The First of many moves.......................

All was going well working together at the Shoreham Hotel, but it was not exciting and rather mundane.  It seems as if we both must have some gypsy ancestry as we started looking for new jobs somewhere in a more exciting locale. You see, Peter had been traveling before we were married. He worked in Narragansett Rhode Island, Waterville Valley Ski Resort in New Hampshire and Stowe Ski Resort in Vermont before we met. So the traveling bug had already bit him.

On a very cold evening during the winter of 1971 we drove to New London, NH.  We arrived at this adorable country Inn at the end of a dirt road with snow piled up about 6 feet high.  The restaurant was packed! We were greeted by an older gentleman with a German accent. He took our coats and asked us to make ourselves comfortable in the living room by the fireplace.  We watched him warm coats for his departing guests by the fire before he helped them on and bid each and every one of them safe journey home and thanked them for dining with him.  It was hospitality as we had never seen before! He ushered us down to the "Pipe Dream" Pub in the basement of the Inn and got  us a drink. Once business had quieted down, he introduced his wife to us and we all had dinner.

They were Wolf and Lilli Heinberg. We had an instant admiration for these two hard working people.  They put us up for the night and the next day we discussed the positions they had available.  We were sold.  A summer of 7 days a week, living in one room over the kitchen, in a small town  in the middle of nowhere New Hampshire, but we were so excited!!!!

We returned to the Sonesta, gave our notice, packed up our apartment, put most of it in storage in my Mom and Dad's barn, took a quick vacation to Bermuda (seeing how we would be working 7 days a week most weeks we decided to treat  ourselves with a little vacation before starting) and moved to the "Hide Away Lodge".

I made the most of our "one room" home.  Made curtains for the windows, hung our favorite pictures.  It felt like home.

Peter & Mr. Heinberg (we could not bring ourselves to call him by his first name, a manners thing  I guess) did  all the cooking.  Mrs. Heinberg,  who everyone called "Shotzie"  did laundry, a little housework and a LOT of worrying.  She also took all the dinner orders from the guests. I tended the little bar, wrote the guest checks and handled the cash, waited tables at breakfast, helped with laundry and anything else that needed doing.

They loved us as we did them.  It was a fabulous learning experience for us and gave  us a desire to be as good at the restaurant business as they were !!!!!  Sometimes we regret it though, when we would find ourselves trying to accomplish too much too well!

 

 During the summer I ran for Miss Hospital Day Queen. I represented the Hide Away Lodge. It was a fund raising event for the local hospital. I came in second and got to ride in a convertible in the "Hospital Day" parade. Wow, was that something special ?!? Wasn't quite the same as when I ran for Miss Manchester (1969) in the preliminary for Miss America. (More on that later)



We worked there all summer and in the fall they asked us to stay on for the winter season.  Not a bad idea, much less work, more time off, great skiing nearby, but we would have to move into their little house as it was too expensive to heat the upstairs of the Inn  in  the winter.  Well, having been married only 1 year, the thought of sharing a house was a bit much.  So we decided to find something else for the winter.

We decided that before starting  our next job, we should take a little inexpensive vacation. So we bought a little tiny used camper which we were told could be pulled by our Volkswagon bug.  Well, it could be towed if you didn't mind traveling 30 miles a hour and 10 miles an hour uphill!  So this inexpensive trip to Florida,  got a bit more expensive when we had to buy a car.  So if you have to buy a car, why not buy a really nice car.  So we bought a gorgeous brand new Cougar Convertible (that my Dad had to co-sign for us) so we could take our camper "escargot" (named by Wolf Heinberg) on this inexpensive vacation!!!


 


 

Wolf Heinberg

Where has the time  gone???

So the last  time I blogged was January 26. I do not  know where the time has gone.  I thought sure I would be bored to tears with tons  of time on my hands.  But, not is the  case.  I really don't know how we survived when we worked and only had one day off.  I now have 7 days off and can't get everything done that I want to.

