Trips. Tales and Troubles
07 October 2020 | Carlsbad, NM
Dee

Well, it’s been a while since enough has happened to want to talk about it and, as you all know the news is not good. We have been doing well however, surprisingly well considering the current state of affairs, I thought I’d take this opportunity to do an update on what’s up with us.
We have been hanging out in Anna Maria, pretty much keeping to ourselves for this entire year, unfortunately watching too much TV and news. We succumbed to the admonitions of our rental management company that we needed to do some upgrades to the house so we embarked on a plan that evolved over time but resulted in the place getting a huge facelift. The outside was stuccoed and painted, a new fence was installed and we did a some major improvements to the landscape. On the inside, we resurfaced the walls in the bathrooms and painted all the bedrooms, and the kitchen underwent a makeover with new counters, appliances, and raising the ceiling. The project was rounded out with replacement of the AC system and ductwork, and all new furniture.
Mol and I did a lot of the minor work, but the kitchen reno was left to the pros. While that was going on, we spent a month in North Carolina camping and hiking, looking for cooler weather. We had a great time. All this time spent in Anna Maria has caused us to realize that it has changed now that it has been “discovered” and is not a place we wish to spend a lot of time. We while in North Carolina, may have found a new home. We own some property there and are now considering building a place there. Stay tuned for further developments in that regard.
After returning home, I had surgery on my left hand to repair a Dupuytren’s contracture and have been recovering since and doing a lot of Physical therapy.
Also an update on Wings in France. Construction stopped for several months due to the pandemic, and then restarted very slowly. The result is further delay, with the target now being April 2021. We are disappointed, but understand that things are out of our control and we have to accept reality, even though we hear the biologic clock ticking away. With all this extra time we have decided on the only reasonable alternative. ROADTRIP.
We’ve packed up our camping gear into the Ranger and are heading to the southwest to see what we can see and visit all the National Parks in Arizona, and Southern Utah. So I’ll be posting a few new blogs on what we see and do and maybe even try to do a few videos to boot. Stay tuned for more.