Butterflies Are Free - And So Are We!

Roger here....  Our daughter,  Robyn,  had the lead role in a university production of Butterflies are Free several years ago - a good memory, BUT this post is not about the play or our older daughter.  This is about US - Dianne and me.  The closing on the house that our younger daughter and granddaughter (now in Florida) lived in was Tuesday, so we are now free again to "roam about the country"!


We have been in Pendleton, Indiana (one of the best small towns in the country) since  early May, getting the little house in sellable condition - new flooring, new paint, new ceiling, new wall texture, etc., etc., etc.  After we put the house on the market (by owner), it sold in two days - unheard of for the two of us.  The inspection resulted in a new roof -- ouch -- but not unexpected.  After the roof, all we had to do was wait for the closing.  So, we did a few more things to improve the house for the buyer (an elementary teacher who we really like) and waited.  Several weeks passed, but all turned out well.

Dianne did her usual super-cleaning (sterilization, actually) of all visible surfaces.  We included a few pics of the shiny house.  We also included a picture of the empty garage that was my responsibility to clean - the only thing I was allowed to clean.  It is so clean that if you squirt a hose on it, it will suds.

All the cleaning was done before the closing, so Dianne was able to spend some down time under the RV awning.  Those of you who know Dianne know that she is happy doing this for a couple days before she needs to do something productive.  The last couple of days with not much to do were tense, but it is OVER.  

We are now at Prophetstown State Park,  just outside West Lafayette, Indiana, which has, in our opinion, the nicest state park campground in Indiana.  It is truly beautiful.  All of the butterfly pictures were taken here.  We would have taken more, but even though they are pervasive, they flit away so quickly.  More about the ten days we will be spending at Prophetstown soon..... maybe tomorrow?

For now, we are free to wander aimlessly around the country, just like the snail in the picture.

A Little Night Music and Other Diversions

Hi all -- Dianne here.  The closing for the little house has finally been scheduled for Monday, August 23 at 4:00!  Obviously the photo on the right is NOT  the little house.  You'll need to read the rest of the blog to learn why people are arriving at our friends' back yard with coolers, blankets, and chairs.


When the closing is finally over, we'll feel like two birds let out of a cage!!  As soon as we heard the news, we made reservations for Prophetstown State Park (one of our favorite Indiana parks) for ten days.   We'll still be in Indiana until Labor Day weekend, when we have reservations with friends at Patoka Lake.   Then we will finally hit the road for New Mexico and on to California.

In the meantime, we've been filling our days by taking advantage of the best parts of Pendleton.   Roger has been riding his bike, even in the heat.  We took full advantage of a few below-ninety-degree days by hiking and geocaching in nearby Falls Park.  We were delighted to learn there are 10 geocaches within walking distance of the little house!  We never did find the first one, and we were deterred by mosquitos and poison ivy from the next.  It was fun nonetheless, and we might try again slathered with bug spray. 

  Jasper and Chaplin were very happy to go with us; Chaplin especially liked the fact that there are no fire ants in Indiana, unlike his geocaching misfortunes in Texas.  We're happy to report that Chaplin has now made a full recovery; the mysterious growth on his side finally healed, he has regained all of his weight, and is his former happy self.  We changed their dog food to a holistic brand (Solid Gold); don't know if that played a role or not.  

Last night we enjoyed a special treat.  Our friends Jay and Nancy  are very active in supporting the Anderson, Indiana symphony orchestra.  For a fund raiser, they graciously offered their expansive, beautifully-landscaped yard for an evening concert by a few members of the orchestra.  Since we had "connections," we were able to take our chairs over early to claim a good spot right in front of the musicians.  We took our places with a bottle of Chianti and my favorite Tillamook mild cheddar cheese and Triscuits.  

The weather was perfect and the fund raiser was a huge success.   The back yard quickly filled with people bringing chairs, blankets, coolers, and picnics, ready to enjoy the balmy evening.  The music ranged from Bach, opera, violin duets from The Magic Flute, and a Benny Goodman clarinet version of San Antonio Rose.   For a time we felt we were back in Texas! 


 The concert ended with several Dixieland selections, with the finale a Basin Street rousing rendition of "When the Saints go Marching In."  Reminded us of our parade through the French Quarter at Jennifer Kensill's wedding!  (See the "wedding" category on the left if you missed that blog entry).

Our friends have the perfect setting for such an event.  Their yard has a beautiful tumbling water feature (their little grandsons enjoy feeding the fish).  Nancy has always had a green thumb, but most of us could only dream of a potting shed like hers!   We have shared plantings over many years and I learned almost everything I know about gardening and cooking from Nancy.   

It will be hard to say good-bye to our friends, but to soften the blow a bit they have made plans to meet us in California in November for a week of touring wineries and San Simeon.   Can't wait!  Even though we've had our fill of Indiana this summer, we're glad we were still here to enjoy this festive evening with dear friends.

(Past) Time to Move on, But We're Stuck...

