Apricity South (week 3)

November 18, Wednesday (addendum)

I neglected to mention that I attended my last BCC Alumni Board Zoom meeting as Secretary and Outreach Chairperson today. The committee members are the most intelligent, kind hearted, caring, and giving people you could know. This is the last commitmet that I have retired from in order to travel with Rich. I had filled the void of loneliness with so many things that I enjoy - family, choir, Christmas Concert, part time jobs at Church on the Hill and Tanglewood, volunteering as church Collector and Pastoral Relations Committee, attending as many live performances as possible, going to movies regularly, old and new friends, etc. They were all there for me when I needed them and I will keep in touch with them, but now I am happy, content and certainly not lonely... 

 

November 19, Thursday

Cindy and Jeff Brett, both retired Army veterans, arrived mid-afternoon and the cocktails and stories of old began. Cindy and I let the guys get a head start, but joined in soon after with the aid of guacamole, salsa, and chips. Remember that they were work campers (did chores around the park for free electric, water, and sewer hook ups) for Rich in North Ranch RV Park in Congress, AZ. 

 

It was a time of celebration on so many levels - new chapters in all of our lives. They had just signed the deal for a beautiful new home in eastern Florida,  having been "full time" campers in this beauty since 2006!! Notice Blanche, their Smart car, tucked away in the middle. 

This rig will be on the market soon and they will down size to a Class C to continue their travels "part time".

 

Much of our conversation included Tress (Rich's wife), and of course they knew Lily the kitty, too. They had been devastated when they learned of Tress' sudden passing as they were all working so closely together not that long ago. 

 

They wanted to know more about me, Bob and my family as well, so there were many heart felt moments.

Basically, Rich and I found each other when we needed each other.

 

They met in the Army band, both being drummers, and formed their family which included Jeff's two daughters. They now have a 3 year old granddaughter, Brooklyn, and 2 month old grandson, Wyatt. 

 

Rich prepared a delicious meal of ribeyes, corn on the cob, and baked potato with butter and sour cream. It had been a long time since we had savored potatoes - yum! The usual keto chocolate mousse was a late dessert. 

 

November 20, Friday

Bagels and scrambled eggs with black coffee for breakfast and we continued chatting for another hour. By the way, Jeff shares a meaningful prayer of grace at every meal. 🙏

 

It was such a pleasure to meet Jeff and Cindy. They are two great individuals who merged into a super couple. 

 

Smart car, Blanche, is so darn cute, too. 

They wear R.E.D. shirts on Fridays to Remember Everyone Deployed. 💕

 

November 21, Saturday

Very low key day today. Went to Walmart early to get some supplies and it was packed. Too many people without masks. 

 

Found out that Bradenton Convention Center did free drive through testing - quick and 3 day results sent to email. That is what we will try to do on Wednesday to give us some lawfulness about our return to Massachusetts!

 

November 22, Sunday

I like to attend church by Zoom at both First Congregational and Church on the Hill. Bill Neil and Liz Goodman are so interesting and spirital to listen to and this week Marcia Eveland stood in for Bill. She also has wonderful stories to tell to connect the dots of our Christian journey. 

 

Another lunch at Acapulco Restaurant followed by a leisurely visit to the pool. 

 

💔 When we got back to the condo, we mourned in disbelief to learn that Gary Dobert died after being in the hospital for Quadruple bypass - followed by mini strokes. Gary and his wife, Judy, just bought a 23 foot Grey Wolf travel trailer for their retirement. They are long time friends of Rich’s sister and her husband. Gary looked up to Rich for his knowledge of RV’s and they wanted him to mentor/guide them through the learning process. Our maiden voyage with them was to Dorsett, VT in September and they joined us in Rhinebeck, NY in October. We really hit if off and hoped to do much more camping over time. That was the only time I knew them except for lunch at Cheesecake Factory the day before we left for Florida. He had a doctor appointment 5 days later to determine when his surgery would be. It turns out that they sent him right to the hospital and scheduled it for the following day. But we had an upbeat lunch confident that all would be fine - they knew a couple of other people who had the same surgery successfully. We are so grateful that we had that lunch together. Gary was a quiet soul who didn’t say that much, but you could see a slight grin on his lips and a twinkle in his eye when he was amused. That is how we will remember Gary. Judy will need her family now and we have experienced the same loss that she has, so we will be here for whatever she needs from us. 🙏

 

November 23, Monday

Feeling sad that we are getting close to our departure. Trying to follow all the Travel Restrictions to get back to New England. Will have a test on Wednesday before we leave and again when we arrive without having to do a 14 day quarantine. 

