6/5/13 Alaska

We spent most of the day flying today!  We left the house at 9 AM to pick up Lana and John and then drove to Hartford.  We had lunch in the airport and then got on the first plane (small jet) to Minneapolis. Weather there was not optimum so we had to circle for a bit.  When we finally landed, we had to run to make our connection.  Thankfully, it was on the same concourse!  We flew across Canada (very flat) and then over the Canadian Rockies - beautiful! The Yukon Territories were brilliantly green and dotted with many glacier-fed lakes (the color was a cloudy blue).  As we were descending into Fairbanks, I was amazed by the green forests and the one road that leads to this city of 30,000.  It really is at the end of the road!  As we got closer, the forest gave way to villages and the outskirts.  Most of the buildings have blue metal roofs - very colorful!  We finally got to our hotel about 12:30 AM our time, 8:30 PM Alaska time.  We read for a bit and then went to sleep.  Lana and John waited up for Kelly to get in around 11:30.

Friday/Saturday 2/1 and 2/2/13

We didn't sleep too well last night - the bed was king-sized and not too comfortable - we are looking forward to sleeping in our own bed!  We got on the road at 8.  It was chilly out with a few snow flurries, but the roads were fairly clear.  We had an uneventful drive until we got to New Jersey and we missed the exit for the Tapanzee Bridge!  We were stop and go on the George Washington with heavy traffic.  I don't think I have ever been stopped on the bridge before and didn't like the swaying sensation.  We got across and finally lost most of the traffic after we got through the cross Bronx expressway.  We got home about 6 PM  and were so weary of driving that we left the suitcases in the car and will deal with them tomorrow.

We had a good night's sleep and then stepped on the scale for our anticipated weigh-ins.  Dave lost 8 pounds and I lost 6!  Now if we can just keep the momentum.  We unpacked the car and started sorting through the mountain of mail that had piled up in our absence.  We are both looking forward to hair cuts this week as we are a bit shaggy.  Tomorrow we will celebrate birthdays with Jaime, Dotty Jo and Amy.  We are happy to be home despite the difference in temperature and we are glad we came home Friday as we saw on the news that the corridor we drove through had a snow storm on Saturday!  Our next adventure will be in June as we go to Alaska (our last state!).

Tues.-Thurs. 1/29-1/31/13

Today I was surprised to see Joyce (the new volunteer) come in again.  I thought I might have pooped her out yesterday, but she is a gutsy woman.  We put out a lot of new items that had come in yesterday afternoon, but more than half of it was sold by the time we left.  It was another hot day - in the 80's, so after lunch, Dave and I went for a swim in the pool.  We cooked our last dinner and then cleaned out the fridge.  We didn't have too much left over - 3 eggs and a stick of butter which I will take to bingo tomorrow night to give away.

Today was our last day and wouldn't you know it - Dave was throwing something away and cut his finger on a piece of glass that was in the bin.  We drove to the clinic, but it was not a candidate for stitches as it was more of a gouge than a slice.  The doctor put a gel sponge on the wound and then wrapped it up in a huge bandage.  Of course, it is his middle finger so if he raises it, there will be no doubt about his message!  He lost a bit of the meat on the finger and says he will go to any lengths to lose some weight!  We have both been dieting while down here so we will be anxious to see how much weight we have lost in a month.  We went back to work to finish out our day - Dave just had to take it a bit easier.  The bosses surprised us with a lovely thank you card and a cake (there goes the diet)!  They were so nice and good to work for.  We came home (skipping lunch because of the cake and because we are eating out tonight) and did laundry, vacuumed, etc.  We packed the suitcases and the car just keeping out our clothes for tomorrow and a change for on the road.  We ate out at Cody's which was a good choice.  Although we had to wait for a table, it was well worth it.  I went to bingo, but didn't win anything this week.  I said goodbye to some of my bingo buddies and got to bed by 9:30.  I didn't read as long as I normally would as I knew we would be getting up on the early side.

We got on the road at 5:45 AM.  The temp was 62.  We drove up to the Florida border and then into Georgia.  The stories about the cops in GA are true - we saw 11 police cars either at radar traps or having pulled a car over to the side of the road.  I kept strictly to the speed limit and we stopped for lunch in South Carolina.  We saw a bald eagle cross in front of us on the highway which was thrilling!  We soldiered on, changing drivers every three hours until we finally got to Hopewell Springs, VA at 6:30 PM.  This is on the ring road just south of Richmond.  We checked into a motel and walked down the block to an Italian restaurant.  We chatted with the motel manager about how long a drive it is until we hit the Washington beltway and have pretty much decided that we shouldn't get on the road until about 8 AM tomorrow so as to let most of the commuters into DC to get where they are going.  I really hate sitting in bumper to bumper traffic!  We will be home sometime tomorrow and will be happy to sleep in our own beds.

Sunday/Monday 1/27 and 1/28/13

We had a call from Kelly last night saying that she has been battling a cold for the last few days so we won't be going there for dinner tonight.  I'm just glad we got to spend as much time as we did together - we had a great time!  We went out early and picked up four grocery items to last us through Thursday morning (the day we leave to go home) and stopped at the Farmer's market to pick up strawberries for Ed and Betty.  We had an easy drive up to Ed's (about an hour and a half) and only got lost when we were trying to find their place in the park.  Ed, the brat, saw me drive by, but had tried to fool us by moving his car across the street!  We visited for a bit and then jumped in their car for a trip to a place called The Villages.  This place was amazing!  It is a planned area with shops, schools, post office, restaurants surrounded by houses of all sizes: from cottages to million dollar homes.  They don't sell houses here - you purchase a lifestyle!  The place keeps expanding - must be thousands of acres!  We drove to the main square and had a great time walking around taking pictures of golf carts.  Some of them are really duded up.  We stopped for lunch just off the square and then headed back.  We had a lovely day visiting and decided to just snack for dinner as we were both still full from lunch.

