocery shelves were cleared of bread, eggs and milk (it’s time for French toast) and children bundled up for sledding. (It didn’t matter that the temperature hovered near single digits.)

It was a great time to “chill.”

On Saturday, ABN provided the stage and played the role of sou chef to an aspiring 11-year old neighbor while Captain napped and watched basketball. Y’all do know the Texas A&M Aggies are leading in the SEC, don’t you? We are gloating while we can as next week they begin play against the tough teams.

While ABN enjoyed a pajama day in the craft studio on Sunday, listening to an audio book (Crossroads by Jonathan Frazen,) finishing projects, sorting and organizing stash,

and writing a blog post, Captain watched more sports, read the Wall Street Journal, worked on taxes, and, his favorite thing to do, planned a couple of  trips. No pajama day for Captain. (Someone had to keep the bird feeder filled and the sidewalk cleared.)

Enough of chill time! As our community braces for another round of Artic blast, we are headed to Sun San Tan Valley.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Holiday greetings

 

from our family to yours.

We begin the New Year with hearts overflowing following a wonderful Christmas with our girls in  Florida. We can’t think of a better gift. Since many of you often inquire about them, we are happy to give you updates.

Holly remains in the Florida panhandle. In addition to teaching enrichment programs (Spanish and music) to preschoolers, she is a Professional Development Specialist for educators working on their Child Development credentials. She uses her gift of music by singing with the Northwest Florida Symphony Chorale and uses her experiences to advocate for other Gold Star survivors by serving on the Air Force Survivor Advocacy Council.

Alison continues to work in marine mammal conservation at UNCW. 

She uses her music talent to play trumpet with the UNCW Jazz Combo, the Wilmington Symphonic Winds, Wilmington Virtuosi Brass, and Costal Carolina Orchestra. In addition, as part of the GSTA team (Gold Star Teen Adventures,) she mentors and instructs Gold Star teens in scuba diving.

Camille is currently dancing with the St. Louis Dance Theater and teaches young, aspiring dancers.

Since we are on the route to her mom’s home, she stops by several times a year. (Wherever her career takes her, we hope we will always be on her route.) Grandma (aka ABN) loves spending time with her in the craft studio.

All three are accomplished cooks which made it fun to watch as they worked in the kitchen. We were reminded of the girls standing on stools as Holly taught them how to use the mixer, break eggs, measure ingredients and many other culinary skills. Needless to say, we ate well. The energy, laughter, music, and a little happy chaos made for a wonderful Christmas.

2025 is now history. It was rich with travel, friends, new experiences, blooms, butterflies, birds, and ended with wonderful family time.

The Wanderer is resting quietly in storage as The Beast (aka GMC Yukon Denali) steps up to justify his price tag. In September he took us on the bourbon trail, in October to Austin, Texas for the wedding of our niece. Okay, Claire is not actually our niece, but we love her as though she were. The Beast, and Captain, were honored with the distinction of being two of the most useful guests by transporting other guests as well as loads of wedding essentials. In December, the Beast made for a comfortable drive to Florida.

As a new year begins, we are reminded (well at least ABN is) of past New Year resolutions. They were usually the typical ones, get more exercise, lose weight, eat healthier, get organized, and the list went on. As we continue on our journey to age richly, that has changed a bit.

No longer are they resolutions, but more like goals. Eating well is not about losing weight but trying not to gain, instead of calories, we are focused on sodium and sugar intake, exercise means keeping mobile and instead of organizing, we plan to continue the decluttering. As we all know (okay some of you may be in denial) we will continue to age as long as we breath and there is nothing we can do about it, but we do have a bit of control on how we age. And that, friends, is our goal for 2026.