Hi all -- Dianne here.  Well, we've been reduced to this:  Writing about cleaning hair brushes and air conditioning ducts!!  Seriously, all the chores on our lengthy "to-do" list for this summer are done.  Our furniture is gone.  The little house is clean and ready (pretty much).  Now we're just waiting for the closing to be scheduled.  


To make matters worse, it's been so hot and humid here, like much of the U.S., that riding our new bikes, geocaching, hiking, all the things we enjoy doing are just not so appealing when the heat index is over 100 degrees.  Let's just say the novelty has worn off of watching the corn grow across the street!!

By now we're looking for chores to do, and have gotten several things done that we didn't really expect to get around to.  For instance, I put another coat of white paint on my little drying rack that travels with us.


  Yesterday I did indeed gather up all our hairbrushes, makeup brushes, etc. and gave them a good soak and scrub.  Today I did indeed take down the ceiling return air filters and gave them a good soak and scrub.  (It's amazing how fast those get dirty, especially with both air conditioners cranking it out like they've had to do this summer).

Roger and I have stepped up our exercise program. We are doing our power walk video every day to try to get back into the shape we were in when we arrived here in May.  The empty house is a good place for the workout, especially with the fan trained on us and the air conditioning on.


To say we are bored would be an understatement!  We are s-o-o-o ready to hit the road again!  But,  we can park here for free with 50 amp electricity, in the shade, so there is no point in going to a campground. 

Yesterday Roger and I took the short drive to Fishers, Indianapolis, and Carmel, Indiana.  In Fishers we made a stop at Motion Cycling & Fitness, the bicycle shop where we had purchased our Townies this summer.  We bought helmets, water bottle holders, and a storage pouch for Roger's bike.  Roger had fun getting his bike all "tricked out" with new stuff.

My bike is now tricked out, too.  Here's a shot with the basket and flower on, new water bottle holder, and new helmet.  If it ever cools down, I might actually ride it!

From there, we drove to Gander Mountain in northeast Indianapolis with some serious shopping in mind.  We decided at Turkey Run that our h-e-a-v-y recliners that have served us well for two plus years have seen too much sunlight and weren't looking so good.  We also decided that the heavy folding table we've been lugging around the U.S. was too heavy and hard to get to when we need it.  Gander Mountain had perfect replacements for all three; aluminum, lightweight, and the table has a roll top so it stores in a small, easy-to-stash bag.   Roger thinks we've dropped about 50 pounds by replacing our old items.

Here's a shot of Roger in one of the new recliners.  You know he's bored when he is actually reading an owner's manual!!


After our (expensive) shopping spree we topped our day out by using the last of Roger's retirement gift cards at Ruth's Chris steak house in Carmel.  Wow, prime beef filet mignon -- it doesn't get much better than that.  Gift cards are a wonderful thing!  That meal sure took the sting out of being stuck in Indiana for a while!

Necessities and Simple Pleasures in Indiana

Roger here....  Not much going on as we wait for the closing to take place on the little house in Indiana that we are selling - just taking care of necessities and enjoying simple pleasures.


NECESSITIES:
     -  Costco (frozen food and supplies for our next long trip)
     -  Trips to the post office
     -  Cleaning the house before turning over the keys (Dianne finds something new to scrub every hour.
         -- By the time we leave there will be no dirt within a mile of the place)
     -  Washing the motor home roof
     -  Washing and waxing the motor home
     -  Cleaning the front windshield and applying Rain X
     -  Buying groceries
     -  Doing laundry 
     -  Moving things back into the motor home
     -  Getting rid of the few remaining items in the house (trips to Good Will)
     -  Buying bicycle helmets (still need to do) (Thanks to Nancy & Bill for giving us the nudge to buy bicycle helmets; if anyone needs one, it's probably me! -- D.)
     -  Doctor appointments
     -  Eat, sleep, shower, brush teeth, shave, go to the bathroom
     -  Indiana tomatoes from our neighbor's garden


SIMPLE PLEASURES:
     -  Walking the dogs

     -  Bicycle rides

     -  Dianne's flowers

     -  Views of the cornfield across the street

     -  Discovering lichen on the rock in the yard (Lichen only lives where the air quality is good - words

        from a former junior high science teacher.)












     -  Transferring old pictures that my parents took from slides to a CD (Dianne is have a lot of fun 
         finding old and embarrassing pictures of me.)

     -  Naps with the dogs  (Dianne here:  I want to make sure you know this is Roger's hairy leg, not mine!)

     -  Silhouettes in the Indiana sky

     -  Watching Dianne (pyro queen) have fun making a camp fire

Here's one of mine:  Jasper & Chaplin begging for dog treats at "wine-thirty" every late afternoon!  (Those are my legs -- D.)
     -  The Indiana sunset

     -  Listening to the sounds of tree frogs compete with the songs of the newly emerging cicadas  (For some reason this sounds fine on my computer, but when uploaded to blogger there are aliens in the background! -- D.)

     -  The perfect campfire

     -  Oh yeah, Indiana tomatoes from our neighbor's garden (huge and delicious!)