Spent more time at the pool and met a younger couple from Michigan who just bought a condo in the building next to us. They look so young for having twin daughters (fraternal) who are graduating from Michigan State next year arriving today. We decided that they are probably our kids’ ages - YIKES!

November 24, Tuesday

Today the handyman, Chuck, came to replace the garbage disposal. It was time!! It is good to know that he could help with maintenance work if there is a problem. 

I met one of my renters today. We hit it off while she rented from me in August and said we should meet up if I came down. We had a two hour bagel and coffee! Discovering more about each other and our "2nd time arounds"...

November 25, Wednesday

Getting depressed about going back to the cold, but anxious to see our families. 

We went to the Convention Center for testing - people were lined up standing - NOT a drive through! We beat it and drove down the street a mile or so to do Walgreens' drive through. Thank God we knew about it. Easy peasy. 

We planned to go to the beach on Anna Maria, but stopped at Sweetberries for lunch. 

I had the Black and Blue salad which was deliciois.  

On our way to the beach, the draw bridge was up bringing everyone to a halt. We turned around and parked on the Causeway to spend a little time on the sand and put our toes in the intracoastal waters. It was sunny and windy so the water was twinkling like diamonds and the waves were lapping onto the sandy shore. Mesmerizing!

Decided to stop at Sweetberries again - for sundaes this time. It was our last chance to splurge!

November 26, Thursday

Happy Thanksgiving! A very different one indeed! No prepping and cooking the turkey to take to Shannon's where we all usually gather. Instead, Rich is making steak, baked potatoes, broccoli with cheese... it's perfect and no leftovers to deal with before our drive back up north tomorrow. 

We had the pool to ourselves again today after packing what we could in the morning. 

FaceTimed with the grandkids, then a Zoom call with my mom and sisters at 2pm.  Ended up talking for almost 2 hours. 💞 

Adios Bradenton, FL. Will miss you until next year!

Apricity South (Week 2)

November 12, Thursday

After a trip to Palmetto to get Rich a flu shot and copies of our Covid test results, we made a stop at Detwilers Farm Market (Amish family owned). My friend Drew told us about how fresh, affordable, and busy it was. He was right on all accounts. We were just going to check it out as we just shopped at Publix yesterday. Well, we came out of there with $50 worth of great food - so much for window shopping!

  

Then we had lunch at Acapulco Mexican Restaurant, Lakewood Ranch which was wonderful. There are murals on every wall. 

 

These margaritas were $3 each (house Tequila)!

 

November 13, Friday 

Friday the 13th was pretty uneventful. 

Went to the pool in the afternoon to soak in some natural vitamin D. 

 

November 14, Saturday

This evening we learned that our new camper friend, Gary, had heart surgery and was not doing well. We had gone over to Albany the week before to have a pleasant lunch with him and his wife Judy at the Cheesecake Factory. They seemed OK with it - pretty calm. Friends of theirs had the same surgery and were doing well. He had mentioned shortness of breath at a recent check up. They did some tests and found that he needed a triple bypass which turned out to be quadruple! He was now on a ventilator. This was surely a time for singing the Lord's Prayer and putting him on prayer lines at 1st Congregational and Church on the Hill. 🙏🙏🙏

 

November 15, Sunday

We went to visit Lynn (Bob's cousin) and Zippy at their home in Port Charlotte/Englewood for dinner. 

 

I assured them we had been tested and they were very conscientious of Covid protocol - seating in their beautiful caged pool area was appropriately distanced while we enjoyed a delicious meal and sharing stories, new and old.

 

On the way there, we stopped for gas in North Port. I heard someone asking Rich where we were from, noticing our Massachusetts plates. I put my mask on and got out of the car to investigate. She said she was born and bred in Lenox!! Her name was Ginger Field and she had worked at Eastover after retiring from the Army. Since I had come to know Sue and Ticki (Bazaka sisters whose father owned Eastover) when I worked at Church on the Hill, we could have talked forever. And the Liz Biasin connection with Mike Field was another layer of this being such a small world!

 

November 16, Monday

We met Drew Golaski and Will Foley at their house to drive over to the Ringling Museum for the grand tour of the grounds and the exquisite museum. 

 

 

It was so nice to visit with them afterward in their gorgeous pool area. 

