Preparations & an Early Christmas gathering

Since we last updated our blog we have continue to get rid of a few more items. Sandy’s niece wanted the sofa so we were happy to deliver that for her, and Sandy made another trip to Goodwill to drop off a few smaller items. We are organizing the property that will go into the mothership and will begin packing in the next week or so.

We had a few medical/dental appointments to take care of, so we can cross those off the list. John met with his doctor to get his prescriptions renewed for next year and to get a pneumonia shot that was recommended by his pulmonary doctor. Speaking of shots we both received our H1N1 shot today; thought it would be a good idea before we get out there full-timing and start meeting people.

Sandy had another grooming lesson with Chelsea. Chelsea has been our groomer for many years caring for both the late Spunky and the very current Koko. Chelsea was very kind to show Sandy how to groom Koko, so Sandy can take care of it while we are on the road and save the headache and cost of finding someone. Chelsea did an excellent job, was very patient and supportive through the entire process. Sandy now feels pretty comfortable with the grooming process except for trimming the nails so we may leave that up to the professionals.

To Chelsea “Thank you for the wonderful service you have given us, you are not only our groomer, but our friend. “

Last weekend we got together with the Byrnes family for an early Christmas gathering; Aunt Loraine was able to attend, it was special to see her before we leave. We had a great time as usual and hope to see some of them when we reach Mesa.

Sandy spoke with Terri Lund at MyDakotaAddress to verify a few more items for changing our residency to South Dakota. Sandy verified that we have all the proper supporting documentation required for our visit to South Dakota in January. We are also working with Dan Dougherty of Dougherty and Associates in regards to health and vehicle insurance coverage when we become fulltime RVers and South Dakota residents.

John has been nursing a cold and posting some additional blog entries; he completed an account of a fall color trip to Minnesota.

Finally we want to wish every one of Very Merry Christmas and safe travels!

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Winter arrived in Wisconsin last week, first we got dumped on with 15 inches of snow followed closely by single digit temperatures with the wind factoring it into below zero chills. We were hoping that the snow would wait until mid to late January but no such luck.

The storm lasted throughout the night so we were up at five to clear the driveway, as we were working John heard Sandy ask “So who sold the snow thrower last summer saying if it snows we can shovel?” This was not the light fluffy fun snow either, it was the wet heavy mean snow that makes your back sore.

John tried to back his truck out but got stuck twice before he could get to the middle of the street; he was lucky to get the truck back to the garage. A neighbor then got stuck in the street, we tried to help get her vehicle back into her driveway but could not, we eventually got her moving but she was stuck again down the street. We then retreated inside to wait for the city plow to come and rescue us.

At about 0700 we heard some noise and went out to find that the snowplow was stuck! Another larger plow arrived and was trying to plow out the stuck plow, then the grader arrived to help rescue both plows; after some work all three plows were moving again and we started shoveling the four foot high pile they left us at the end of our driveway.

The rest of the week was spent recovering from the storm and from the shoveling. John was able to post another trip blog from our 2005 return to Myrtle Beach.

Plow rescues plow

The lonely guy who sold the snow thrower shovels toward the street.

Glad to see someone enjoys the snow!