Relief: The trip is over. Mom has been returned to her home at Valley Terrace in White River Junction, VT. Ellyn and I now have the RV all to ourselves again. We can come and go as we wish, can stay up as late as we want, can sleep with the door open to our bedroom, and can regulate the temperature in the RV according to our wishes. I am not saying that Mom had made too many demands, but we needed to change our own behavior because she was our guest in the RV. Now we are "empty nesters" again.
Amazement: First, we are amazed that everything went much more smoothly than we thought they would. Mom traveled much better than we thought she would, was much more at home sleeping on our RV fold-out sofa than we feared she might, and the clean out of the house went quicker than we thought it would. We even were able to relax for one entire weekend and do some fun things instead of just working. Secondly, that we were able to get everything done and Mom back to VT about a week quicker than we expected. We have a week to relax now and travel in VT and NH before visiting the boys in Boston for the 4th weekend.
Sadness: We have to say bye to Mom now for the better part of a year. Of course, we will be able to stay in touch by phone and send her cards, but we will be traveling out west during the summer and will likely winter in the south west. She is ok with this and we have our lives to live but she is not getting any younger and we frankly don't know if we will have another chance to spend this much time with her.
The house is on the market in Grand Rapids and we are waiting to hear of any nibbles. There is one couple who seem serious but we have not heard anything about an offer yet. There is still that other shoe left to drop.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Geoff's Mom's House
We just wouldn't have thought it possible, a week ago. Geoff's Mom's house is emptied out and on the market. The realtor held an open house, today. Just about the only thing we have left to do is to pack up the stuff we're taking back from the house and head east. We'll do that on Monday. Between now and then, we'll have a relaxing Father's Day and visit Geoff's Uncle.
Photos of the house are are on Geoff's flickr page - the link is the left.
Photos of the house are are on Geoff's flickr page - the link is the left.
Michigan, Day 12
Saturday, to be exact. We did the flea market last Saturday, but today the realtor is having an open house. Mom and I have to go by there this morning and do some clean up. All our boxes of stuff to take should be put into the garage and we need to run the vacuum sweeper around. Also, I need to make some copies of the photos I took yesterday onto a disk for the realtor.
Susan has been great help getting the house cleaned out, also with the help of her boy-friend Craig and his truck. The garage is totally empty. I had some trouble parting with Dad's stuff, but then I realized it was the man who defined the stuff, not the other way around. With him gone, it was just stuff again. I have a few of the tools which I could use but the rest are gone to others who may be able to use them. I found the odd "created" tool, like the C-clamp, cut and welded to pipes to make the opening deeper.
Update: Monday, 6/22- Leaving Michigan. So we headed out today for Vermont to take Mom home. The house is safely on the market and we have removed everything we want from it. The rest is gone except some furniture items. Susan the Realtor told us today that a couple from a local trailer park are talking to their lender and we could possibly have an offer before we get Mom to Vermont.
We stopped off near Detroit to visit with Ken Hafeli and his wife Josie. Ken and I were fellow "Lounge Rats" at Michigan Tech in the 70's.Now were are grey haired old fogies with married children (all 3 of his, just one of ours). We had a great dinner at a local diner and then played Ladder Horseshoes in their back yard (Ken and I won over Ellyn and Josie).
We are staying at a campground in Monroe, MI and will head into Ohio tomorrow.
Susan has been great help getting the house cleaned out, also with the help of her boy-friend Craig and his truck. The garage is totally empty. I had some trouble parting with Dad's stuff, but then I realized it was the man who defined the stuff, not the other way around. With him gone, it was just stuff again. I have a few of the tools which I could use but the rest are gone to others who may be able to use them. I found the odd "created" tool, like the C-clamp, cut and welded to pipes to make the opening deeper.
Update: Monday, 6/22- Leaving Michigan. So we headed out today for Vermont to take Mom home. The house is safely on the market and we have removed everything we want from it. The rest is gone except some furniture items. Susan the Realtor told us today that a couple from a local trailer park are talking to their lender and we could possibly have an offer before we get Mom to Vermont.
We stopped off near Detroit to visit with Ken Hafeli and his wife Josie. Ken and I were fellow "Lounge Rats" at Michigan Tech in the 70's.Now were are grey haired old fogies with married children (all 3 of his, just one of ours). We had a great dinner at a local diner and then played Ladder Horseshoes in their back yard (Ken and I won over Ellyn and Josie).
We are staying at a campground in Monroe, MI and will head into Ohio tomorrow.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Our Future Plans
Wow - we're a bit behind in updating the blog. Here's a quick summary - we picked Geoff's Mom up in VT on 6/3, it took us 5 days to drive to Grand Rapids and we've been here working to empty Mom's house since last Monday. We're staying at a cute campground on a lake with very friendly neighbors that's about 20min. from Mom's home. We'll fill in more details in a later post.
Meanwhile, we've made some plans for our future travels....
July 2 to 9 - Boston area for an extended 4th of July weekend. Maybe we'll even go see the big fireworks. We've never seen a big city fireworks display so that might be fun. And maybe we'll finally get to kayak on the Charles river. And of course, we'll get together with L&B a bit.
July 9 to 16 - A week in Maine staying at a campground right on a river/bay for some lobster and kayaking, touring, and perhaps a family get-together at L's in-law's "camp".
