Hellos and Goodbyes

We are accustomed to moving around after a week or two stay, sometimes a month.  So to have spent two months in one spot is unique for us.  But with so much to see in the Fort Myers Florida area and being able to play pickleball three times a week, I just couldn't bear to leave.

I’ve gotten to know so many nice people while playing at the community center and it was hard to say goodbye to them on Saturday, my last day of play.  But leaving is probably a good thing to do since I can barely raise my right arm any more without pain in my shoulder and I am losing one of my toenails from the constant pounding my feet have taken.  Ah, the ravages of having too much fun.

At the end of the play on Saturday I had a nice lengthy chat with Adam and Dawn who have property in the Fort Myers area and would like to sell their home in New York in exchange for an RV to do some traveling.  This is good news since I don’t know when I’ll be back in this area and perhaps we’d meet up on the road somewhere.

Left Brain wanted to stay home and work on the RV and I wanted to go do some shopping, so off I went with list in hand.  I hate being listless. 

Aha!  This is an opportunity for Indian food!  Unfortunately my phone was not behaving for navigational purposes but I recalled seeing a combination Indian and Chinese buffet right on Hwy 41.

I pulled in and my first instinct was to turn around and find something else.  But I went in.  The fountain in the entry way was gone dry and things looked less than appealing.  I still continued on.  Hey!  It’s a blend of two of my favorite foods – certainly they will have something I like.  I was wrong.  One should always follow what your instincts are trying to tell you....but sometimes I have a hard time listening, even to myself.

The Indian food was bland and mediocre.  So I shifted to the Chinese samplings…this was even worse.  No crab ragoon, no egg rolls, nothing that looked appealing at all.  How is this even possible?

I left as soon as I choked down enough to take away my hunger, paid and bolted for the car. I couldn't get to the chewing gum I keep in the car fast enough.  This had to be the worst buffet I’d ever been to.  Bummer.

After I finished up my shopping and got back to the RV,  the afternoon was spent doing some cleaning up of the rig, sorting things out, putting them away and preparing for departure on Monday.  The area rugs were picked up, cleaned off and placed into the car, chairs were put away…all was ready.   Then the phone rang.

Our friends from way up north were overcome with cabin fever and last minute jumped a plane heading south for a reunion tour of all their old friends.  They used to own property on the gulf side of Florida in various locations and always invited us down in the winter.  We came down every year …then they sold the place.  They wanted to enjoy the snow of the northwoods, so they say.  I think they sold because everyone they invited kept coming to enjoy Florida at their house.

So this is a switch, now they are coming down to join us in their old stomping grounds.  Their plan had been to just surprise us and show up on our doorstep, but they didn’t know where that was at the moment.  It’s good to be mobile and hard to find sometimes.

They will be showing up soon, so we unpacked the backseat of the cars and got some chairs back out for some serious sitting around time.

This is not the day we had figured on, but we love what live throws our way and just bend with it.  A friend of ours claims that  a full-timers plans are written in Jello, which we find a good analogy.

So – I’m off to pick up the cat toys and make the place somewhat presentable before they arrive.

Miss Edna's rendition of the Photoshop Friday just came in, so I'm attaching it here:

Long Live the Queen of Going with the Flow

 byes