Christmas in Orlando

Well I was then I wasn't coming home to spend Christmas with my kids. They convinced me otherwise in no uncertain terms. Boy were they mad when I said I wasn't. I'm so glad that I did though. I've enjoyed spending every minute possible with Rich (whom I'm staying with), Matt, Nicole and and my grand baby Kayla (she's 2), and Carrie. We've dined on all kinds of wonderful foods in all kinds of great restaurants. And Christmas Eve with all of them, and especially Kayla, as this is her 1st cognizant (of Santa and the meaning of) Christmas. It was such a trip watching her open the family gifts Christmas Eve!

I spent my birthday in Disney Studios with my Carrie. In 2009 Disney had an offer of free admission to any 1 park on your birthday. So we went to ride the Tower of Terror, the Aerosmith (the band) roller coaster, which is indoors and semi-dark, with a start that goes from 0-60 in 3 seconds and right into a loop. Plus they have the Osborne Christmas Lights at night. Over 5 million lights that are synced to music. Pretty cool! They did change the location of the lights from the last time I was there so I didn't think it was as impressive as previous years but it was still pretty. Last time I was there the lights were in the "back lot" area which contained 6 or 8 houses (one from the Golden Girls, one from Herbie the Love Bug, and another that I can't remember what TV show it was used for. Plus the NYC street. Now it's all on a street with back drops of NYC and San Francisco. Well worth the price of admission though...especially when it was free!

My sister Eileen and her husband John are flying in from Charlotte NC on Friday and will stay the weekend in Daytona Beach. My sister Diana (Bunny to those of you who know her), who lives in Madeira Beach FL is driving up on Saturday and she and I will go spend the day with Eileen and John.

Soon after that it will be off to Houston again to make my final preparations to head south. The only remaining holdout to crossing the border is my lump sum pension payout check. I want it in my hand when I finally get underway. Belize has very attractive saving account interest rates so I'll deposit some there, which will be in Belize dollars and readily accessible and some in a U.S. bank to have access to American dollars, accessible through ATM. I'm covering all of my bases...

But, when all is said and done, it's going to be hard to leave my kids again for God knows how long, until I visit FL. They CAN come down and visit me though! I'd really enjoy that. And remember that you are also welcome to come for a visit. The scuba diving, snorkling (for those who don't dive), fishing, sightseeing, and just plain hanging around is GREAT!!!
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My new home

Well I thought I had posted a picture of my new home that I'm dragging to Belize but I guess now. So here it is. It's a 1994 22 foot Coachman Catalina. It's been checked out by an RV dealer who said it was in excellent shape. It has 1 bedroom with a full sized bed in the rear and 2 bunk beds up front, and a full kitchen and bath.

 

While I was staying at my cousin Pat's in Houston for those couple of weeks in November I was sleeping in it and it was very comfortable so I have no reservations about living in it full time. If I don't have an electric hook up anywhere everything will run nicely off the solar/battery string except the AC. I have a gas generator that will run that. The fridge will run on either electric or propane, also depending on whether I have electric or not (if for some reason the solar/batteries lose power). The stove runs on propane but that's plentiful in Belize because everyone cooks with it. And of course I have a BBQ grill.

 

I do plan on adding 2 additional batteries to the 2 that I already have, so that my storage capacity is greater. They can also be charged directly from my Jeep when the engine is running or from the generator so I think I have all my bases covered there. That's not to say that I won't have an electric hook up in Belize. But for the 1st week or 2, while I'm looking for that perfect spot to call home I may not.

Hopefully I've prepared for every possibility when it comes to living in a trailer out of the country. God knows I've done an awful lot of research on various websites supported by people living off the grid and survivalists. They had some great info on keeping safe and what works well in the wild. I've taken it all in and bought some of the things recommended like a solar/crank operated AM/FM/Short Wave/Weather radio (it can also be plugged in). I also purchased a very portable water filtering system that allows you to take the dirtiest of water and make it drinkable. Now whether it tastes good or not remains to be seen but I'll have plenty of packets of lemonade to help flavor it.

