The year is coming to a close and I thought it fitting to close our travel blog as our full time travelling days are now over due to Junes' fall on January 19, 2016 which left her paralyzed and at this point, still unable to get into our fifth wheel travel trailer. Her progress since the January 25th spinal surgery has been really great. She went from zero ability to move, to very slight controls by March, to standing in April, a few steps by June, to her most recent accomplishments that include her ability to walk with a walker regularly up to 60 ft at a time, and the biggie is her ability get into our truck, with some help, as of mid December. The truck thing is huge, as we can now come and go as we please without having to arrange for special transportation.
June was in the Scottsdale Arizona Hospital through the end of March. We then moved into an apartment in Tucson, AZ where she continued receiving physical therapy which is likely to continue for some time. During the year we decided due to our circumstances that it was time to settle, so we decided to move to Ft. Wayne, Indiana where our two sons and three grandchildren live. Our move will be sometime in April, 2017.
After looking for a house, with the help of our sons, we decided on having a new house built with some features to better accommodate the likely continuing needs that June will have to better access house entry and ease of movement and use inside. The new house will have a large master bath with roll in shower, ADA compliant grab bars in bath, zero threshold at entry doors for easy entry in a wheelchair or walker. Also, three ft wide interior doorways. Every existing home we viewed had 30 inch wide or less interior doorways, which made it very difficult to move around in a wheelchair. We will also have appliances easy to access and use, closets, pantry, and important to me, a garage long enough for my truck to fit inside. Completion right now is set for March 31st, but winter weather will dictate. We'll wait here in Tucson until it's completed.
We have been very fortunate to have been able to travel as we have done our entire lives. We travelled during our earlier years every bit of our vacation time when working. We didn't start a family during our first 12 years of marriage, and we travelled from Ohio to the Western US States every year, camping and exploring new places each year. We continued the pattern after the kids came along, taking them West a few times and then getting into boating as the boys got a bit older.
Our boats kept getting larger as the boys grew, then by the time they had moved out of the house, we had progressed to our sixth and largest boat, a 39 ft. single diesel trawler which we travelled full time beginning the day after I retired in June 2004 until we moved to Florida in September 2005.
The boat trip was a trip we had dreamed of doing for several years. . June and I retired in June, 2004 and travelled for a year on our boat from Lake Michigan to Florida, then North on the East Coast through Canada, back to Southern Lake Michigan. It was the most amazing trip we have ever taken and one that will be tough to beat. After completing the circumnavigation of the Eastern US, We settled in Florida in the fall of 2005. Except for an occasional trip North from Florida, we got anxious to travel again and On April 3rd, 2011, we departed in our Motorhome for the "BIG 2011 PLAN" We then completed an 18,000 mile, 6 month drive from home in Florida to Northern California, North on the Pacific west coast to Seattle. From there to Alaska - with returning stops in Spokane, Washington - Oregon, Yellowstone, and other sites - then to Fort Wayne, Indiana to visit family, then back South to Florida and home. We then traded in our motor home and purchased a new 5th wheel travel trailer and truck, sold the house, and continued travelling until January, 2016
We kept a blog of our Alaska trip, then continued after we began our travel in the trailer. So many great memories and pictures that we can review from time to time to enjoy them all over again. During our married years (50 years on Mrch 11, 2017) we have travelled in every State except Hawaii... Maybe when they build a bridge we'll drive over there. We've also travelled through Western Canada on our way to Alaska, plus meandered through parts of Ontario and Quebec when we travelled on the boat.
There may be some future trips from our new place in Indiana, but not what we've experienced to this point. I imagine we're among a small number of people who can boast about the amount of real travel that we've been so fortunate to have completed. We've spent a lot of time exploring and enjoying the life on the road and would not change a thing.
Fin
