No really.
I'm asking you. Now what?
We returned home on Sunday afternoon after staying with friends to celebrate Halloween covid-style. I'm glad our kids are too old to trick-or-treat. Deciding whether to let kids trick-or-treat was one choice I was thankful I didn't to have to make!
I hate those trunk-or-treat events or Harvest Festivals. Halloween is about trick-or-treating! End of discussion. You can pray over the candy or whatever, but don't take away the best event of the kid-year!
AMIRIGHT?
This year my daughter and her friend bought a haul of candy and then made a cake. We've been home about 48 hours now and all I've done is sleep and unpack. And drink gin.
I have no amazing new pictures to show you and I'm feeling pretty sad about it if you really want to know.
There was a great moment after we got home. Darla's squad (don't tell her I called them that!) immediately came over and attacked her with a group hug. I cried and cried seeing them so happy and affectionate with her. It made me think we did the right thing by coming home sooner than later.
Zane immediately contacted his friends, too and they got online to play on the X-box (the teenage-boy equivalent of a group hug.)
The first thing I did was go to my bathroom and hug the toilet. Honestly. It was so clean and beautiful.
Our neighbors have come around to welcome us. The weather is perfect at 73* on my deck where I'm writing to you. Everything is set up to resume our idyllic life at the beach. You may wonder why I'm feeling sorry for myself and you may think I should quit complaining.
But I've never been a quitter.
I'm having long stretches of time where I have no motivation to make plans or even call people. Good things happen. Then I remember that we are still in a city in a pandemic and I still have huge limitations on my ability to help nice people get organized. Exactly what I was feeling before we left. I'm sure you can relate.
Our main focus has been to get the RV ready to sell and... what do you know? Jeff listed it for sale yesterday and got multiple responses. He met with a retired couple this morning and they bought it for his asking price.
Boom.
Needless to say, Jeff is feeling very pleased. Tomorrow we will take their money and wave goodbye to Taco Smurf forever.
We net a few thousand dollars renting our house on AirBNB and broke even on the Smurf (including expenses). So, now we have about a month to start making money some other way before we have to dive back into our deep savings. That is depressing.
Thank you for your encouragement to write a book. But there's no way I'm giving up Get Organized Already to be a writer! I've sent in pitches to a few magazines and the LATimes about selling the story of our trip. No takers.
My last ride
I'll keep you posted if anything exciting happens with us in the next months. And for now I'll leave you with some of my favorite pictures that didn't make the newsletter for various reasons.
Love and long, hot showers!!!!!
Nonnahs
Early morning hike at Lee's Ferry (near the Grand Canyon)
Darla and Freddy in Co Springs
Declan's birthday!
Hiking on the Oregon coast
We loved Portland, OR!
a 2" tarantula in Flagstaff, AZ
So much empty in Wyoming
Tally Lake Campground. So close to Canada you can smell the health care.
Our trip was brought to you by Chex Mix and Clorox bleach spray