I've added 2 tires plus a spare for the Jeep and the trailer as well as 2-2 ton floor jacks and 2-2 ton bottle jacks just on case of a flat tire or blow out. I also put locking lug nuts on all of my tires so I don't have to worry about someone stealing them without having to go through a lot of trouble. I have a tongue lock to prevent someone from pulling up towing my trailer off if I'm not there plus every hitch pin has a key lock.

 

So while it sounds like Belize is a dangerous place it really isn't. To tell you the truth most of these precautions are for my drive through Mexico and just for peace of mind as I do plan on traveling Central America and doing some camping in the rain forest and mountains of Belize and Guatemala. Lots of Mayan ruins, wildlife preserves and other interesting places to visit on day trips and longer. I have my 17 foot canoe with me and canoe trips are a possibility too.

 

My son Rich has an account on a website called http://caretaker.org/ that lists caretaker jobs all over the world. I answered an ad last night for someone to just live on their property while they aren't there, which is 90% of the time. They provide electric and water hook up if the person selected has a trailer or a room in the house. They also supply Internet and satellite TV. And best part is they are near where I want to be. So, keep your fingers crossed for me!

 

Well that's about it for now. I just wanted to post the picture of my new home... More later!

 

Winding down my southwestern family visits

Well my time visiting family in the southwest is winding down. I've enjoyed it so much and am so greatful to my cousins who have put up with my sorry butt:

Houston: Pat and Trese Coyle and family
Ft Worth: Greg and Annette and family
Phoenix: Bobbie Jean and Charlie Pratt
Houston: Pat and family again (how can they stand me once again! LOL).

I've gotten to visit with so many 1st cousins and met so many 2nd and 3rd cousins that I lost count. It's amazing how large and loving our family is!!!

Jodi and I took the "northern route" through TX, OK and AZ and got to see the Petrified Forest, Painted Desert, the Meteor Crator and the Grand Canyon on our way to Phoenix. And as much as I didn't want to see it we were in snow on our way to Phoenix. I'm not sure who pushed the cold, and at times rainy weather ahead of us (I blamed Jodi for bringing it from Seattle) on our trip. Bobbie Jean brought Jodi and I to Sedona for a day and it brought fond and sad memories back for me as that's where my soon to be ex wife honeymooned in 2002. But it's still a very beautiful place to visit. If you haven't been to any of the places I've mentioned you should add it to your bucket list. America has so many amazing and beautiful parks! After a week and a half in Phoenix it was back to Houston.

It was a long and lonely drive to Houston from Phoenix without my traveling companion cousin Jodi. But I made it here on Sunday afternoon. Today was new tires for the Jeep and some final shopping for the last of my necessities. Tomorrow is a tune up and oil change. I'm hoping to rest the final 2 days before my next long drive.

I'm leaving for Christmas with my kids in Orlando on Saturday and will come back to Houston just before the New Year to finish final preparations for heading south. I'm itching to get to Belize and plant my roots. But my kids are too important to leave without seeing one more time for who knows how long.

My trip thru TX and AZ

I'm having a wonderful trip so far and I don't expect anything less on the last leg. I've become reacquainted with family that I haven't seen in far too many years. All have gone so far out of their way to make me feel welcome. I know they will deny it but it's true. I hate to leave each place but need to head on to the next town to keep to my schedule. My cousin Jodi, from Seattle, flew into Houston a few days after I got there and has driven with me to Ft. Worth and tomorrow we're headed to Phoenix in a round-about way. We decided to extend out trip by driving I-40 thru the TX panhandle so we can see the Petrified Forest, The painted dessert, the meteor crater and the Grand Canyon before turning south to Phoenix. So instead of hitting Phoenix on Monday we'll arrive sometime Tuesday.

