Be Active With Us

Clockwise starting lower left: White Sands National Park, NM; Sitting Bull Falls, NM; 

Lake Hamilton, Hot Springs, AR; Washington Monumental, Arlington, VA; Statue of Liberty; 

Boston Harbor, MA; Marshall Point Lighthouse, ME; Arcadia National Park, ME; 

Marilla Bridges Trail, PA; Cataract Falls, IN; Southern CO; Devil's Bridge Trail, AZ. 

Center: northern Georgia

Our adventure started because we wanted to see a log cabin in Georgia and the people who built it. That remains the highlight of the trip, and hopefully a return trip in the future will happen. We also achieved our goal of visiting the lower 48, sailing on a tall-mast sailboat, seeing lighthouses, vibrant autumn leaves, and so much more. Grateful does not begin to describe the wave of emotions.

So what next? There's a song by Thom Shepherd, "Take a Vacation a Day." It's about how we need to take a vacation after a vacation because we pack so much stuff in that it's exhausting. Maybe having just a little fun every day would be a good idea? That's kinda what retirement is, having fun and doing things on our time schedule. Although it is easy to get caught up in things, distracted. So my goal is to be more purposeful in our activities. Mindful.

This week has been a distraction already. Just getting laundry done, groceries and all the necessities of life has taken more time than previous trip-recoveries. It's just a brief pause. We did golf once this week. Our local course is closed for fall over-seeding so we drove a few miles away and enjoyed a nice morning outside. I'm grateful for our trip a year-ago where we golfed over a dozen courses that Papa's dad played; our memorial trip. Now Papa prefers the familiarity of "his" course.

Hiking has returned as an activity Papa enjoys. Oh it isn't the challenging Grand Canyon hikes we did over a decade ago, or even the moderate Devil's Bridge that he soldiered through last week. He does enjoy easy, scenic hikes so that's my new focus. Fortunately we live in an area with multiple trails close by and within a couple hours. Great variety.

Personally my next big project is compile all these blog posts and other photos and notes into a book about our travel and life-in-general. There is nothing quite like a hard copy, in-your-hands book to help keep memories alive, pictures to bring stories to life. 

The golf course re-opens in a couple days. Life is settling into a new routine and we're excited for new adventures.

Side note: We succeeded in our 48-state visit in just three vehicles. Of course there were other cars, but three recent vehicles covered it. I put together this chart as a way to remember how we "got 'er done."