Here, There and Here Again

March 16 - 31, 2010

Orlando - Falmouth - Orlando - Falmouth

A funny thing happened while in Orlando....

I was so excited about this trip to Orlando as I was flying home to hopefully meet my new granddaughter. We no sooner settled in and I was in the air.

It was a quick 5-day trip (those darn frequent flyer miles and their restrictions), but Lindsay and Peter didn't disappoint. Gracie Belle Luckraft was born March 21st at 2:53 a.m., weighing in at 7'11". (I had gone over Saturday night for a pork chop dinner...Lindsay's last three were born after a pork chop dinner!) and received a call later that night saying they were heading in to the hospital. I met the little lady the next morning...what a head of dark hair!!

Next plan of action...check out the progress on the new house. I was very impressed by all that had been done...Peter has done a good job "watching over" the construction!! We spent some time at the lumber store choosing doors and also met with the electrician to decide where the lights and plugs would go. While I relied on Peter's expertise, the decision was ultimately mine...this was one of the problems Peter was encountering and was spending mega-time on the phone with Ken making those decisions.

Sarah and I got up Tuesday morning at 2:00 a.m. to drive through a downpour to Providence to catch my 6:00 a.m. flight home. Ken picked me up around noon and we returned to Thousand Trails where I immediately laid down for a quick nap. Well, it started again...Peter calling Ken for a decision on something else. Before I knew it Ken woke me up and said, "Get packing, we're going home!" I made him give me a day to get some laundry done and groceries bought as well as spending a little time with cousins Greg and Marilyn as they were in Orlando also.

Bright and early we started our just under 1,500 mile trip home. We didn't make any reservations for the stops along the way...we were going to rely on Walmart parking lots when Ken had had enough for the day.

So we are back on Cape Cod and Ken has been at the new house every day, watching over contractors and joining Peter to do some of the work themselves. Yet another great dream of his now being fulfilled: building his house with his son. He's having a ball, but comes home at night a bit stiff and sore!!

Everything is different this time around. As of now, our "full-timing" is at an end. We have such mixed feelings...we have had such a great time the last three years traveling the country with no worries. The Beave (the motorcoach) was so good; we always felt confident driving the streets of the United States. We're making a home for it next to the new house and we're hoping to take it on many, many "long vacations" as the years go on. We still have a lot of "destinations" on our list of things to do.

But, we're home...we're here among our family and friends (although we had the opportunity to get closer with extended family and friends on the road too) and we're looking forward to watching our grandkids grow up (last count: 8 with #9 arriving in June). The blog will be put to rest for awhile. Thank you all for joining us on our journeys...it was a hell of a time!!!