Will and Rich had a lot to talk about since Will is a professor of Hotel and Restaurant Management at U Mass and Rich went to Paul Smith's College for the same degree. All of us have worked in the food industry so there was plenty to talk about. 

 

November 18, Wednesday

We have company coming tomorrow - Jeff and Cindy were work campers of Rich's at North Ranch in Arizona. He hasn't seen them in two years and they are camping here on east coast of Florida. Getting furniture all set up for social distancing. Look forward to meeting them...

 

 

 

Apricity South - Bradenton, Florida

November 3, 2020

Decided to have a family make your own fajita meal before going on the road to Florida. Ten people will soon be the maximum people to gather, so this could be considered our Thanksgiving! I haven't been away from the kiddos for this long ever before. Not sure if basketball will be allowed this year, so a lot of firsts in 2020!

November 5 to ??, 2020

 Though we are not camping, this is still part of our journey. We decided to take my car to save time, gas, and storage expense. When I realized my condo was not being rented for 3 weeks, it made sense to go to Bradenton, Florida to move my Suburban for paving of the parking lot and not have to bother my loyal Florida friends. A-a-a-and spend a couple of weeks or more in warm weather (thus the name Apricity) with Rich. 

 

This was my first time driving down (Rich doesn't want to fly anymore), so it is all new to me. He hasn’t driven down in 8 years and 35 years before that. He was quite amazed at how much the roads have changed in that time!! But we managed just fine with a stop at the half way point - Smithfield, NC. Day one was fine except for the countless trucks, construction and cement barriers on both sides of the road - Route 78!!! Sooooo glad we did not have the RV to maneuver through that suicide alley. 

Arrived by 3:30pm on day 2 and had a couple of stiff cocktails to begin the relaxation mode. Ah!

 

November 7, Saturday

Laid low today except for a quick tour of the immediate area - Walmart for a few items, Walgreens for a drive through Covid test, Mixons Fruit Farm for a twisted orange cream cycle cone and a few chocolate treats to keep on hand. Interesting that Florida has no travel restrictions for the state, but our condo association has a 14 day quarantine before out-of-staters can use the facilities, pool, etc. It is super simple to get a free covid test here, so we opted to do that as we will have results in 2 to 5 days. We will do the same when we return to Massachusetts. 

 

💔💗💔💗

This was a solemn day as it was the 11 month anniversary of Tres's (Rich’s wife) death and would have been my 50th anniversary married to Bob. We talk about both of them lovingly, frequently sharing stories about our former lives. The fact is that we found each other when we needed each other and are so grateful for that. 

Mom had to put her cat Sammy down today (diabetes) - she wouldn't let him suffer. Thank God she is so strong!

 

The best part of the day was when Biden and Harris became President and Vice President elect and Trump was ousted…Yay!! 👍

 

November 8, Sunday

Moved the car over to the Rec Center for the parking lot paving project occurring on Monday. Then went for a ride over to Anna Maria Island and on down Gulf Drive through Longboat Key, St. Armand’s Circle, and landing for lunch at Marina Jacks. Less than 50% of the people we saw wore masks and they didn’t care if they were far enough away either. We would step away to do window shopping to avoid them. 

 

Settled in for the evening with martinis and watched Hurricane Eta blow by. 

November 9, Monday 

Taking care of business in the condo today since the paving will be happening. The biggest problem is getting the Firestick to work for streaming television. I discontinued Spectrum TV and upgraded the internet last year.

November 10, Tuesday

Took a ride to Venice this morning to beat the stormy weather due in the afternoon. The sun was bright and it was in the 80’s. We strolled around the historic district in and out of shops and galleries. 

Drove down to the jetty to check out the hot dog shack and it appears that the owner has spent her pandemic downtime upgrading the joint and made a walk up window rather than enter inside. The paint job is nice too. 

Decided to go to the Crow’s Nest for lunch - haven’t been there since Ed rented a boat to take Terry, Tom, Colleen, me and Dee down the intracoastal to have lunch!! So much fun…

We went home via Casey Key - didn't get good pictures.

Got our call from Walgreens that we both tested negative so now we can use the pools and hot tub. 

Came back to condo and saw little miss Ally the Alligator swim across the pond - our second siting. 

Lily the kitty doesn’t have much interest in the lanai - she prefers curling up on the chair inside. 

November 11, Wednesday

Emergency weather alerts today - Hurricane Eta and tornados in the area. Laying low today with high winds and rain all day long! Ready to head for the bath tub if necessary...