Retirement Activities

When Karen retired on June 30th we hoped that we would have time to travel a little. When she was working we only had a few weeks in July available and there were some things that just didn’t happen in that narrow window. Now we should have time to go places at different times of the year.

Vacation

We didn’t let any grass start growing under our feet. Right off we had a vacation. We drove to Denver and stayed in a “park and fly” hotel. Next morning we took a flight out to San Francisco to see Wendy and family.

We did some sight seeing in the Bay Area and had a really nice time. We went to a restaurant we like, Plouf, the Embarcadaro Market, and the beach. To make all this possible, we rented a van for the week.

I got a chance to drive over to San Rafael and see my friend Dennis Patton. He only lives about 15 miles from Wendy.

On Wendy’s kitchen wall was a long list of things she had thought up for their family to do this summer. One of the items was “Letterboxing”. I was intrigued by this and I was determined to do a little more research about it when we got home. But that is the topic of a whole other blog entry.

When we flew back to Denver we got in our car and drove to Loveland. We spent the next few days at a conference for 3D photographers that I like to attend every now and then. When it was over we drove to Rocky Mountain National Park and camped over night.

The next day we drove the Trail Ridge Road. Just as we were starting out we happened to pull over at a crowded scenic overlook. I got out to take a picture and another family was doing the same thing. As they were getting back into their car, Karen said, “Scott?” A man who worked with Karen was one of the people who was having his picture taken with his family. We got to the top, the Alpine Lodge, but Karen was feeling dizzy and they advised her to drink lots of water. Instead of driving back down the way we came we went on around and ended up in Denver.

We were going to try and do some things in Denver but it was going to be 102 degrees that day and it seemed like we were just trying to think something up so we decided just to drive home instead.

Wisconsin State Fair

Last weekend Karen took Rachel to visit Aunt Sue Sue in Racine. They went to the Wisconsin State Fair to see the animals. Clydesdales and dairy cows were a big hit, as was the rapter show.

Another day they went to the beach.

But one of the big reasons they went was for Karen and Sue to conspire about our next adventure…

Caribbean Cruise

We have never been on a cruise before so when Sue suggested that we all go on one, it seemed like a really good idea. Originally, Linda, Dan, and Diane were going too, but complications prevented this. Sue, Karen, and I are soldiering on however. We fly to Tampa in late November and depart for Cozumel the next afternoon. The next day is spent at sea, then we have four action packed days stopping at ports around the Caribbean. Landings include Cozumel, Belize City, Roatan (Mahogany Bay), and Costa Maya. We have another sea day on the way back to Tampa. Home by plane the day after that. It should be really fun. I’ll try to write up a blow by blow once we get home.