Airstreamers (and Neighborhood Watch) know that you can only waste so much time tidying up, cleaning and winterizing your trailer in front of the house before it must go to storage, and only so many extra trips out to the storage yard to ferry items back and forth before everything is in its proper place.
Picture of Lotti and her stable mate 6868
The Airstream was "inspection-ready" when we heard the call. "The landlords are coming." We had nine days, so we did Spring Cleaning. We moved every piece of furniture, shampooed every rug, washed every curtain and cleaned every window. In the process, we discovered the breeding ground of several species of dust bunny and the semi-mythical graveyard of all cockroaches. We also discovered vast quantities of of unneeded clothing including "snow clothes" we are somehow hoarding here in mid Alabama. When the Polar Vortex arrived a month before the scheduled Coat Drive for the Homeless, we were heroes. I wonder who would want the huge box of freeze dried backpacking food (some nearly 20 years old)? We considered sending it along to college with a grandchild, or perhaps cashing it in for a tuition payment, maybe a science experiment?
We are delighted to be home when the first of the Snowbirds -- our friends, grad school landlords and RV mentors -- appear without an RV for the first time in 28 years. Jim is also without a boat for the first time in 83 years, but he's hanging on to the Model T and the show quality muscle car just to keep his hand in. We talk about the places we have been, many memories beginning with "... I went down there to look at a boat once..." We spent a Veterans Day afternoon cruising the town looking for places that offered to feed us free, Jim's WWII cap garnering lots of attention.
In the meantime, we helped a friend with her annual Christmas craft show. In 30 years, we probably setup/ took down nearly 900 of these; we hadn't lost our edge and everything went exceptionally well with the help of some powerful anti-inflammatories.
Now it was time for the annual pre-Thanksgiving cookie baking and the 2000 mile trek to the frozen North. Joyfully, we were joined by the younger
Grand Girl, Cassie, age 15.
We plugged in multiple electronic devices, plucked her off the street the last day of school and lit up the road. At fifteen, it is hard to pull off the traditional Meme's Surprise Birthday Party, but wait a couple months, transplant her a thousand miles and sprinkle a little fairy dust and voila -- Peter Pan Party complete with a little snowfall for the southern belle.
Back home,we break out the Christmas shirts. Al is reading everyone else's Blog posts while the Whirling Dervish is makin lists and checkin them twice and filling the house with the fragrance of the holidays -- Cookies! (Really, it's hard to maintain this "poor pitiful me" tone...)
Yesterday was Pizzelle Day. I get to help make these lacy waffle cookies on a two place griddle (and get to eat all the mistakes.) We choose the non traditional Chocolate (with little chocolate bits) because they look great with powdered sugar and taste like heaven.So today is present packing day. After 35 years in the ceramics trade, we are accustomed to "makin' and bakin', packin' and shippin". What we may not be prepared for is taking the packages apart to find which little girly toy is giggling deep in the box.
Presents on the conveyor ...Amazon has nothing on us.
Sadly, travel blogging will have to wait awhile, those plans and destinations not even in the planning stages. A Christmas trip, a significant anniversary and an easily overlooked birthday loom on the horizon.
So an early Holiday greeting to all. See 'ya down the road.
Patty and Al
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