In the beginning .....

I officially retired on Sept 18, 2015, one week after my 65th birthday. I celebrated both of these events by making my first, and probably only trip to Hawaii. I went on a 10-day tour through Road Scholars, accompanied by my good friend, Susi Mclane.

My journey to retirement began, by no means, with my trip to Hawaii. The plan began more than 5 years before with finding out everything I could and making the arrangements to live full-time in an RV. The plan was to purchase one and tour the US and Canada for 5-10 years and see our beautiful country. I had made several trips to Europe and now it was time to see the beauty here at home.

The “wheels hit the road,” so to speak, beginning in June, 2015 with the packing, downsizing, and clearing of 35 years of “stuff.” I had 2 PODS delivered to the house on Greenleaf and loaded them with what I didn’t want to part with this first attempt at downsizing.

The PODS were then transported to Oregon, where they were unloaded into a storage unit, rented for that purpose. Then in July, 2015, I packed up the rest of my belongings, this time loading them into a truck, which I drove to Oregon, unpacking it into the storage unit when I arrived. During the 3 days I was there, I became an official resident of Oregon; I obtained my drivers’ license, voter registration, transferred my insurance license, purchased my Jeep, insured it, and arranged for Medicare.

While I was in Oregon, I paid a neighbor girl to conduct an “estate sale” of everything that was left in my house. What a shock it was to come home and everything, including the plants in the yard, were gone!

July 4th weekend, after moving into the house exacting 35 years before on that same weekend, I had an open house and sold my home. I had 30 days to vacate, which was VERY short, especially since I was still working at that time.

Unfortunately, this left me 6 weeks “homeless” until my retirement!

A friend from work, Avona Corser and her husband David came to my rescue and let me stay in their extra room as a house guest. Bless their hearts. I was apprehensive at first, as I had lived alone for more than 10 years, but it turned out to be a pleasant experience and I am grateful to them for their hospitality.

When I returned from Hawaii, I found that I was not only homeless again for another 6 weeks or more until my coach would be ready, I was also unemployed with no income. Talk about scary …..

I stayed a couple of days with Susi and then headed for Oregon once again. Where to stay while I wait for my coach??? As I thought it would be less expensive in Iowa then in Oregon, I headed east.

Since that time I have discovered many new and exciting things about the states and people that live in them. Stereotypes and misconceptions have been changed and the changes have been exciting. For instance, the first thing I was to learn as I headed East was that most of my dinners would be in “Bar & Grill” establishments. The “happy hour” is 10am-12pm and 4pm-6pm. Bars in the mid-West also serve breakfast. As anyone who has ever met me would know, I don't drink and never frequent "bars," so this was a fun, new experience for me.