Sunday, December 7, 2014

Family at the Table and Friends at the Beach

Our Thanksgiving celebration was last Saturday so all the kids (less Jeff in Seattle) could be with us for one last "big table" dinner. Every year Bill barbecues the turkey in the Weber, and makes amazing dressing. This year was Richie's turn to learn the process and help make the magic. 

Learning the secret of the bbq'd bird

If he can cook as well as he chooses football teams.....

Yes, you have to touch the nasty, naked bird

Corey and Nick sharing stories with their dad

It was a fun day of cooking and visiting - and getting everyone to take still more of our stuff! 


Nick taking his turn going through the tools

The dinner was perfect, and our table was beautiful. Of course I forgot to take a picture of this very important gathering so we will have to hold it in our memories - and our hearts.

The next morning we were up and out the door early, headed for the beach at Cayucos. Bill had many friends during his college years at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, but he was especially close to three of them. Two, Steve and Laurie, got married immediately after graduation, and moved to Orange County, where they live today. We've gotten together with them a few times over the last few years. But the third, Bob, moved to Costa Rica and his last visit to the states was over ten years ago. So when he contacted Bill several weeks ago about being in Morro Bay with wife Monica for their son's wedding over the Thanksgiving holiday, there was no question that we would make arrangements to get together. Steve and Laurie felt the same, and Sunday afternoon found all of us together in a lovely little cottage in the middle of Morro Bay (the town, not the water).

Pier at Cayucos under cloudy skies

I had not met Bob and Monica, but it was instant affection. For the college chums it was as if no time had passed, and the stories and laughter continued through a walk on the beach with the dogs, a wonderful home-cooked meal, and a perfect bonfire. They were off to San Francisco on Monday morning so we said our good-byes at our hotel with promises to not let another ten years go by.


College chums
Bill, Bob, Steve, Monica, Laurie and Java

We stayed another day with Steve and Laurie, and just enjoyed a slow and easy day relaxing at the beach and exploring the little towns of Cayucos and Morro Bay. Tessa and their dog, Java, were nearly oblivious to each other, playing independently on the sand, and hanging out with their respective people on the patio.
 
So much room to run!
 
Java and Laurie

Java loves the camera
 
Our patio at sundown
While Java prefers the safe familiarity of her crate, Tessa went everywhere with us. She's such a pleasure to take along :-)

Tessa out for a stroll with Daddy and his pals


Morro Rock across the bay


Great views with a few brews on the deck

The star is actually on the glass :-)


Our dinner at the Shanty in Cayucos was excellent, and after a day of walking all over in the fresh air, we were back in our room stretched out watching the football game before 8:00.

Rain was forecast for most of the state so it wasn't a surprise to wake up Tuesday morning to a downpour. A downpour that followed us all the way home. Strong winds added to the excitement of the drive around Los Alamos, and sections of Hwy 101 were flooded in Santa Barbara. Three accidents in 10 miles punctuated just how nasty it was. We ended up driving all the way home with one pit stop.


It was a wonderful few days away from the full-time focus of escrow, packing and last minute details to finalize the sale and move. Everything is coming together smoothly with the buyers completing their final walk-through today.

Yesterday was our LAST yard sale. No more purging. No more pulling boxes and tables of stuff out in the driveway. No more saying "I'll take a dollar for that." for everything from candles to power tools to avoid having to haul it all off to Goodwill. The house and the garage both echo now......it's lovely.


No more signage!!

No more stuff to sort and sell!!
Empty garage, garage, garage.....

Next week at this time we will be in the apartment. And we will be six months from realizing our dream. Wow.

Soon to be one of many back yard views.....




14 comments:

  1. Great times with friends! Hope the apartment time flies by.

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    1. It was really fun! I think the time will fly by quickly - we're taking minimum furnishings and it feels very temporary already.

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  2. WOW is right! I've been anxious to find out how the sale was going. It sounds like everything is on target. Your dream life is just ahead!

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    1. Even with the few expected bumps along the way, the sale has been very smooth. Still, we can hardly grasp just how close we are to our end goal - it's very exciting!!

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  3. Love your GARAGE garage tiny garage......that is just how it feels. Glad you got to have one last big feast in the house but sorry I don't get to see it. I didn't somehow remember you were going into an apartment for 6 months rather than straight into a rig. Does that require that you keep more "things" than you would otherwise??

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    1. The apartment was the one drawback to selling early, but it removes the stress of selling the house under a tighter timeline. So we did have to keep some furniture and a few more house things, but most of it is already spoken for when we move out. Didn't want to try living in the rig (which we'll buy after the first of the year) with a 17 year old until he graduates, so this worked for us. One bonus is the apt's close proximity to both new bike paths and several stores and eateries - nice without that second car :-)

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  4. Always great to visit with old friends. Isn't it great to be done with the purging, boxing, runs to goodwill etc?! Things are going so smoothly for you, I'm happy for you two. I remember when you started posting and your time is almost here! If you get your rig, will you be able to move out of the apt early and into the rig and stay nearby until June?

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    1. I remember too - you were the first person to comment :-) !! Six months is the shortest lease you can get in this area so we'll just stay at the apt after we have the rig. When Bill retires the end of March we'll have a couple months we can go play on the weeks that Richie is at his mom's.

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  5. Glad to hear you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family:) BBQ turkey sounds like a terrific idea.

    They say your best friends for life are made in college. How exciting for these friends to get together after ten years. I bet there was nonstop conversation catching up. And what a great location to meet again.

    Well, your dream is right around the corner. Moving into that apartment makes all this very real. The six months will just fly by. Fun times ahead:)

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    1. We'll have to be more creative next year as the big Weber is NOT going with us :-) I took my high school friends to college with me so didn't really make long lasting new ones - but it is certainly true for Bill, they are like brothers!
      The apt is so temporary it's like we're moving to the waiting room at the RV dealer!

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  6. Purging of the goods was the hardest part of moving to the RV fulltime. 6 months into our adventure, we both looked back and laughed at how attached we were to THINGS. It's a very freeing feeling to get rid of it all

    Good luck

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    1. Thanks Pat. Several times on Saturday we both commented at how great it felt to be free of all that stuff - and seeing how few boxes we have to go to the apt is even better!!

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  7. I'm glad the rain held off long enough for you all to enjoy your beach time. There's another nasty storm headed our way in a couple of days but I'm not sure how far south it will end up.
    How exciting to be free of all your STUFF! I'm already filling up the guest room in anticipation of a garage sale or two before our big move...

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    1. We ended up having four sales and took several things to Goodwill over the last year - every time if felt good but this last one was the best!
      We might get some more wet at the end of the week, but it looks like the brunt of it will miss us. Fingers crossed we can get the moving down without getting soaked :-)

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