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| Sunrise View at the Back of Our Athens, Alabama Airbnb |
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| On Phone Call with Grandson, Quinn, Son, Jeremy, Daughter-in-law, Andrea in Brazil |
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| Saturday Game Party with 3 of Our Sons, Samuel, Wesley and Eric at Our Athens Airbnb |
Saturday. 14. Today was our more difficult 40 minute morning exercise routine. I’m glad to be able to do a morning exercise together. About every 3 days Darrell makes a new batch of pancakes. I shred the apple for his batter. We have gotten into a ‘rut’ that we both agree is exactly what we enjoy and want with eating these pancakes every day. After breakfast I put black beans in the instapot with a slightly different mix of add-ins. I recorded my new recipe for consistency. I usually make a pound of black beans about once a week. Sometimes we go through them a little faster. Today for lunch we added some measured lean ground beef that I had precooked and spiced into our bowls. Right after noon, Samuel and Wes, two of our sons, came to play games for the afternoon. Eric came over about 2pm. We played about 5 different games. We ended with a game of Contract Rummy, which we call our family game. In the mix was a round of Carcasson, a map building and conquering game. They all left about 5pm, and Darrell and I made eggs for dinner.
Sunday. 15. Worship at Capshaw church in Harvest today. Our final Sunday with this congregation until our brief return at the end of April.
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| Visited By Our Grandkids Owen and Esther at Our Athens Airbnb |
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| Playing With Owen and Esther at Our Athens Airbnb |
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| Back Patio at Our Athens Airbnb with Visiting Owen and Esther |
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| Athens Airbnb Back Patio with Esther, age 2 1/2 |
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| At the Covered Bridge on the Elkmont, Alabama Rails to Trails |
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| Elkmont, Alabama Trail |
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| Sunset View from the Front of Our Athens Airbnb |
Monday. 16. We slept in until 6:30am! It felt great! We did our DDP ‘Stand Up’ exercise routine before having our big pancake breakfast. I called my friend Laura at 8:15 and talked for a half hour. Our two grandchildren, Owen and Esther came today from 9am to 11am. We went to get a prescription for Darrell, then decided to have lunch at First Watch restaurant. After lunch we went to Walmart for a few groceries. We took the groceries home and stayed a few minutes and then went to Elkmont for a 2 hour walk on this beautiful day. We made tacos for dinner.
Tuesday. 17. Tuesday has become our ab routine work out morning over the many years, since 2012, we have been doing DDP routines. Darrell taught the 10am Bible class at the church building. It went very well. I along with the other students enjoyed the study of the book of Matthew. Darrell presented the first couple of chapters and how the information given by Matthew and the situations might be understood by a first century Jew, if we could grasp a bit of that perspective. Chili for lunch at home. 1pm online Bible class with church from Tunbridge Wells, England and others around the US and the world.
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| Eric Arriving with Owen and Esther for a Visit with Us at Our Athens Airbnb |
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| Walking at Swan Creek Trail in Athens, Alabama. There are Flowers Blooming! |
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| At Our Athens Airbnb with Visiting Esther and Owen |
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| Owen age 4 1/2 Visiting Us at Our Athens Airbnb |
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| Visiting Grandkids at Athens Airbnb. |
Wednesday. 18. Our last full day at our airbnb here. In the morning our grandkids, Owen and Esther come for a couple of hours to visit and play. My smile is so big with them! After lunch, my friend Melanie comes for some EPT work together. Darrell goes to the dentist to get 2 permanent crowns put on that have been made for him. In the evening we have a local Bible class at the church we attend.
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| Packed Up and Checked Out of Our Athens Airbnb. Driving and Moving Day to Kingsport, Tennessee. |
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| Driving North of Chattanooga, Tennessee We Get to See Fog on the Mountains. These are Called the Smokey Mountains. |
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| Our Lunch Stop Has a Quirky Deer on the Wall |
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| Lunch Restaurant in Tennessee has a Bus Front as the Checkout Counter |
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| Restaurant in Tennessee is Where Locals Eat. Daily Menu is Posted on the Wall. Cafe on 28. |
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| My Lunch Plate at Cafe on 28. Liver and Onions, Turnip Greens, Pinto Beans and Cornbread |
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| Darrell's Lunch at Cafe on 28. Fried Chicken Livers, Slaw, Pintos, Mashed Potatoes. |
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| Blue Skies in Kingsport, Tennessee. |
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| Phoebe, Sister-in-law, is an Amazing Cook and Hostess! |
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| Evening Cards with Glenn and Phoebe. We're Sorting the Decks to Begin. |
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Our Guest Room at Glenn and Phoebe's in Kingsport, Tennessee
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Thursday. 19. We checked out of our Athens airbnb and drove to Kingsport, Tennessee. It was clear driving all day. We arrived by about 5pm eastern time, one hour later than Athens at central time. Phoebe had cooked a nice dinner for us to enjoy together. We visited and caught up remembering the last time we were here was in the fall of 2024, about 1 ½ years ago.
Friday. 20. Darrell ordered new Pixel 10 phones shipped to Glenn and Phoebe’s house. We spent time getting our phones up and running. Phoebe is preparing food for her part in helping to host a Bridal shower on Saturday for a member of their church. We begin to play card games together in the evening. The weather has been mild, but is forecasted to get very cold by Sunday.
Nomad Notes. People often comment to us about our nomad life and how they would love to do what we do, or it sounds like such fun. ‘Fun’ is a term we used often as our kids were growing up. We loved that old movie, “The Princess Bride”, and the line from it, “Have fun storming the castle.” And because we have a son named Wesley, it was even more fun to tease him with movie lines about the hero also named Wesley.
I have to think about using the word ‘fun’ as a constant state of emotion in regard to our nomad living and in regard to spiritual values for me. Darrell and I do have ‘fun’ together, but it’s not constant. Our nomad life is enjoyable and real with all the moving parts of living in one place. The easy, the difficult, the upsetting, the challenging, the fun, the freedom, the opportunities, the restrictions, and the mundane parts too! What might be considered ‘fun’ in a general sense is that we are actually getting to live our dream of moving around without a fixed abode. We often refer to it as our ‘game’, and games are meant for fun.
As we have met many other nomad couples and singles, we have come to realize that each one is unique to their interests, their fun and their way to play their game. Getting to make up our game now, in our ‘go-go’ years, with opportunities to experience our ‘game’ together, is what I think of as the fun part of this kind of life. We know that we are changed through each experience and segment of our game. We aren’t always sure how we will be changed as we go into our next move and short-term living experience. We like to observe our reactions to living in the different places we go. We enjoy finding beautiful places and people. England, New Zealand, British Columbia, and more places have been enjoyable for us. We have also lived many days on cruise ships loving so many aspects of that experience.
We have grown closer as a couple, and we are still having fun and enjoying our love of travel and our opportunities to move about together.
This week we are moving out of our airbnb on Thursday, and driving to Kingsport, Tennessee. Prior to moving day, we discuss our thoughts about how we are winding down our stay and how we are packing, etc.
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