My plan is visit family there for about 2 weeks, drive back to Houston, fly home for Christmas with my kids, back to Houston and then head south right after the New Year. I'm also planning on taking it slow through Mexico to see what they have to offer before crossing into Belize and finding a permanent spot to call home. More later!

My trip has started

Well I did leave on Friday November 13th as I planned (chosen because 13 is my lucky number and it's a lucky day for me when it falls on a Friday). I thought it would be a nice 15-18 hour drive but that soon changed. I hadn't even left Orlando when I started having swaying (side to side) problems with the RV when I hit 50mph. I was on I-4 headed toward the turnpike when it happened first. What a scary ordeal that was! I saw cars in the 3 lanes behind me slamming on brakes and swerving. Very scary. At least I didn't cause any accidents. So I looked for the "sweet spot", which turned out to be 45mph. So that made me think it would be a long slow trip... We'll on Saturday I talked with my cousin Pat Coyle about it and he made a couple of calls. The fix was moving some of stuff I had distributed through out the RV to the front to add more weight to the tongue. I thought I was doing a smart thing by evenly distributing the weight throughout the RV. Obviously not. Plus I hadn't added water to the fresh water tank thinking I could save the gas that it would take to haul it all the way to TX. Well I filled it in a gas station that had facilities for RVs. The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful but longggg. Thank God for Pat in helping me solve the sway problem I hate white knuckle drives and all I could think of was "I'm driving how far at 45mph? It's a good thing I don't have a schedule once I cross the border."

The only downer so far is that my 2nd cousin Chelsey (Pat and Teresa's daughter) hurt her knee and was in the ER when I got there. The ER did an xray that was inconclusive so tomorrow they will make an Ortho appointment to get it fully checked out. Hopefully it will just be a bad sprain and she'll heal quickly.

More later!

Setting my schedule to leave Orlando

While I still haven't packed the RV yet I am starting to put together my trip schedule out west to visit my family and friends. My daughter Carrie will be coming with me instead of my son Matt because of his need to get a job. Carrie just got laid off by my daughter Nicole because Nicole went back to part time work so she won't need Carrie to baby sit any more.

Anyway, here is my tentative schedule as it stands right now:

11/13-12/14 On the road from Winter Park FL to Houston TX

11/14-11/21 Houston (leaving the RV on Houston for the duration)

11/21-11/28 Dallas

11/28-12/13 Phoenix

12/13-12/14 Driving back to Houston

From here it's either fly home to Orlando for Christmas or on to Belize and plant myself then fly to Orlando for Christmas. Either way I'll be flying Carrie home from either Phoenix or Houston.

I am so itching to get on the road to Belize though and set up. Right now I'm headed back to Orlando from Alpharetta. Well actually I have to pack the car first. Matt and I came up here on Friday to get the very last of my stuff and say goodbye to some very dear friends who I will miss very much. So this is my last trip to Atlanta and my next to last trip through GA. I have to pass through a bit of GA on I-10 headed to TX but that will be it.

More later!!!

I bought my RV today!

I finally found my home for Belize In St. Augustine FL! I pick it up on Friday. The owner currently has it connected to his sister's house and uses it when he comes down from NY. So he has to disconnect all the plumbing and electrical, unload his personal gear, and give it a cleaning. Friday he's going with me to the Tag Agency to make sure that I don't have any problems registering and plating it and he's filling the 2 30lb propane tanks for me.

My son Richard and I made a few stops on the way back from DC today to look at RVs I'd seen on Craig's List while we were away. I had 4 that I was interested in. The 1st turned out to be sold while we were driving down to Jacksonville where it was housed. The 2nd was in St. Augustine and I was pleasantly surprised when I saw it. It's a 22' 1994 Catalina that has been well taken care of over the years. It sleeps 6 with a queen size bed as the master, a nice size fridge/freezer and it even has a solar panel to keep the 2 12 volt batteries charged that run the fridge, TV/DVD, and all interior lights. Most come with 1 battery but this owner added a 2nd for extended life. I already have a gas generator that I can use for the A/C if I ever use it. So that's one more load off my over-worked mind. I truly seem to be working harder than when I was working. But now it's for me and not a big corporation.

