The Journey Begins in Boston!

Meet Hank and Cindy Brown!   Cindy is my cousin and "person" and Hanko as we affectionately call him, is my "cuz-in-law".   We live two hours apart but manage a weekend together a few times a year.   We've always wanted to travel together so we started planning this trip in April after talking about it for a year and a half.  This was a 60^th birthday celebration for Cindy.  We managed to make the trip before her 61^st birthday, so all is well.

We took the long route to London via Boston because one of us really despises overnight flights across the pond.   I found an 8:30 am flight from Boston to London that’s only 5 hours long.  So an overnight stay in Boston and we got to have dinner at the Union Oyster House (the oldest restaurant in America) and had time to see a little of Boston on our first night.  We are so excited to begin this big adventure!

Summertime in the Keys

We are still in the experimentation stage with our travels to the Florida Keys….what time of year to go (or not to go), how best to get there, etc.  For this trip (booked months ago), we flew Boutique Air from Muscle Shoals to Atlanta, caught a cheap Frontier Air flight to Miami, and snagged a Greyhound bus that was headed to Key West.  The timing just fell into place (not to mention the cost).   Having flown Allegiant Air from Memphis to Fort Lauderdale on our last trip, we were just about over the no frills, low budget airlines.   But Frontier wasn’t bad….the plane was clean, the employees were nice, we didn’t check bags, no carry on, and didn’t get a seat assignment… so $58 one way to Miami wasn’t bad. 

We walked to the Intermodal car rental/train/bus station part of the airport.  While waiting for the bus, we visited with a very nice lady from New Zealand that was traveling alone.  She had been on the bus all day (from Orlando) and was headed to Key West….her first trip.   We managed to get a seat right behind the driver, so we were somewhat separated from the other passengers.  Air conditioning, wifi, and not having to drive the turnpike through Miami.....priceless!

Our stop was the Marathon Airport, which is about 4 miles from our house.  Richard asked the driver if he could just open the door for us if he stopped at the red light at MM 53 (in front of the Holiday Inn). He began quoting some DOT regulations…..but then said “Sure, why not”!   So we were able to get off at the entrance to Key Colony Beach and walk home, but not before stopping by Sparkings Landing for a cold beer!   Its good to be home!

Christmas in the Keys

With the majority of my family spending Christmas at Disney World, we decided to begin our winter trip a little early.  So the week before Christmas, with the other truck packed, we carried our bikes and kayaks down, for hopefully the last time.

Even with renovating the house, we did manage to get in some fun time with our friends in the 15 weeks we spent in paradise.  The kitchen is where the majority of the renovation took place

 Before

After

Making It Official In The Keys!

On November 7th, we packed up Richard's old Toyota truck and took it to Key Colony Beach to live! Yep, we pushed the button and bought a little place on hole number four of the Key Colony par 3 golf course.  We stayed in KCB and got somewhat settled in before flying home on Thanksgiving day.

With no retail stores to speak of in the Keys, Amazon would be getting a lot of business from me over the next couple of months!

Orange Beach & Frog Pond

Late October is the perfect time to visit The Frog Pond at Blue Moon Farm!  Cathy Steele hosts some of the best music at her eclectic little paradise.  The Pecks graciously hosted us at their beautiful Orange Beach condo and in turn we took them about 10 miles outside Foley, Alabama to what appeared to be the end of the earth, parking the pickup truck in the middle of a field.   Our friends (from the Keys) Don and Susan joined us to see what it was all about.  Grayson Capps and the gang once again put on a show.

The Pecks also took us to "The Garage" in Fairhope; a great little shop with an art studio attached.
A great few days with good friends.  Life is good.

Washington

The 6 amigos (Pfluegers, Mangums, & Waldreps) took another road trip.   This time, we headed to the state of Washington.   The Mangums and Pfluegers got an early flight and were able to see some of Seattle before the Waldreps arrived later that night.  

SEATTLE

The next morning the six of us visited Chihuly Gardens to see the awesome blown glass art.  It was truly amazing.  

We then took a boat tour of Lake Union and saw where “Sleepless in Seattle” was filmed, the University of Washington stadium, and lots of float planes landing on the lake.

The weather was perfect!

Port Angeles

After two nights in Seattle, we picked up the really, really large van we had reserved.   It gave the group lots of room for luggage and to spread out.  We lovingly referred to it as our BAV.

We took the ferry to Bainbridge Island, where we made an impromptu stop at a quaint little village near the ferry terminal, got a little shopping in and had a picnic lunch in the park.  Our destination for that day was Port Angeles.  Patty had found us a wonderful house on Lake Sutherland for two nights. It was so nice, we hated to leave!

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Not having planned very well, we found ourselves at the cabin before making a stop at the grocery store.  So, our wonderful husbands made the 20 mile trek back into town and returned with a big bag of hamburgers for dinner!  

The following day, we visited Lake Crescent Lodge and drove to the end of Hurricane Road to an overlook.  But the high point of the day was stopping along the side of the road to watch the salmon running!  It was absolutely crazy.  

We made our needed stop at the grocery store and spent the evening at our cabin grilling filet mignons and lounging outside around our campfire.   

Lake Quinault

Another picturesque day in Washington!  We visited the Hoh Rain Forest before heading to Ruby Beach.  

The driftwood that had accumulated on this beach was amazing.

We drove on to Lake Quinault Lodge for the evening.   This was a very comfortable rustic lodge with an awesome view from the room's deck.  We had dinner about a mile away at the Salmon House. After a full day of touring, we made an early evening of it.   We met up for breakfast at the Quinault Merchantile.  It was a great little market right across the street from the lodge.  

