Day Tripping to Corpus Christi

Usually when we come to Port A it is for 2-3 days max and I want to spend as much time as possible at the beach.  But this time, we will end up being here for 2 full weeks. So we have decided to check out a few other things.  We took a few day trips into Corpus Christi.  First we went to the USS Lexington and the Texas State Aquarium on Tuesday.  Both of these places are definitely worth a visit if you are in the area. Here are a few pictures from those two sites.

Walking the plank

Walking the plank

I touched this!

And this!

Shark eggs

Dolphin show was great fun!

On Wednesday we went to Padre Island National Seashore to picnic, enjoy the sun and beach. It was not very crowded, there were covered picnic tables and we got to use our America The Beautiful National Parks Pass for the first time.  But alas, no shells.

Thursday night we rooted for the Corpus Christi Hooks minor league baseball team as they took on the Frisco Roughriders. But sadly they lost.  However it was a beautiful night to watch baseball and we had a great time.
Now we wait...for Lauren to arrive and spend a few days enjoying the beach with us.

Port Aransas...The Beach...

For those of you who know me, you know the beach is my favorite place to be.  Something about the sand, the sun and the surf calm my spirit.  I feel more centered.  I feel as if everything will be ok. Walking the beach, looking for shells and other interesting items or lounging in my chair could go on all day if allowed.  The beach is my happy place.  But it doesn't have to be Port A, although I do enjoy this small town.

Over the course of the next year, you'll see that beaches and water will play a significant part in where we go and what we do.  So here's a toast to my love of the ocean and the beach.  (A new drink...Big Red margarita)

First Stop...San Antonio

Saturday morning, being newly "home free," we headed out for a two week stay in Port Aransas. We decided to make a stop in San Antonio to check out their zoo and have lunch at Casa Rio on the Riverwalk. Here are a few of my favorites from the zoo.

On to Port A....

ummm...this happened today

Well, here we are...move out day.

On Thursday we moved our remaining belongings into storage. First we donated and gave away things we did not want to hang on to any longer.  Then we stored the things that we wanted to keep for the future.  We stored some of it in a storage closet on Michael's deck and the rest went to a 5 x 10 climate controlled storage facility.

Today we cleaned the now empty apartment.  It looks almost as good as when we moved in one year ago.

Then we went downstairs and turned in our keys.  Goodbye IMT @the Domain.  It has been a great year!  We might be back in a couple of years.  (If you are looking for a great place to live, we would highly recommend this place.  Tell them we sent you.)  Now we are officially "homefree."

Tomorrow we head to Port A for 2 weeks of beach time.  I can't wait!  We'll be back in Austin at the end of July, until we "officially" begin our journey August 24th.  In the meantime if you need to send us any mail, contact me and I'll give you our new mailing address.

Later....

Three Weeks and Counting

In less than 3 weeks, we will move out of our apartment and become "homeless" or as I have heard others call it "homefree."  Soon we will begin our golden gap year, our year to explore and travel the world, our year to be senior gypsies...although I'm not sure "golden" and "senior" are words I feel best describe us at this time.  Or maybe they do and I am in denial. I like what  Jo Carroll, author of Over the HIll and Far Away, says:  A grown up gap year is a glorious interruption in life's predictabilities. That's how I wish to view this.  And so here are a few reminders for the two of us as we get down to our final preparations before setting out.

• The quality of the journey will depend on our ability to be spontaneous.
• Positive attitudes are required.
• I/We will allow for periods of free time.
• We will take our time getting to our next destination.
• We will stop at points of interest.
• We will check out cafes, pubs, or other places locals hang out.
• We will do things we have never done before.
• We will get off the beaten path.
• We will live less like a tourist and more like a local.
• If given a choice between something safe and something we've never done before, we will take a risk and go with the new adventure.

(Actually these sound like good snippets of advice even if we were not traveling.) 

As I reread this list of reminders, my teacher mode kicked into gear and I had to go back and change all of the statements that had "won't, can't, don't" in them to positive statements. I guess you can take the teacher out of the classroom, blah blah blah....

Must go for now...boxes are waiting, memories to pack up for now while we go out and make more.

Stay tuned for more updates...

Our Adventure

Around the time I was retiring or thinking of retiring, I brought up the idea of taking a year to travel the U.S. once we both had finished our careers.  Think college gap year except for retired people. We'd pick a few places, live there for a longer period of time, get immersed in the life of that city or town. 

At first I think Lester thought I was crazy.  But about a week later, he came back to me interested in this idea.  Since then (spring of 2014), we've been thinking, talking, planning and researching all that is involved with this idea. 

After deciding this is what we wanted to do, I agreed to start in Lincoln, Nebraska so that Lester could be a part of several Husker football games.  Next we divided our year into 3 time frames: September-November, January-April, and May-August. 

Due to the Husker games in September, we decided that the first leg of our adventure would be more scheduled or planned out.  We will leave Nebraska, and explore places like Michigan, Niagara Falls, Indiana, and Kentucky.

My hope is that our second leg (southeast US) will be a slower pace with longer periods of time in each chosen locale.  

Our third leg will be the western and southwestern US. Not quite sure what that will look like yet but our plan is to end up in Alaska on a cruise in July of 2017 to celebrate our 30th anniversary.  

Perhaps year two will begin in Hawaii in the fall of 2017 as jumping off place for an international year of travel.

So, in July we will put our belongings into storage, give up our apartment, move our dog to Michael's care, trade our cars in for a new car, pack, and head out on August 23, 2016.

If you are interested in following along on our adventure, click on the follow button. 

More to come later as we get closer to our departure date.