May 2021 – The Destinators

Aiken, SC

Apparently they had been thinking about it, too. We knocked on the door. They opened it. US: Wow, how long has it been?! THEM: 17 years! Trish and Jim hadn’t changed a bit. And, of course, neither had we.

We all lived in the same small, socially active neighborhood in Connecticut for about 12 years. They moved away to South Carolina at about the same time we moved to Vermont. Although we’ve stayed in touch that whole time, and we did try to meet up, it did indeed take 17 years to get together live.

Jabs and jams, part 1

As Doug mentioned in the previous post, we’re on our way to spend some time with my mom in Florida. We decided to treat ourselves to a little bit of normalcy. We made plans to visit a few OVFs (Old Vaccinated Friends) along the way. Doesn’t that sound, er, normal?

On Hitting the Road Again

Well, we’re vaccinated now. Yippee! Of course we’re aware the pandemic isn’t over, but the vaccines are effective, COVID contagion is way down, and it seems folks might responsibly start venturing out and doing a few things again. Non-essential travel probably isn’t one of those things. On top of that, for our next major excursion we’re hoping to tour the Maritime Provinces, and travel to Canada is still not possible for Americans.

However, as much as it’s been a tough 14 months for everybody, it’s been tougher still for seniors in assisted living facilities. Sue’s mom lives in such a place and is long overdue for a visit, so we’ve packed up the quarantine-mobile and we’re heading south to spend a little time with her in Florida, returning back home before it gets too hot for us down there. It will be a shorter trip than previous ones, and we’ll see how it unfolds.

And just like that, we’re off on a new adventure. It feels a little weird…