At that point, we'll probably drop by Danbury for a couple days and then we're off to the west for a really extended trip.
August - Our first set stop is a rally of RVers with the same maker as our RV. Here's a good article about the rally and it's effort to bring some economic impact to those affected by a really ailing industry: http://www.newmarcorp.com/news/kountry_klub_rally
After the rally, we will travel to CA - route not yet determined.
September - We have reservations starting the week of Labor Day for six days in Yosemite - our honeymoon location. L&J may join us up there for a few days. Then time in the bay area and then down to S. Cal.
Sometime in Oct, we'll start heading east with stops in TX to see cousins and much etc. So much to do and see!
Meanwhile, we've made some plans for our future travels....
July 2 to 9 - Boston area for an extended 4th of July weekend. Maybe we'll even go see the big fireworks. We've never seen a big city fireworks display so that might be fun. And maybe we'll finally get to kayak on the Charles river. And of course, we'll get together with L&B a bit.
July 9 to 16 - A week in Maine staying at a campground right on a river/bay for some lobster and kayaking, touring, and perhaps a family get-together at L's in-law's "camp".
At that point, we'll probably drop by Danbury for a couple days and then we're off to the west for a really extended trip.
August - Our first set stop is a rally of RVers with the same maker as our RV. Here's a good article about the rally and it's effort to bring some economic impact to those affected by a really ailing industry: http://www.newmarcorp.com/news/kountry_klub_rally
After the rally, we will travel to CA - route not yet determined.
September - We have reservations starting the week of Labor Day for six days in Yosemite - our honeymoon location. L&J may join us up there for a few days. Then time in the bay area and then down to S. Cal.
Sometime in Oct, we'll start heading east with stops in TX to see cousins and much etc. So much to do and see!
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Danbury, NYC, & Cambridge Visits
Here's a quick update to catch you all up....
1) Had a quick visit to Danbury. We parked in Bethel first for a couple days in Allison's driveway, when they were away, and then in the treet in front of their home. We had lots of fun eating and catching up with them....including an incredible pasta dinner debbi made for Liana track team. Ellyn also got a chance to play Mah Jongg, with her friends.
2) On Satureday we went to NYC to have lunch with Ellyn's father. He was in NYC to receive a distinguised alumni career award from CCNY. Logan & Maureen, Brian & Katherine as well as Ellyn's cousin Ann-Lynn and her husband, Alan were all there. The restaurant was great and it was great to all be together and it was a beautiful day in NYC.
3) Next we met up with the group we went out to dinner with on a monthly basis. Our timing was great to meetup with them for a visit to Melting Pot fondue restaurant. It was pricey but a great time was had by all.
4) On Tuesday, we left for Boston where we visited Brian's and Katherine's apartment for the first time. It is really spacious and sun-lit on the 6th floor with a great view. Brian had gotten take-0ut for us. We each made a menu choice from either the bar-b-q restaurant or Japanese/Chinese restaurant. Plus the kids gave Geoff a b-day gift of $$ to go on a sand-dune buggy ride when we are in Michigan.They love giving us gifts of memorable experiences instead of things.
5) Yesterday, we drove up to VT so we could pick up Geoff's Mom to take her to Michigan to empty out her home of more than 60 years. As I write this, Mom is in the "navigator seat" and I'm at the dinette table. We realized a couple days ago that Geoff's passport is expired so we won't be able to take the short cut through Canada. Bad timing - because the requirement for a passport just went into effect on Monday. It's only a couple hours longer to drive around the Great Lakes via Cleveland.
That catches up the blog - we are hoping to do some fun stuff on the trip and will post the highlights.
1) Had a quick visit to Danbury. We parked in Bethel first for a couple days in Allison's driveway, when they were away, and then in the treet in front of their home. We had lots of fun eating and catching up with them....including an incredible pasta dinner debbi made for Liana track team. Ellyn also got a chance to play Mah Jongg, with her friends.
2) On Satureday we went to NYC to have lunch with Ellyn's father. He was in NYC to receive a distinguised alumni career award from CCNY. Logan & Maureen, Brian & Katherine as well as Ellyn's cousin Ann-Lynn and her husband, Alan were all there. The restaurant was great and it was great to all be together and it was a beautiful day in NYC.
3) Next we met up with the group we went out to dinner with on a monthly basis. Our timing was great to meetup with them for a visit to Melting Pot fondue restaurant. It was pricey but a great time was had by all.
4) On Tuesday, we left for Boston where we visited Brian's and Katherine's apartment for the first time. It is really spacious and sun-lit on the 6th floor with a great view. Brian had gotten take-0ut for us. We each made a menu choice from either the bar-b-q restaurant or Japanese/Chinese restaurant. Plus the kids gave Geoff a b-day gift of $$ to go on a sand-dune buggy ride when we are in Michigan.They love giving us gifts of memorable experiences instead of things.
5) Yesterday, we drove up to VT so we could pick up Geoff's Mom to take her to Michigan to empty out her home of more than 60 years. As I write this, Mom is in the "navigator seat" and I'm at the dinette table. We realized a couple days ago that Geoff's passport is expired so we won't be able to take the short cut through Canada. Bad timing - because the requirement for a passport just went into effect on Monday. It's only a couple hours longer to drive around the Great Lakes via Cleveland.
That catches up the blog - we are hoping to do some fun stuff on the trip and will post the highlights.
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