500 Saturdays: Nomad Diary

We awoke at 3:30 am in Vancouver. Finished packing our carry-ons: 2 backpacks, my purse and a daypack. Our 4am scheduled Uber arrived early, and we had an easy drive to PDX Airport in Portland.  We jumped the long security line by having TSA precheck.  We had an easy 4.5 hour Delta flight to Atlanta,  a layover and a short hop to Huntsville.  On Friday night we ate dinner with Jeremy and Andrea.  We had our last hugs with Quinn and family, and left our few food items with them. At our airbnb, we were able to have a bowl of cereal and oatmeal with berries before leaving.  In our daypack we carried our last 3 slices of cheese and some sourdough bread, pistachios and granola bars. We also had our last banana tossed in for later. We had plenty of snacks and drinks supplied by Delta. Once we got to Atlanta we went to a quiet lunch at a nice restaurant. When we left Huntsville, 2 weeks ago,  our sister in law Phoebe drove us from her and Glenn's house to the...

Today was so sweet with our son Jeremy,  his wife, Andrea and 11 month old baby boy, Quinn.  We walked from our airbnb, down a mountain 1.5 miles to their townhome. We had already had breakfast. We went in their car to downtown Vancouver where there is a weekly farmer's market. Darrell bought some tomatoes for his salads this week. We had a taco from a stand. Then we walked down to the waterfront. We walked at least 3 miles all together. The weather was cool in the 60's-70. When we got back to the townhome,  we had all gotten hungry and wanted more tacos. Jeremy and Darrell went to get tacos from Super Taco. It was close and had a nice menu. We stuffed ourselves,  and we weren't as hungry then at our regular, early 5pm dinner time. I made a thick mushroom soup with paprika and sour cream for dinner. Andrea made blackberry cobbler from berries Darrell and I picked along the road. We ate well, and then drive t...

Parked our car and truck at Glenn and Phoebe's house in Athens,  Alabama.  Phoebe taxied us to the Huntsville airport.  Today the news is about upticks in COVID-19 Delta variant cases, especially among children.  Face masks are required inside the airport and for the entire flight. We made it! We packed light as a challenge to  e minimal. I packed in one backpack with 5 zippered inserts. I also carried my purse, and in Darrell's backpack,  I took some space for my noise canceling headphones,  neck wrap for napping, snacks and my vitamins.  The flight was smooth. The weather good. Jeremy picked us up at the airport at 5:30pm Pacific time. There was some rush traffic. We got to their place by 6pm and enjoyed Jeremy's cooking with a delicious dinner of ribs, potato salad and green beans. Of course our biggest treat and prize Today was to see Quinn in person! He seemed a bit surpr...

Blevins Gap parking lot just off Cecil Ashburn Dr.  This road comes up from Jones Valley to the summit in less than a mile, and keeps going over the summit into Owens Crossroads. Cool rock formations on our woodsy hike. Looking over Jones Valley at Blevins Gap Overlook.  There is a big parking lot for sunset viewing.  Erin trying out a rocker recliner as she shops with one+ month to go to for having her baby in arms. This is our 40th Saturday of airbnb living. Our retirement Nomad life is coming closer! Today Darrell made French Toast for breakfast. And dark coffee of course! We drove to Eric and Erin's house (our oldest son and his wife).  Darrell got put to work helping with wall repairs to prepare for the painting crew on Monday.  Erin and I did a little rocking chair shopping just before the four of us met for lunch at Viet Huong, one of our favorite Vietnamese restaurants.   D...