February 2018 Clearwater Beach

February 22 we  spent the day on the beach at Treasure Island, celebrating Merlin’s 80th birthday. His kids had rented a large cabana so we old folks could sit on couches in shade. It was fun seeing Jeff, Susan, Chris, John Muench, Dean and Joyce Olson, and Julie Semprini.

Christmas 2017 in St. Augustine

Arne and I spent two nights in St. Augustine, taking a tram ride Christmas Eve through the town enjoying the thousands of lights.

 

 

Terravita Friends Oct 22-24, 2017

On Oct. 22, friends from Arizona, Tim and Marilyn, spent two days with us as part of their two weeks in Florida, visiting Mickey in Orlando and Tim’s brother near Tampa.

Los Alamos Visit October 6-11, 2017

 Los Alamos High School Homecoming - September 2017

Kadin with her beautiful dog, Akira

Luis and Gracie

On Friday, October 6, I flew to New Mexico to celebrate Jeffrey’s 7th birthday by going to a high school football game. I also got to see Gracie play two volleyball matches.


 

Was a little chilly one day. I took this picture from inside the house.

Hurricane Irma September 10-11, 2017

Hurricane Irma was heading our way! First indications were that she would come up the East coast but she changed direction as she got near Florida. It then looked like she was going to go up Florida’s west coast. She got to Ft. Myers before turning inland and by 11 PM was heading directly for The Villages. By the time she got to us, she had gone from Cat 5 to Cat 3. I made up a bed in our closet and slept like a baby, through the brunt of the storm. Arne kept watch.

While people in the southern part of the state were told to evacuate, we decided to stay. We had spent September 9 getting the house ready by moving all lanai furniture into the garage and sealing up the front door against possible flooding. As we went about our neighborhood on September 11, we saw that we were very, very lucky with hardly any cleanup to do. Our neighbors with large oak trees had a huge mess. We didn’t lose power although some areas east of us were without power for up to a week. The only damage we had was peeling paint from the front door as we removed the duct tape and plastic Arne had used so well to keep water from coming into the house.
 

 

Midwest Trip 2017

Aug 14-15   We flew to Omaha and drove a rental car to Lake Panorama where we spent two nights with good friends, Jody and Merlin Muench. Luckily we got a boat ride in late Monday afternoon as Tuesday was a rainy day. Wednesday, after a delicious late lunch, we drove to the farm to spend two nights with Mark and Marla.

  Arne and I visited the cemetery on Thursday to “see” Lisa.

Friday we drove to Omaha where we would meet up with Larry and Jan’s families. We all stayed in a lovely hotel and attended Matt and Janelle’s Omaha Reception on Saturday night. It was a wonderful trip, arriving back in Florida Sunday evening.

Coast to Coast

On Thursday, July 13, Arne and I drove up to Atlanta, left the car at our hotel and on Friday morning, we flew to San Diego. Taylor and friend, Nikkole, had flown in from Portland. The four of us drove to the wine country of Temecula, CA, where we would be joined by Erik, Kadin, Gracie, Jeffrey, Nick, Sarah, Aaron, Moondog and Sonja. I had rented a 5000 sq. ft. house outside town which turned out to be only four minutes from the Lake Oak Meadows Winery where my nephew would be getting married on Sunday night.

Friday evening, I invited Marla’s family to join us, bringing our group to 22. A beautiful evening with kids splashing in the pool.

Saturday, Arne and I were invited to the rehearsal brunch at Wilson Creek Winery. It was a very warm day and we were seated outside in a large gazebo. Here I got my first taste of almond champagne and doubt it’ll be my last. Delicious! That evening, Marla’s family joined us again as our “view  is so beautiful.” With our house being so large, the extra people made no difference. Still plenty of open spaces.

Sunday was spent with pool activities and dressing for the wedding. Nephew Ron and his family dropped in around 3 for a visit before the festivities which were scheduled to start at 5.

The wedding was beautiful.

My family waiting for the bride and groom.

Matt with his nephew, Drew, and Nick, my grandson.

Parents of the groom, my sister Marla

Matt and Janelle

We had to be out of our house by 10 AM on Monday. In spite of being up late, the younger folks were all out on time. We headed back to San Diego, as did Nick, Sarah and Aaron. We met up for lunch and walked to the beach. About 3, we checked into our hotel which was not very nice. It was a Comfort Inn near the Gaslamp district so was walking distance to many bars and restaurants. After a sushi dinner, the young people went on their own. Arne and I walked a short time before heading back to that hotel.

Tuesday morning, we flew back to Atlanta. Picked up our car and Wednesday morning drove about 30 minutes to a new Hampton Inn within walking distance of the new Atlanta Braves stadium. We watched the Cubs beat the Braves. Very nice day!

Thursday morning, we took a city tour of Atlanta which was pretty much a waste of time. We did return to the King Center where MLK and Loretta are entombed. Then a 4 hour drive to Asheville, NC where we toured the Biltmore House and Gardens on Friday. The house was built in late 1890’s by George Vanderbilt with his inherited money. While he didn’t live in it long, he and his wife left a legacy of another time which has been enjoyed by millions. There were 4400 people scheduled the day we went.

Biltmore House, Asheville, NC

Saturday we drove to Augusta, GA. Got a glimpse of a fairway on Augusta National, home of the Master’s golf tournament. This is what we were able to see, outside the gates!

If you look thru the opening, you can see part of a fairway of August National!

Pacific - Mission Beach in San Diego, CA

Atlantic - Fernandina Beach , FL

Had planned to spend two nights in Augusta but since there wasn’t anything to view on Sunday, we drove to Amelia Island, FL. Outdoor dinner near the beach meant we had completed a coast to coast trip with lunch by the Pacific Ocean and dinner by the Atlantic!