Something a little different… deux

Last year, we planned something a little different, and it went, well, the way plans often go. Planning to explore the Southwest US in the fall, we reached LA in time to learn my mom needed surgery for her broken hip – in Florida! The last 2/3rds of our trip were replaced by an about-face and a coast-to-coast dash across the South. Everything worked out in the end and it was a fine trip. And certainly a little different…

This year’s trip planning was easy – let’s go back and finish last year’s plan! So, is this still something different? Or more of the same?

We’ll make our way back to SoCal via Hamilton, ON for my drum meetup and Denver, CO for Doug’s blues guitar gathering. We’ll be meeting with friends and family along the way, and keeping eyes (and ears) open for musical and hiking opportunities.

Being in Vermont for the early part of the summer gave us time to hang with our local friends, and it allowed us to capture another big bucket list item – after 25 years, we finally got to be in our legendary, outrageously fun and crazy 4th of July Parade! It was an honor to march with the Indy Drummers.

What else? We’ve started some long overdue work on the house that we will have to pause while we’re away, and finish in the spring. This year marks the 10th anniversary of our acquisition of our now 17-year-old motorhome – maybe a good time for some suspension repairs and upgrades… We’ll be heading out with 6 new heavy-duty tires and all new leaf springs that some nice people installed for us, as well as a pair of amazing new rear shocks that Doug put in. We took the motorhome out for test drive of the new suspension system, and Doug couldn’t help himself from doing donuts in a large dirt parking lot. Oh my, what a nice, smooth and quiet ride!