I have lots to do to get my retirement medical/dental benefits and finances set up so I spent a few hours on that today and hopefully will finish tomorrow. I do plan to get in some bass fishing in the morning if it isn't raining. First things first ya know!

Saturday I'll start loading the RV with my stuff and get it ready to head for TX and then south of the border. It's time to contact my relatives and set up a visit schedule too. I'm hoping to leave soon after November 1st. Houston, Dallas and Phoenix here I come! I'm thinking about a couple of days in New Orleans getting my fill of Cajun cuisine on the way though...

Back from vacation

Richard and I got back home to Winter Park around 4:30pm today. We had a great time touring Gettysburg and Petersburg battlefields and Washington DC and ate a lot of awesome seafood in DC.

It was both our 1st time visiting Gettysburg and it was an exciting experience for me. Living in Alpharetta I had the opportunity to visit numerous battlefields in GA, AL, and TN but none of those sites held my interest like Gettysburg. I still haven't spent the amount of time I would really like to there but at least I did get there. I'm sure that you know I'm into the paranormal and have had several experiences of my own. Gettysburg is a place where I would have loved to spend the night sitting in one of the battlefields with a tape recorder... I did get some eerie pictures at Little Round Top though. And only at that site and none of the others where I thought I might since they had vastly higher mortality rates like the Wheat Field and the peach orchard. All of the pictures at Little Round Top had multiple orbs floating in them and 1 had a mist. And I took the pictures with 2 different cameras and Richard took 1 of the pictures so I know that it wasn't a camera issue. We took the pictures at about 3pm in the afternoon too. Nothing was visible to us until we started looking at the pictures on the cameras. We both looked at each other and got goose bumps! It wasn't until a couple of days later when we finally downloaded the pictures that we could really see them. I posted them on my Facebook page for everyone to see.

In DC we wandered all the normal outdoor monuments, I spent about an hour at the Vietnam Wall talking to friends who's names are honored there and shed a few tears with I vet that I met that was there the same time (he was only there a year though) and in some of the same places. On Monday we did the Capital tour and then finished the night at the Jefferson Memorial with a wonderful sunset. Marine One (well not actually Marine One since the president wasn't aboard) flew by several times on what I can only assume was a flight training. Lots of people snapping pictures of it. We left about noon on Tuesday to be home today so Rich could get back into his normal sleep routine since he works 9pm-6am. The vacation had reset his clock and he needed to reset it so he wasn't falling asleep answering AAA help calls on Thursday.

My First Vacation!

You know I thought retirement was going to be easy and that I'd have a lot of free time to do nothing. Guess again! Besides looking for the car and an RV I have all the HR stuff to do like setting up my retiree health benefits, making arrangements for my pension and 401k payout, and all the rest of the stuff that goes along with the golden years. I'm trying to figure how to live on my last paycheck (coming next week) and the little bit of money that I have set aside already so I don't have to touch my pension, IRA, and 401k until I turn 59 1/2 next June 22nd. I hate the thought of having to pay the 10% early withdrawal penalty on the 3 of them if I don't have to. But I'll probably end up taking a small distribution to tide me over. Needless to say I ain't getting much sleep...

I did get my FL fishing license yesterday and plan to start hitting the lake down the street early each morning. I finally have my canoe back, and the Jeep has a roof rack, so I can get it down to the water. One of my former, and I'm sure it will be again, favorite times of the day was sitting in my canoe watching the sun come up before I started hunting largemouth bass. I'm hoping to pick up on my old motto too...feared by bass, revered by fishermen, loved by women! Actually the last part sort of has me mystified. It comes in spurts and has started again. I get these complete strangers (all women) coming up and asking if they can rub my head. Maybe I'm brain dead but I don't get it. But my son Matt told me how to answer them. "And maybe I can dip my bald head in oil and rub it all over your body!"... ala George Costanza from Seinfeld. i'll have to try it next time it happens.

