Packing It Up! AGAIN!!!

Well, it is now March.  In fact, it is bearing down on the END of March.  I have sold my condo on Beautiful Okaloosa Island and have made the decision to become a full time permanent resident of Ogden, Utah.

Yep, the Okaloosagirl who thought she could/would never leave the beautiful Gulf of Mexico behind.  However, I have fallen in love with this amazing place, and besides that my beautiful daughter and granddaughters are here too!

We have actually enjoyed every single minute and new adventure here in Utah.  The people here are amazingly friendly and giving…volunteerism here is beyond belief and people are proud of their home town and work to take care of the environment.

I decided to sell the condo on Friday, February 28th and flew down on Saturday….the first day of March!  They started showing the condo immediately to the tune of two to three times a day!  Dawn and I had to keep leaving because every time we came back, they called to show it again.  By Wednesday, March 5th I had a Contract and we CLOSED on Friday, March 7th! What a whirlwind.

Just before I left to go to Florida, and immediately after calling my Realtor, Mary Ann Miller, I contacted a Realtor here in Utah, Shawna with Cornerstone Real Estate.  I went out to see the some on the Monday before I left for Florida and immediately fell in love with the very first one I saw!  Good grief…come to find out the people who were selling it had just listed it the Friday before!  All of this has been amazing.  The Riley's, family who own the town home, are being transferred to Georgia, from whence we came! What an interesting turn of events.  The home has EVERYTHING I could possibly want and more, including a lovely view of the mountains.  We are sitting right at the mouth of Ogden Canyon and one tenth of a mile from my favorite walking trail along the Ogden River!  I don't believe in coincidence, and know this was all orchestrated by an all-knowing, all loving God who has looked out for me all my life.  Amazing.

So, here we go again, packing up to move for the FOURTH time in two years!  Hysterical! I am becoming an expert at packing.  In addition to this monumental move across town, we are leaving for Italy on April 1st!  This lovely trip to Venice, Florence and Rome is a gift from my son Charles!  What a gift!  We can hardly wait to get there and see all the lovely things Italy has to offer (Kevin is anxious to eat a lot of pasta!).

So in a few weeks I will be posting a lot of pictures from Italy as we enjoy our trip.  I am also excited and somewhat melancholy to say I will be going back to Macon to watch Eric Kline graduate from High School the middle of May!  Melancholy because I can not believe how quickly the last 18 years have passed…but, so proud of the amazing young man he has become!  I will collect my hugs and cry a lot I am sure!

Then I am coming home to get ready to welcome dear friend Roberta Johstono and her sister, Barbara, to Utah and we will be driving to Seattle, Washington and boarding a Royal Caribbean ship to Alaska! More pictures will be forthcoming!  Blog, blog, blog.

I am still deciding about whether to take my lovely, expensive camera with me on these excursions, or just rely on the old reliable iPhone!  I really need to practice with the camera before I go anywhere!
As you can see, the next couple months are going to be extremely hectic ones, but exciting at the same time.  I better get a B12 shot or I won't be able to keep up with myself.

I also started teaching a nutrition and diet class this week in Layton…as if I don't have enough to do!  But, as usual I am better when I am busy!  So I hope I will have lots of pictures and adventures to share with you all in the coming weeks.  In the meantime, I wish you all

PEACE, LOVE & JOY

Linda

Getting It Together

I'm packing again tonight to leave in the morning for Okaloosa Island.  My anticipation is always so great the night before that I can not sleep.  I love the Island. 

Today was the day I had to go back to the Travel Clinic in Bibb County to get my booster for Japanese Encephalitis and I also got my yearly Flu shot.  Boy, I thought it was bad when I had to pay $339 last time, but the second Encephalitis shot today was $222.  Good Grief!  I hate pharmaceutical companies.  They hold every one of us hostage with their exhorbitant prices on medications.  No two shots can be worth more than $400.  Plus, insurance will not pay for these injections since I would not need them if I were not traveling overseas.  

I am very excited about the upcoming trip to Shanghai and Bejing, as well as Bangkok, Koh Sumai and Phuket!  I am now up to snuff on all my injections, but will have to have one more booster on the Hepatitis A shot in six months.  The shots were not REQUIRED, but from what I have read, I wouldn't want Japanese Encephalitis, and after my Whooping Cough experience this Summer, I am feeling a bit vulnerable.  That is why I also chose to go and get my Flu Shot today.  I am taking all the protective measures I can.

I also ordered Pyrethrin today to spray on our clothing which we will wear if we enter the jungle areas.  We don't want to be bitten by mosquitoes, which can carry Malaria.  We will be taking anti-malarial drugs with us as well as some antibiotics and anti-diarrheal drugs.
Sounds like a lot of preparation, but this should be a "bucket list" adventure for all of us!