Alta Crystal

We got plenty of windshield time today!  The vastness of this area became apparent today.  But we still managed to hike the entire Pacific Crest Trail!  (Or that was what some of the group thought.)  After hiking a couple of miles, we decided to turn back because when we looked over our shoulder, we could see a dense fog rolling in.  This is not somewhere you want to be visually impaired.  We had also began the hike too late in the day and were worried about it being too close to dark.  (With age comes some maturity).  This was an absolutely spectacular hike!  The views in every direction were remarkable.  Truly God's handiwork.

We stayed at Alta Crystal Cabins.  We had reserved a 2 bedroom loft and a one bedroom studio apartment.  As usual, we drew straws to determine who slept where.  Richard and I got the private studio.  The Mangums and Waldreps decided to drive to town for dinner.  But having had all of the BAV we could handle for one day, we opted to visit the Alta Crystal main office which sold a variety of items to cook for dinner.  We grabbed a cheese pizza, a bottle of wine, and stayed in.   After dinner, we took a walk and found a hot tub in the middle of the complex.  We returned to our cabin to change, and relaxed in the hot tub along with two young couples that had actually hiked the entire trail.  We shared stories of our hiking adventures and quickly realized their day had been much more strenuous than ours.

MOUNT RAINIER

The next morning we headed to the pinnacle of our trip, Mt. Rainier.  But not before a lot more windshield time.  

One of our first stops was for a short hike at the Grove of the Patriarchs.  This was a forest of old growth trees.  

Although not pictured, Sam did get in his head stand on this swinging bridge.

Next stop...Reflection Lake.  True to its name, well, lets just say a picture is worth a thousand words.

Mt. Rainier National Park is a must see!  This 14,410 foot wonder can be seen from Seattle, but there's nothing like getting up close and personal with this beauty.

A short walk to the waterfall was agreed to by all instead of the longer hike up to the base of Rainier. Definition:  A walk is when you stay on concrete, a hike is when your feet touch dirt.

The colors this time of year were remarkable (late September).

We loved the marmots that were everywhere you looked in this area.  They were fun to watch and very photogenic.

Late that afternoon, we had come full circle and were back in Seattle for some more touring on our last day.  The trip would not be complete without a visit to The Market Theater Gum Wall.  This is a brick wall covered in ACG (Already Chewed Gum).  Its located in an alleyway in downtown Seattle, under Pike Place Market.

I'm not sure if Richard is making a deposit or a withdrawal!

Another epic journey!

Mid-Year Trip to the Keys

Sometime back in February we casually began talking about purchasing a place in Key Colony Beach.  After spending 5 winters there and making a couple of mid-year short trips down, there was no doubt that its our "happy place".   When you run the numbers it makes absolutely no sense at all but sometimes the heart out weighs the head.  

Since February, we have stayed plugged in to new listings, price reductions, and foreclosures.   OK, the head did at least play a part in this decision because we centered our search on CBS construction, preferably stilted, and just something that we thought might stand a chance of making it through a hurricane.  But there was nothing (other than the multi-million dollar mansions) out there.

We had planned to make a quick trip down and look around in the fall.  But, as our schedules began filling up, we decided we'd better book a flight sooner than later.  After purchasing tickets, we began talking to Richard's mom about going with us.  She had never been to the Keys before and as we described it, it wouldn't get any easier to get there than on this trip (a 2 hour drive to Nashville, a 2 hour flight to Fort Lauderdale, spend the night there, and then drive 2 more hours the next morning).  We neglected to mention that the return trip would be done in one long 12-hour day.   We were thrilled that she was going. 

Our friend Mary graciously let us stay in her beautiful home while she was away.  This worked out beautifully in that we could all be together instead of in two hotel rooms.  We took Richard's mom with us to see the properties.  She quietly observed and then, when asked, would tell us her favorite. 

While there, we had to take her to Sunset Park, which is much less crowded than it is in the winter months.  However, on this particular day, we saw two weddings.  The first appeared well planned, with the groom and friends there anxiously awaiting the bride's arrival.  Shortly after this ceremony ended, another couple and the person (I won't say minister) registered in the State of Florida to conduct wedding ceremonies.   They stood and talked awhile and then began the ceremony.  As we sat under the tiki hut observing, I couldn't help but notice that not only did they not have any friends there and more importantly did not have a photographer.  This simply would not do!  Not as long as I had my IPhone with me.  So, I secretly took a few shots.  Then, without warning, the groom's cell phone begins to ring.  He takes it from his pocket, looks at it, and yep.....he answered it.  Richard's mom and I were about to die.  She said something to the tune of "well this one is never going to last"! 

The bride and justice of the peace just stood by patiently waiting.  We were making assumptions as to who had called....his ex-wife, his mother, another girlfriend?   After he put the phone back in his pocket, they all bent over and started looking in the sand.  They spend the next 5 minutes walking around bent over obviously having dropped something.  Yep.....the wedding ring!  By then we were unable to conceal our laughter.  But I took pictures! 



















Finally, they found the ring, they were pronounced man and wife, and I went over to ask them if I could send them the pictures I took.  They told me the story of the phone ringing, the groom dropping and losing her ring, then added that they had eloped and that when she put her wedding dress on, the zipper had broken and she had to go buy a new dress.  Hopefully they will have fond memories of this day and they will live happily ever after!

So, did we buy a house?   More later!