In one of my earlier posts I mentioned that my son Rich was trying to schedule a vacation and head north to see the fall leaves. Well after much turmoil at work he finally got his approval. So we leave next Tuesday morning (10/13) for 10 days. Since I've always wanted to see Gettysburg I figured we'd kill a few birds with one stone. My sister Eileen lives in Charlotte and we can pass right through there on our way north and see her and her family for the night by driving up I-81. That will take us through NC, WV, VA mountains; MD and into PA. After Gettysburg we can continue heading north into NY state. We should have a couple of chances to see the fall colors.

I picked up my new (well '05) Jeep Grand Cherokee today. I actually bought it yesterday but there was a problem with the driver's seat belt. So that got fixed today. I didn't get the color that I wanted but I got me a big ol' honkin' 5.7 litre Hemi engine! Plus the 4WD I was looking for as well as the large towing capacity that I need. It's red though and it was far from my 1st choice of color. But it's growing on me. All the extras make up for the color. It's got a sunroof too which will help vent my cigar smoke. I tested it out on the way home from dinner with my son Matt tonight. We went to Fishbone's thinking we'd both order the bouillabaisse but we had everything but. We found out it was happy hour and all the sushi and appetizers were 1/2 price. So 3 dozen raw oysters, 3 dozen oak grilled oysters, 4 orders of really spicy volcano roll, 2 orders of calamari, 2 tuna tacos, and more than a few shots and beers later we rolled ourselves out the door. We were celebrating matt's getting hired today as a full time chef at the Grand Floridian Hotel in Disney World and my retirement. So, needless to say, I'll be driving west and south by myself. Circumstances beyond his control forced him to call his former boss at the Kona Steakhouse at the Polynesian Hotel and ask about available positions. The guy got really excited and told Matt he was actually firing a chef that night. Thus Matt's new position.

Well it's time I laid my bald head down and get some sleep. I plan to get up at 6am and watch NASA bomb the south pole of the moon to see if they can prove that there is water in the dust.

Did you ever stop to think...?

Did you ever stop to think how much stuff you need to buy to make your life not only survivable but comfortable when you are planning to live semi-off the grid in a foreign country??? It's mind boggling! You need to think of what you will need to travel in (long trip down and short shopping trips); live in (temporarily and permanently); to survive (tools, water supply, ax, chain saw, fishing gear, etc); and to live comfortably (normal day-to-day stuff like eating, sleeping, washing, and just hanging around). I created a list quite a while ago and it keeps growing. Not that it's all expensive stuff but it's stuff that is easier to obtain here in the U.S. than in Central America. Later in this blog I'll be listing the minimum necessities for others who decide to retire and live like me. I might as well save others the stress of figuring it all out. I've been searching the web for info like that but haven't been able to find it in one place. So i'm searching on "living off the grid", "survival living", and key words like that. My son Richard gave me a couple of books on living off the grid. The books are a compilation of things people have sent in to a newsletter type publication. Some is common sense but others are pretty nifty time and/or environment savers that I'll incorporate myself. But...I never realized what it would take to retire in Belize until I sat down and started thinking about it. Now that time is getting short I have to start getting everything together. I bought a chain saw, air compressor and a 50cc scooter today at a flea market. My friend Stu saw them and called me so I met him there and started my quest to buy them. The money from selling my furniture is what I'm planning on using to equip myself. Today I spent $350 and got some very necessary items.

Finally...an empty house!

