It doesn’t seem possible but there is less than a month
before we head out on our great bucket-list adventure to California and the
Northwest. We have so very much to do before we can depart our Florida abode.
Packing our 24’ Travel Van is the least of our worries. Closing up the house
for the summer is an arduous venture with a to-do list of a host of items as draining
the hot tub and unplugging the electronics. Essential, as well, is battening
down to hatches, so to speak, to minimize damage due to any tropical storms or
hurricanes which might occur during our absence. This past summer we would have
sustained much more damage than we did if it were not for the intervention of
dear friends who watch the place for us. When we are absent for lengthy stretches
of time, it is essential to have house-sitters that are conscientious and close
at hand. We are very lucky in this regard.
This year we are experiencing something that we designed into
our home when built, guests. You know the ones to whom I refer. THE ones that
want to escape the frigid North for sunny Florida. It’s funny, while this was
always our intention, there has never been a great influx of such traffic –
much to our chagrin. Wouldn’t you know it; this year we’re covered up, AND we
love it, but it is presenting a challenge as we juggle competing priorities. It
even might work out that we have some extra hands in loading up. Nice thought!
As yet, we haven’t devoted much time to our itinerary, and
absolutely zero time on a schedule or timetable. At this point we should be
much farther along on a list of destinations but all we have is a myriad of
wishes formed from the substance of our dreams.
At the top of my list are Yosemite and Sequoia. Ansel Adams black
& white landscapes haunt my dreams as I lay in my bed at night. El Capitan
and the Falls at Yosemite especially are highlighted in these nocturnal visions.
The trees of Sequoia are so fanciful as to defy the realms of all that is
possible in flora. When a ultrawide lens fails to capture one tree from sod to
sky, my reason is stretched beyond anything I have encountered on terra firma.
San Diego and San
Francisco come to mind, as well as my zany idea to venture to Long Beach to
spend a night on the Queen Mary. The big ship idea is the product of a
documentary I saw on NatGeo and a story elicited from my Stone Mountain Cousin
Tug Tuggle about his passage on this elegant ship as it made its last journey from
the UK to New York. Tug even thinks he might be able to remember his stateroom
number. We think it’s a nostalgic notion to attempt to book the same cabin for
a night or two. Of course, many of our ideas will present challenges –
especially ones like the Queen Mary because of two things. Locating parking for
the motorhome might be a challenge and we must figure out what to do about our
two pooches traveling with us.