When I left off we were getting ready for a cruise.  We arrived at our ship on Sunday, January 27.  The ship was magnificent.  It is the Celebrity Shilouette.  Boarding was easy and having sailed many times before, we knew to head right to the restaurant, have lunch and a glass of wine while we waited for our state room to be ready.  We sailed out at 5 pm on a week's cruise of sheer relaxation.

Our state room was wonderful, our balcony divine. There is nothing nicer than  a balcony at sea.  We had room service breakfast there every morning.  

Our first day was a day at sea.  We love those days.  No getting off, just relaxing by the pool, reading (I read 2 1/2 books on this cruise), eating, drinking a little wine, and just plain relaxing.  The next two days were port days.  The first was Cozumel and the second was Grand Cayman Islands.  As we had been to both before we did not leave the ship. We had visited Mexican ruins, and swam with the sting rays in Grand Caymen.  Now, days at port, on the ship are really wonderful.  All the "tourists" get off, leaving the ship inhabited by those of us too lazy to go ashore, or those of us just wanting more peace and quiet.  We really fit into both those categories !!!!!

One of those in port days we rented a private "alcove" cabana on the Lawn Club Deck. This ship has a real lawn on one of the upper decks where you can play croquette or bocce ball.  They also have little cabana style get aways you can rent for the day.   It was wonderful, butler service, peace and quiet.

On our day in Falmouth Jamaica, we did go on shore and took a Bamboo Raft trip down the Martha Brea River.  It was delightful seeing all the foliage, along the shore. Upon boarding our raft, the lady in the raft in front  of us said "You look very familiar"  Well, I was!! She was the daughter of one of my favorite ladies at the TowerHouse Condominium. What a small world.  We enjoyed lunch together.

Our next port was Coco Cay.  The island owned by the cruise company.  Beautiful beach, many activities if you are so inclined, lunch served and many bars.  We enjoyed our stay there very much.

We were very lucky with our Dinner seating.  Other than the fact that we had the table closest to the kitchen, we had a delightful couple at our table.  They had survived "Hurricane Sandy", but did suffer much damage to their home. We really enjoyed their company.

I think this was our most relaxing cruise to date.  With a little luck it will not be our last.

Still on the road.........

Ok, so the first day in Brandon was great.  Peter & Paul went to the RV show, Erika went to work, the kids went to day care and I got to "lounge" around at Erika's house. Lounge = 3 loads of our laundry, 2 loads of Erika's laundry, cooking Corned Beef for dinner and feeling just plain miserable. Oh well!

Had a great evening with the family and Paul's Mom & Dad.  Corn Beef was wonderful,  cheesecake brownies that Claire and I made, not so great!

Saturday, Claire went to Grandma Bellands, and the rest of us set out to the RV Show.  It is massive.  Way too much to take in on a one day trip.  But one day is all I wanted.  Feeling pretty awful, but such a sport traipsing all over the "Florida State Fair Grounds". I love my Motor Home, I don't need to look at 50 that are too expensive.  Let's just go home!!!!!

Sunday, everyone at our place.  Baby back ribs, beer, homemade potato salad, corn on the cob & Hot Fudge Sundaes.....life is good.  A good time had by all.

Monday, so many plans, but all feeling so yucky!!!!!!  Erika and I got a pedicure, the guys worked on our rig. No one is feeling good today.  By evening, Claire had a 103 temp, Elliot was coughing with a runny nose,   Peter & I felt like crap.  Happy Retirement!!!

Tuesday I "babysat" my two sick grandchildren. It was ok!  I could get used to it, with a little training.  Changing diapers is a lost art, especially on a boy, (never had a boy)!

Once we got home, and had a chance to look back at the weekend, we are soooo very excited about living closer so we can help out with the Grandkids!

We have been battling our chest congestion and cough, but are feeling better. 