Well all the furniture is out of the house now. The last of it was picked up today. So from here on out I'm sleeping on an air mattress. I don't have a chair to sit on, a table to eat at, or a bed to sleep on. That just means that I'm getting closer to leaving here for Orlando. I have to stay until at least Friday 10/2 so that I can turn in my laptop, ID card, Corporate credit cards, etc to someone in my group before I head out. So I'm packing like a madman now and the kitchen eating area is full of packed boxes. I'm still downloading movies, audio books, and music to my almost full 1gig and 250meg HDs.

Anyone know where I can get a reasonably priced portable windmill that will power a fridge the A/C, and other electrical things? Not sure how many continuous amps I'll need though until I buy the RV. I want to cut costs as much as I can and being able to use the free wind in Belize will do that plus give me the electric that I need to be comfortable.

I stopped in a new pizza joint today, called ZPizza, after picking up my 6 shot Starbucks espresso with whipped cream. Met the owner, a nice guy from Sweden and we were talking about my upcoming adventure. He has a friend that lived in Costa Rica for 6 months and LOVED it. One more vote for somewhere other than Belize. So needless to say, I'll be checking out Costa Rica and Panama before I plant my garden...

Anyway...back to the pizza. Being born and raised in Chicago and living in NJ for 12 years I know good pizza. You can argue about which place has better if you want but I like them both because they are so different. Well ZPizza is a winner in Alpharetta. Too bad I found it with so little time left here. I got the 18' American with pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, green peppers, tomatoes and onions. Man is it good!

Right after I stuffed in 2 pieces into me I got an invite from a friend and co-worker (Catherine Stultz and her husband, who is just home from Iraq) to come over for dinner. Breaded Talapia with all the trimmings. You know me and seafood (not the joke about the seafood diet). I never pass up a free meal, especially seafood! So it looks like there will be plenty of one of my favorite breakfast treats tomorrow...cold pizza! YUM!!!

Well not to bore you all anymore. I'll be back later as things progress.

Success!

I sold all the necessary furniture today! All that's left is 1 TV, a futon, and 1 small dresser. I can take them to Orlando when I go and sell them from there... Some of it won't be picked up for a week but that's no problem. They all gave me a large cash deposit. What a load off my my mind! Now all I have to do is pack the stuff that I'm keeping, or taking with me, and get ready to leave GA.

Another win!

I sold the bedroom set and 1 TV today. All I have left of import is the living room furniture, fridge, the washer & dryer, and 1 TV and I'll be able to leave GA! I can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel! Now it's time to see if I can get a loan for a pick up truck and an RV and start looking for them.

My retirement luncheon went very well last Wednesday. We went to the Olive Garden and pigged out. We all had a great time. It was strange being the center of attention, mostly because I don't like being the center of attention, but also because I was the one retiring. I've been to plenty of other retirement functions but never my own...

Antsy to be on my way back to Orlando

I'm really antsy to be getting back to Orlando to make my final purchases and preparations to head west and south to start my new life. One thing that's put a wrinkle into moving so far away is that my daughter Nicole and I have resolved our differences cause by my marrying Maggie and are now back together. I grieved over losing contact with Nicole for those years. She had a daughter about 2 years ago (MY GRANDBABY!!!) whom I'm getting to finally know. So how do you move so far away when you have a munchkin in your life??? Well I guess I'll have to get up to Orlando more often than I thought and, who knows, maybe they'll make trips down to see me.

I'm getting good responses to my furniture sale. Hopefully it will all be gone by next Monday. I'm putting an ad in the Atlanta paper this week announcing an estate sale instead of just putting it on Craig's List. I do have people coming this week to look at the remaining stuff so maybe it won't be necessary... But I have to cover all my bases. The extra $$$ in my pocket will be a great help in buying the last of my necessaries for the move.

I'm really looking forward to heading west and south. I'm still tossed over whether to buy a pick up/suv and a dragger camper or an RV and drag a pick up/suv. While I still have time to mull it over I need to make the decision by the time I do get back to FL. I want to be on the road before the end of October. I'm really looking forward to visiting family and friends in TX and AZ! Watch for me to pull up in front of your houses!

