Vacation from the Vacation

Wait, what? Has it been so long since I have posted to the MARIS blog? Why, yes... yes it has been about a year since we took a vacation from vacationing. In that time, we have sold our home and bought another, then spent a year reminding ourselves how difficult and expensive remodeling is. I just hope I don't ever forget how painful it is to hit my hand with the hammer. The reminder might not put me in a sweet mood.

The front of the new home is accented with a 41 foot black and silver rolling Freightliner mustache. I think it's a nice accent; it's like diamond jewelry, but in the real estate world. MARIS has doubled as a spare bedroom, a place to go and steep in the memories of warmth as the mercury outside hovers just above zero, and a loving reminder of the adventures that still await us.

As the remodeling comes to a completion, at least for a while, thoughts creep into our heads about where to head off to next. That is, they did right up until Michael's cancer returned. He really didn't need to be reminded of how unpleasant that was. So it is back off to Florida for another surgery. This trip, being a medically necessitated trip, involved TSA and AirBNB. The puppies sit at home, trying to decide how long to give us the cold shoulder before forgiving us and returning to their collar-shaking, paw-offering, bird chasing, barking-at-thunder selves. I give you odds that the cold shoulder will go about as long as it takes for them to desire a treat.

Our house guests (not the owners of the home we are renting) have visited us daily and were particularly interested in our KFC biscuits. It's hard to refrain from feeding such a cute little family.

Meanwhile, I have needed to remain on a short tether to my father, who has been placed in a VA Memory Care Unit with Alzheimer's. He is 82 years old and the opportunities to have the pleasure of seeing him smile and say my name when I enter the room are growing fewer and fewer. My heart wouldn't be able to handle it if I was off in the Alaskan bush acting like the 50-something year old kid that I am and he was to cross over into his next great adventure before I could hold him just one last time.

The topic of travel has resurfaced, though, among discussions of what else we want to do once Michael feels well enough to gallivant around the country at the helm of the big Cummins-propelled Super C. This time instead of seeing how far south we can travel, we will most likely explore the "west is best" approach to destinations. I will be sure to have the trusty camera and a voracious appetite for adventure. One thing is sure... you will hear all about it right HERE so keep checking back or better yet... subscribe so it comes to you "automagically!"