Today was another busy day at the store.  I had a helper today - Joyce, who is buying a cottage in Old Saybrook, is down for the winter and I chatted with her on Friday when she purchased a couple of items.  I told her what we were doing down here and she said she thought she might want to volunteer also, so she showed up today and we put her to work.  She is a hard worker and we got a lot done.  We had four deliveries this morning and got most of it out, but the Habitat truck went out this morning and hadn't come back yet when we left so I imagine there will be more to put out in the morning.  We came back for lunch and I took a dip in the pool and dried off in the sun while reading another chapter or two in my current book.  We have enough food for dinner tonight and tomorrow night, but will eat out on Wednesday after we pack the car.

Friday/Saturday 1/25 and 1/26/13

Another busy day at the store.  We had someone come in and buy the long line of cabinets we just put out as well as some lovely front doors that came in last week.  There were lots of smaller purchases also.  I took my camera in this morning to take a few shots of the store.  I don't know if you can tell by looking at them how immense this place is and how stuffed with items to sell.  Dave and I had lunch out today as we then headed down to the beach for a great shell hunt and walk.  The weather is so nice right now - about 75 in the afternoons.  We came home and made dinner and watched a bit of TV tonight.

We worked today as we will be taking off on Thursday.  Saturdays are incredible!  Every day seems so busy, but Saturdays are crazy.  We sold lots of things today from furniture to appliances as well as some office equipment that came in a big truck this morning.  We were both pooped after work, but headed into Largo as they were having a book sale at their library.  One of the other couples that volunteer at the ReStore also volunteer at the library.  It was a humongous building!  It could have swallowed our library 6 times and still have room left over.  Today was $1 a bag so I chose a few books that I hope the kids will like and a few for myself.  This place is so big that it has a permanent bookstore for their nicer donations and a coffee shop where you can also purchase light meals.  We came back to sit in the sun by the pool for a bit.  We will go out for dinner tonight and then I will do some laundry tonight.  Tomorrow we will go to visit brother Ed in Bushnell and then drive to Kelly's for dinner.

Wednesday/Thursday 1/23 and 1/24/13

We had a busy morning with lots of new and used cabinets coming in today.  We were both pretty tired when we got back so we had lunch and then read by the pool before going for a walk.  We ate a little bit early as bingo is on Wednesday nights.  I forgot to mention last week that I won twice for a total of $35.

Well, I didn't fare as well this week - only won $7, but since I only paid $6 to play, I still came out ahead of the game.  We were wicked busy today both selling and moving things out and dealing with new deliveries.  We got some more new cabinets in - I don't know where we are going to put them so they had better hold a cabinet sale soon.  We also got a cute marble topped vanity for a powder room as well as a load of trim boards and cloth blinds.  I had a lady come in looking for a caned chair as she wants to learn how to cane.  I took her number and told her I would keep an eye out while we are still here.  I sat out by the pool with my book for a bit after lunch, but the breeze is picking up so maybe we will go for a walk down on the beach before dinner.  I heard from my brother, Ed, and he and Betty got here on Tuesday.  We will drive up to see them on Sunday.  I also heard from our friend, Pat, who thought we might hook up down here, but she is unable to make it.  She is near Sarasota for a cousins reunion.

Monday/Tuesday 1/21 and 1/22/13

What a wonderful day we had today.  We got up early and drove to Kelly's.  We then drove to Walt Disney's Animal Kingdom where Kelly and her friend, Kim, did an awesome job as tour guides to the park.  It was raining when we got there which was not good news for us, but was perfect for viewing the animals.  They were very active!  We saw a 3-D film on a Bug's Life which was actually 4-D as we were poked in the back by "bugs".  We then went on Safari in Africa which was a wonderful ride through many animal habitats.  We saw elephants, lions, rhinos, hippos, ostrich, zebras, giraffes, etc.  It was truly awesome!  We saw also saw mountain gorillas in another part of the Africa exhibit.  In Asia, we saw some lovely tigers - they were a bit less active, but beautiful none-the-less.  We stopped for a salad lunch and then continued on through other parts of the park.  We saw a show called Flights of Fancy which was fabulous.  We finished by watching the Lion King show - it was amazing and I was in awe of the dancers on stilts!  Dave and I stopped for "breakfast for dinner" at Perkins when we got near to our place.  No one had to rock us to sleep as we were both pleasantly tired from our day.  I will post some of the many photos I took of the animals at the park.

From top to bottom: roseate spoonbill, the Tree of Life (hand carved, portraying animals, mountain gorilla, white rhino, beautiful fish and a lazy tiger.

Today was another busy day at the ReStore.  We had some deliveries from yesterday that needed to be put out on the floor and we also had a lot of customers looking for different items.  I asked to learn the register today as we will be working again on Saturday and there is only one person on the register that day and he is busier than a one-armed paper hanger!  I took in a few sales including debit and credit charges so I think I will be okay on Saturday.  We also had a delivery of new, but discontinued items from a major hardware store - we will finish putting those out tomorrow.  We came home for lunch and then did a bit of housework and laundry.  It is a cloudy day and a bit cool.  The weatherman is predicting sun for the rest of the week so we hope to get out and walk somewhere tomorrow.