You may think this is strange or stupid, but today, I did our laundry at the little outdoor laundry area.  Do you know how nice it is to sit outside with your tablet, getting a tan while your laundry is washing and drying? Not being in a hurry is so strange!!!!!  Our bags are now packed as tomorrow we are leaving  on a 7 night cruise on Celebrity Silhouette.  We are so looking forward to it. Not planning to take any excursions, just stay on the ship and relax.  There is nothing more relaxing than a cruise!!!!!

When  we return, we will get all our "year end" bookkeeping done and file our taxes.  Once that is done there is nothing keeping us in Miami.  Our next destination is Lakeland Florida.  We will move there on March 1.  It is right in between Erika and Julie.  So life should be totally full of family!!!!!

More from the Caribbean next week!!!!

On the Road Again.......

It took us awhile, but we are on the road again.  We put our Motor Home in a site in Hallandale back in October and it hasn't moved since. By the way I'm getting tired of calling our home on wheels our Motor Home.  It has a name.  We call her Carefree. So from now on when I use the word "Carefree" you will know what I am talking about.

"Carefree"

To get it road ready, we had to remove a "few" of the things we had moved into it.  As long as Carefree is our only domicile, we will need to have a small storage to keep things that we don't have the space to travel with.

We rented a U-Haul trailer and emptied our storage unit. I towed it behind our car while Peter drove Carefree over to Brandon.  Now all our storage is out of Miami. This is our first step in our eventual move to the Tampa/Orlando area.  We will return to Miami in a few days, and stay there until the end of February. Once we have our business closed out, all monies received, all taxes filed and paid, and all loose ends wrapped up, we will head out.  Our next destination is Lakeland RV Resort, in Lakeland Florida. We will stay there until early June when we head west for our trip to Yellowstone National Park.

We are having a wonderful weekend with Paul, Erika and the kids.  Peter & Paul went to the Tampa RV Show today. It is touted as the biggest in the US.  They were there all day. We will all go tomorrow, but only to look at rigs we just can't afford, only dream about.  But it sure is fun to look.  Family picnic at our campsite on Sunday.  We sure love this non working lifestyle!!!!!  Plan to return to Miami on Tuesday.

Are we going to get the Hang of this Marriage Thing ?

 

I hope to continue to write about our early life and get it up to the point of where we are now in our journey.  As of right now there is so much more of our past that I want to write about and only hope I can blog long enough to have then, meet now. 

 

 I grew up in a big house on top of a hill in the middle of nowhere.  My family consisted of 4 brothers, 1 sister, 1 adopted sister, numerous foster brothers and sisters, summertime Herald Tribune Fresh Air Children, a Mom & Dad, a Nana & Dada, cows, sheep chickens, pigs, horses and of course a dog or two.  Being alone and being bored was never an option!

 

Our  Wedding Day

 Fast forward to meeting Peter.  When we met he worked days and nights,  but right after we got engaged he took a day job in a restaurant in Hartford.  We had our evenings and weekends together.  I had also changed jobs and was now working for a wonderful man who owned a printing company. He was the best boss ever. I worked days.  Life was good and normal.  The night before we got married, Peter accepted the position of Executive Chef at the Shoreham Motor Hotel in Hartford. Our wedding  was woinderful. It was a beautiful sunny, breezy day. We were married at Corpus Christi Church in Wethersfield, Connecticut on August 29, 1970. When we returned from our honeymoon, (the honeymoon is a blog unto itself),  I worked 8 am to 4 pm and Peter's new job had him working 10 am to 2 pm, and then 4 pm to 9 pm. Life was not so good.  I was so lonely. I missed all my family!!!

