It is hard to wrap your mind around the immediate change of seasons we just experienced, plus the summer temperatures and “coatless” living here in the south, especially when the love of your life keeps reminding you of past and impending winter storms at home.
We sire “escaped a bullet” with our choice of dates to leave for the sunny south. Seems our one-day delay in leaving home enabled us to just miss an ice storm in lower Michigan and northern Indiana and Ohio.
Heading south, the predicted midwest storms were all behind us, and other than getting a bit lost a couple of times in the mountains, weather on the road trip was uneventful with only one ten-minute rainstorm and a couple of sprinkles to contend with on our trip.
The trip would have been a lot more fun for us, though, if our GPS hadn’t been infected by an evil gremlin.
Despite that, the trip was pretty good and we now have a “truckers” version of Rand McNally atlas to help us find our way home sometime next month. (Take that you nasty little critter)
Coming down here, we managed to miss the worst storms of the winter in Michigan, I hear. It seems the snowfall around home went from almost bare ground to around eight inches deep now with more predicted. The family near Roscommon are struggling with more than a foot of the lovely white stuff on the ground there, and more is predicted, according to nephew Rick, who arrived on a flight a couple of days after us. He is here for two weeks visiting his sister and her family and his mom of course (Marlene) and will go back with his sister-in-law, Margo, who is also in Florida (visiting friends and family-her son) south of us) and escaping the “mess” at home before driving back to Michigan.
Sounds like our family is mostly here in the sunshine state right now, doesn’t it?
Between my family and Jack’s, I think that might be true. On my side is the family here in Ocala and further south a cousin and her hubby, a niece and her better half just south, and Jack’s brother and wife, Brent and Cathy and their granddaughter are down for the month at their place in Naples.
I hate to gloat (actually I guess I am) but wearing sandals and shorts in February is a real blessing if you are from Michigan. In fact, just being able to go outside without that coat and a scarf over my face is a blessing in February. That being said, we haven’t had much on the agenda so far. It seems nice to just relax and enjoy visiting with our Florida family, especially sister-in-law Marlene, who opened her home and welcomed us in, and with niece Kim and her family, who live in the neighborhood almost next door. Kim loves baking and has been bringing us home-made goodies every other day or so, so I’m not anxious for further travel “adventures,” at least not yet…a shopping trip, cleaning excursion to the laundromat and buying oranges from a roadside stand was enough for now.
It’s not that I am bored though. With the Review’s Visitor’s Guide looming on the horizon and the weekly news I am still writing, I am keeping pretty busy on this computer, regardless of our location….
We are planning a trip to Silver Springs complete with a ride on a glass bottom boat on the next nice warm day. Today (Monday) it’s a bit cool, down in the 60s but I’m sure not complaining.
Discussing things to do, I am looking for events coming up in the area around home to add to this year’s Business and Visitor’s Guide, so if you have something special in the plans for 2025, please give me a heads up. my email is pmaurerccr@gmail.com and I am checking it daily.
