LOOKING BACK & FORWARD IN TIME

I think sometimes it is good to look back in time to see where you happened to be then and reflect on where you are now.  This can be happy and it can be sad - but it is.

I decided to go back about 13 years as this has been a somewhat active time in our lives.

We lived in N. Scottsdale AZ for 7 years after relocating from East Boothbay Maine.  I was happy to leave EB Maine - although I'm a native of New England - there is not very much I ever liked about New England - the worst thing for me is the horrid weather.

I have to say that N. Scottsdale was the happiest I've ever been living any place.  I loved the desert, the cacti and OH yes the weather.  However two people who are no longer in our lives and never ever will be again decided to spoil AZ for us - something that will never be forgiven.

So we moved to Santa Fe NM. - We had been there a couple of times and enjoyed this funky little city.  Melissa was longing for the 4 seasons which of course N. Scottsdale did not have.  Soooooo before New England once again became a possibility I opted for Santa Fe NM.  We stayed here for 5 years and for me the first 4 years where very enjoyable ( not so much the cold and snow) but the winters were semi-mild and did not bother me as in New England.  Come year 5 things started to change for me - the downtown area (The Plaza) was no longer enjoyable as lots of homeless folks invaded this area and made it not so nice anymore.  I also started to get restless - (age I guess) -  one could go to Albuquerque ( not a great place) or one could go to Taos ( a nice place) - however I started feeling closed in and the funky allure of Santa Fe no longer had the same mystic for me.
Soooooo we talked things over and Melissa agreed to give full time RV-ing a chance.  I knew she was not quite 100% on board and pretty much did it to please me in the "urge to travel" bug I had caught.  I must say however she really got into the RV-ing.  For the past 9 months and 10,000+ miles we have been travelling portions of the USA and Canada.  Well our last stop was Punta Gorda - we have friends here -Nancy & Wayne who had full time RV'd for a year - ended up in Punta Gorda - stayed - bought a home and are happy they settled here.

Our 9 months on the road was quite an experience and we grew in so many ways and saw so many places that we had always wanted to see and we are left with many-many-many memories that will never be forgotten.

Fast forward to TODAY.  We are now settled in a beautiful condo in a condo community in Punta Gorda.  The condo community is like a resort - all kinds of amenities and just a lovely place and area to be.  It seems and feels like we have settled here and both Melissa and I are happy and very content and comfortable to be here.  Punta Gorda very much seems to be our " kind of town!!!)

The other day a friend asked me "Do you miss RV-ing."  I answered "Only when I think about it."  He responded "How often do you think about it?"  I responded "Daily."

In a couple of days we bring our RV to Tampa to have it driven back to Elkhart Indiana to be sold by the folks who built it for us.  This is a good thing as it will start to close the RV chapter in our lives and open the door for new adventures.

Being as happy as we are in our lovely condo in Punta Gorda I fully expect in a short time that my response of "Daily" will become "Often - not too often - "Not for several - several months now."
This is called moving on - growing - enjoying life - being thankful for what you have and who you are with.