 

Peter was an avid Skier.  I was not. We went on our first ski trip over Thanksgiving 1970. He rented me skis, took me to the top of the bunny slope and said ok, just do this.......which I tried to copy for about 30 seconds.......then took off my skis and walked down the hill.  It was a long, chilly ride home on our first Thanksgiving!!!  Fortunately we met a couple who lived in our apartment complex who also liked to ski. They convinced us to go skiing with them, but to get me an instructor.  It made a world of difference and soon I was "sorta" enjoying skiing!

 

 An opportunity for the four of us to go skiing for a week in January in Canada came about. Unfortunately, my wonderful boss could not give me the time off so I had to terminate my employment with him.  When we returned from that wonderful week, I went to work as a waitress at the Shoreham Hotel.  I was trained by an old Greek waiter.  He taught me the restaurant business and Greek swear words, most of which I can still remember.  This was the beginning of an unforgetable journey, working side by side, with many new jobs, people and places in our future.

We are getting the Hang of this Retirement thing !!!!!

I haven't been doing a very good job of blogging.  It's been two weeks since I last wrote. The first week I didn't blog because we were so busy doing so many things we don't usually have time for in January. We saw two movies, met Erika and Paul at their camper in Lake Louise State Park. We spent two nights with them. Went to Disney World with Erika, Paul and our grandchildren, Claire & Elliot. While driving back from Lake Louisa, we decided we were too tired to make the drive all the way home, so got a motel room in Sebring, went out to dinner and took in a movie.  We felt like we were doing something naughty!!!

 

Every day our first week, we would get up and make a list of the things we "had to get done". 

 

 At the beginning of week two we sat back, analyzed week one and said, hey, what the heck is the hurry. We are NOT on vacation...................we are RETIRED. So...................the next week we were so lazy I never got around to writing anything. Plus we have both been fighting colds.  How nice is it, when you don't feel good, you can just go back to bed????  We are trying to re-train our dogs that they really don't need to go out to pee at 6 am like they have done for the last 7 1/2 years.  At the house, you could just open the back door.  They would bark when it was time to come back in. Now poor Peter has to get dressed and walk them!!  Will let you know if you can teach old dogs new tricks !!!  

 

 This week is dedicated to getting our Motor Home ready to travel.  I'm not sure all of you are aware that we are living in our Motor Home.  We sold our 3 bedroom, 2 bath house and are now in a 36 foot rig with 2 dogs and our cat!!!

 

When we came up with the concept, we weren't really sure we could do this, but so far it has been great.  A few little problems here and there, but no real issues. Our biggest problem is finding space for everything we want to keep with us. We do have a storage unit and have had to move some of our things to that.  Until we relocate into a house or apartment, we will need a storage facility.  All our furniture and housewares are already in storage in Orlando. We are only dealing with the "stuff" you know you should get rid of but just can't part with! 

 

So we are adjusting to this new life of living with less "things" and slowing down just a little, but not too much.

We've only just begun.......

The first day of our retirement adventure, Tuesday, January 1, 2013, was very relaxing. A leisurely morning eating breakfast out side our motor home enjoying Florida weather, watching two Oposssums (yes, Google says they are Opossums) have a little mating game in a large old oak tree. Nothing like Eggs Benedict and a little possum porn to start your next adventure!!!!! It was like “National Geographic" right in our front yard.

Speaking of the mating game, the first day of “our” lifetime journey together, back in 1969,  Peter played that same luring game!!! He didn't get me up a big old oak tree, but out onto the dance floor of David's Restaurant and Bar where he was the Chef/Manager. I was the receptionist at LaBonne Insurance Agency and Davids was my favorite lunch spot and watering hole. One evening while there with a friend,  I had dropped one of my earrings while dancing. He had picked it up, and the only way to get it back was to dance with him.......so once upon a time in November of 1969 our story began. The rest they say is just history!!!!

It was not a long courtship. Met in November, engaged in February and married in August. Oh poo poo on all of you who started counting to 9 on your fingers! Nope, just wanted to get started on what was to be a fascinating journey. Little did we know back then what an interesting, to say the least, life lay ahead of us!!!