We felt really lucky to spend nearly a week over New Years with most of our family in Washington DC. As our family grows, folks have lots of places to be over Christmas so it just made sense to get together a week later. We attribute our youngest grandson for making it all happen. Something about a 5 month old to make everyone want to gather in one place.

We left DC on January 4 and literally just beat the snow south! We’re staying on Amelia Island until the middle of March, a place we’ve been before and where we particularly enjoy being right on the Atlantic Ocean. There have been some times in the past few years when I thought I’d never return to Florida given their politics, but I’m trying to live my philosophy that diversity is a good thing. And that includes diversity of ideas. Living among conservatives, even fringe folks, helps me become more articulate in my own ideas and may even help people of opposite views see that we liberals are interested in understanding why others think the way they do. I’ve always believed if I’m to grow as an individual I need to listen to ideas different from my own. Now it’s time to put my money where my mouth is.

Patrick, Namrata and Miles just left after spending a week with us! In spite of record setting cold and even snow we managed to see some sights. Savannah is a bit far for a day trip, but we had a great afternoon on Jekyll Island GA and another day trip to St Augustine. But now that they’ve headed back home our place definitely feels much quieter. We definitely miss the hustle and bustle and laughter we all shared!

After a decade of full time travel, I’ve decided it’s time to end my travel blog. Oh, don’t misunderstand we already have several irons in the fire for an Alaskan cruise and some long distance trips this year and next and I will definitely blog about our experiences. But since my fall in the Canaries and Bob’s Parkinson’s diagnosis we’ve slowed our travels considerably. We spend most of our time in the United States in warm locations in the winter and quite a bit of the rest of the year near the kids in DC, New York or Michigan. Our days are far more routine, my entries less frequent, so it seems natural to end the travel blog. My goal is to turn the posts into a book. When we began our journey I was disappointed there weren’t more books out there to help guide me. Oh, there are lots of suggestions for folks right out of college. There are plenty of books out there for RVers. But for a couple in their sixties looking to learn more about exploring the world on a “middle income” budget the resources were really limited. Hopefully, we will be able to offer future travels a tidbit or two they will find helpful. Or maybe our posts will just allow folks to visit a new place through our eyes. Thank you especially to those of you who have traveled with us for the past ten years!