February 2023

 

OK, so our cross country trip is now over and we are ensconced at our home in France. As far as the trip went, all worked out as planned, on time and within budget. Sort of. Our first stop to visit family was at my uncle and aunt's home in Phoenix, Arizona.

Moving on, we crossed what seemed an eternally long space called Texas over several days. Flat, deserted and boring to tears, we finally arrived at daughter Kami's home in New Orleans where we helped out with her daddy chore list over a few days. Driving through Alabama, we stopped to visit the destroyer USS Alabama and the submarine USS Drum. Good fun to see stuff on the road.

Fire tubes 1-2-3 and 4!!!!

Next planned stop was in Stuart, Florida, where over 4 days Janice satisfied her hankering to explore real estate possibilities. We did find a place that could work for us but the taxes and astronomical insurance (after the recent hurricanes) were deal breakers. So, we continued on. 

This one caught our fancy

The boat was not included, but it left plenty of room for ours

On our way out we stopped to visit with friends Keith and Lisa, who live mid state. They are fellow disaster response Team Rubicon volunteers that I met in Kentucky while we were deployed together last year.

Next stop to see our old friends Joe and Charlotte (old friends, not old...oh never mind) from California now in Knoxville, Tennessee, where we spent a few days with them.

Finally, we made a beeline for Syracuse, New York, to store our pick up where Janice was scheduled for some medical stuff before our flight across the pond.

      Good news and sad news

The sad news is that our grandson Christopher, born a Spinal Bifida baby, had a massive setback this month. A veteran of 25 + + + surgeries in his 16  years of life, he is currently unable to swallow, sit up, speak, walk and is on a breathing machine. While we were on the road, he was subjected to another 3 surgeries to attempt to correct a shunt in his head and a whole host of other issues, far too many to list. Never having known the joys of running or playing but being an avid football fan, he is a relentless trooper, ever grateful for every scrap of life he can enjoy. We often think that a surgery will fix whatever the issue is but in this case it did not. He is now in hospice and our little rocket man is on hold to be launched to heaven. He has always been and will forever be my hero.

Spirit Island

The good news is that this month we made a little money but got a little poorer at the same time. We are fast on our way to loosing the title of 'island moguls' as the 5 we were required to buy to get the one that we wanted were either sold or are pending closing on sales. It was kinda fun while it lasted but we are happy to see Spirit and Phantom islands in our rear view mirror at the same time.

Since our arrival in France, we have wasted no time in catching up with the required maintenance after an 8 month absence. As the big projects 'for Michael to do' have mostly wrapped up, the ongoing 'take care of the joint' stuff that any homeowner faces are what we mostly have to do now... times 3.

At least until Janice comes up with another great idea for Michael to do when the toolbelt has to come out again. We came here earlier in the season than usual to get a big project done in having a swimming pool put in on a new property we are acquiring but French administration has stimied our every effort. The French seem pre disposed to live in the future. Anything that can be done tomorrow, next week or preferably sometime far in the future is preferable to doing it now. We have been at this for 7 months and have yet to complete step 1. Not being here full time to "La Prod" them along is a real detriment. We will get this done but we will just not see completion this season.

The Citrus Festival

So what do you do with a few million lemons and oranges? Yeah, you make lemonade for sure, but first you tie rubber bands around them, strap them to 50 Rose Bowl type floats (static and mobile) and have yourself a festival. The yearly citrus festival in the town of Menton "The Jewel of France" is a real kick to attend and since it had been a few years since we had, we decided to look in on it again. The largest display we saw was about 30' tall (10M) and 80' wide (27M). All this gawking made us hungry, so being just a few miles from the border, we popped into Italy for lunch.

How each is attached with a rubber band