Today is my retirement luncheon in Atlanta. Who would have ever think that I'd be retiring??? In my early working years I planned to retire at 55. Well, we all know what happens to most dreams like that. But at least it's only 4 years late and not 10 like most people. Having a younger brother die unexpectedly sure puts your like in perspective. You realize that you never know what's going to happen tomorrow so you may as well enjoy your life today. So that's one of the reasons that I finally made the decision to do it. I figure that I've worked long enough and deserve to relax and have some peace in my life. I won't be stagnant though. I plan to bring my tools with me and volunteer with some of the church groups that come down to build/repair schools, churches, clinics, etc. But, if I'm enjoying what I'm doing at the moment, or have other plans, I can tell them no not this time. Plus I'll be taking trips all over Central America and also camping in the Belize rain forest and mountains. My tent, a fishing pole, a couple of books, and a handful of cigars will always be packed and ready! Remember too that my welcome mat will always be out so come down and visit any time!

Getting rid of Alpharetta 2

Well I got all the furniture on Craig's list today and have gotten a few emails concerning things for sale. Hopefully the townhouse will begin emptying. Packing is going well and there is much less than I thought that has to be done. Hopefully the final 2 weeks of holiday will be just spent resting. I'm still waiting to hear from Rich to see if he got the time off so we can go camping the last week of my time off. I'm really looking forward to that and I'll be very disappointed if he can't come up. But if the weather continues like it has for the past couple of days camping is a moot point. I think I saw the ark float by yesterday...

Getting rid of Alpharetta GA

Starting today I have at least the next 2 weeks to sell off all the furniture and anything else I won't be needing in Belize and packing up the stuff I do. It seems like a daunting task but I think things will move right along. I'm taking tomorrow off though. My work week was awfully busy. As a matter of fact I didn't finish until after 8pm tonight. So tomorrow I'll rest up for the real work to come. I am doing one fun thing tomorrow though. Stu, DJ and I are going to Dixie Crossroads Speedway to watch some dirt track racing. The last time I was there a thunderstorm developed almost right over our heads. That was the end of the racing. At least the race card was almost finished.

I talked to my son Rich tonight and he is going to try and get the week of the 13th off and drive up so we can go camping in the north GA mountains. That will be fun and it will be nice to get away with him since I don't get much time with him because of his work schedule. Anyway...

Come Sunday all heck will break loose as I pack up the house and get the furniture pics on Craig's List. I already put the fridge on line but the only response I've gotten so far is from a scammer. I guess there are still some suckers out there that fall for that kind of crap. I told him where to deposit his bank draft.

There will still be time for my daily sit outside with my cigar and book so it won't be a total waste of vacation...

Bound for Belize

Well I'm almost on my way to the start of a new life. I retire, again, on October 2, 2009 and will head to Belize by way of Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Panama where I plan to scope out other possible places to live or maybe head to for a change of scenery. My son Matt is traveling with me and will stay, he says, for a while to help me get set up. I think that once he sees the slower pace of life and the friendly people he may decide to stay. We'll see...

I'm not sure when I'm leaving yet but the 1st thing I'll be doing is stopping in Houston, Dallas, and Phoenix to visit family and friends before crossing the border. It will be nice to see everyone again. Some I've seen just last September and others I haven't seen in 42 years (Like Mike Drews, I joined the Navy and he the Air Force). No telling how long my visiting will last. I'm eager to head south but I want the time to spend visiting and getting reacquainted with my Aunt, Uncle, cousins, and all their wives, girl friends, significant others, kids who've been born that I've never met (and now are now in some cases married) and friends from work that I will miss dearly once I do retire.

So, get ready to follow Matt and I on our journey. Not sure how often I'll be able to blog once I've crossed the border but I'll update it and add pics as often as I can.

See ya!