I just love traveling, no matter where it is.  I love learning about the customs and history of people around the world.  I love seeing all the variety of scenery which has been laid out for our enjoyment.  We are flying over Coach, and coming back First Class...I'm feeling extraordinarily spoiled with all of this.  This trip is one I would never have been able to make without my son Charles providing the opportunity.  It is definitely the adventure of a lifetime.

We are planning on leaving here December 3rd.  The time will pass quickly between now and then because I have a lot to do this Fall.  I will be going to Okaloosa the end of October to volunteer as a nurse at an Iron Man competition.  Then we will be going back to Okaloosa for the Thanksgiving Holiday, and a Mannheim Steamroller Concert in Pensacola!  I love love love Mannheim Steamroller's Christmas concerts, they are absolutely amazing. 

We will return from Okaloosa November 28th and then I am leaving on December 3rd!Whew, I am going to be busy!  In January I am leaving again to join two friends on a Caribbean Cruise to Jamaica, Labadee Haiti and Grand Caymen.   I am going with best friends Trish and Roberta and we will have such a grand time.

Boy, this Fall and Winter are going to fly by.  I will have lots to blog about for sure, and hope to have lots and lots of pictures to share with all of you. 

I have learned that packing may be interesting, since December in China is going to be COLD but in Thailand HOT!  I may need to buy some long johns! 

Well, that's all for tonight, but I will keep in touch.  Lots of exciting things coming up, but for now I am headed to Okaloosa and the peace and joy I relish there. 

GOD BLESS - Peace, Love and Joy!

Airline Travel Today

I have always loved flying. I even hold a Private Pilot's license. There is something magical about speeding along the runway in a huge metal tube and feeling the lift as the wheels leave the runway. Then up and over the clouds to bright blue sunny skies no matter what it is doing on the ground! It is hard to believe that all that weight and mass can lift off the ground and carry us speedily along to another destination hundreds of miles away within hours.

I love looking down on the beautiful white clouds and the patchwork of fields down below as we cruise miles above the earth. Flying used to be a lot easier years ago, before we had to worry about terrorists and crazies being aboard, and before the airlines made the seats smaller and closer so that they could cram more people aboard and make more money per flight. Now you can carry small bag aboard and one "personal" item, but they charge $25 or $35 each for your checked bags. They have done this in order to show the cost for flying lower than it actually is. For instance, your flight to Miami from Atlanta may show up at $158 round trip, but if you check just one bag that will increase your cost to $208. And, God forbid, if you check two your cost will be $258!

You no longer get free meals aboard your flight. The other day I paid $2.50 for ONE chocolate chip cookie. It was a very good and large cookie, but $2.50? My goodness!
You do still get a free beverage as long as it doesn't contain alcohol. I had to laugh though at the "peanuts" we got...1/4 ounce! One mouthful of peanuts. That is just a tease. My biggest problem is with the short distance between the rows of seats. I have very long legs, and on a long flight my knees are crammed up against the back of the seat in front of me so tightly that I can hardly move. Very uncomfortable.

Going through security in some airports, Miami for example, can be quite tedious and difficult. Atlanta has a marvelous system however, and I have never had to wait more than a few minutes in spite of the fact that Atlanta is the busiest airport in the world. If you have an iPhone and I am sure other smart phones, you can download maps of each airport to make navigating them simpler. These "maps" show the locations of restaurants, bathrooms and other facilities. Nice!

Dressing to fly has definitely changed over the years. People who were traveling in the past used to be dressed like they were going to church. Nowadays, you might see anything from pajamas to business suits, from the highest of high heels to flip flops. I am kind of inclined to lean toward the flip flops since you have to shed your shoes to get through security. You must also remove jackets, sweaters, belts and watches, so I would advise putting those things in your carry on or Personal Bag (which can be a computer bag, large purse or canvas bag which must fit under the seat in front of you).

You must pack any of your liquids, which must be 3 ounces or less, in a one quart Zip lock bag to be placed in the bins going through security. So, put them in an area where you can easily access them, unless they are going in a checked bag...then you don't have to worry about it! I am finding that it is just easier to use the shampoo, conditioner and whatever that the hotels provide than carrying my own.

One thing that I do find irritating is that you can't carry a bottled water through security...even if it has NOT been opened! If you want water or food, you will have to buy it on the other side of security checkpoint where you will pay considerably more for it.

In spite of the fact that flying is a bit more inconvenient, security can be slow sometimes, and the seats are smaller, I still love flying. Traveling and seeing far away places is a wonderful, mind-expanding thing which I will never get tired of. I watch for sales on Cheap Tickets, Orbitz and Travelocity as well as others, and I will continue to travel as long as this old body will allow me to!

Get out there and explore your world, you won't be sorry you did.