My Christmas Note, 2015

Andrew and Alicia - September 26, 2015, Geyserville Inn, Geyserville, California

HAPPINESS!!!

2015 was a year in which I experienced some of the most wonderful moments you can experience in life and some of the saddest – most heartbreaking moments.   What a year!

HEARTBREAK!!!

My brother in law, Bill, lost his 9 month fight with cancer.  We all miss him terribly.

And...leaving work and Illinois ~

Walking away from work at NorthShore University Health System in Evanston, Illinois, on March 13^th  was one of the most liberating experiences of my life.   I was FINALLY doing it…FINALLY moving.  The excitement of the unknown didn’t faze me.  Where would I live?  Would I work?  What would life be like?

This was the first time I made the decision to leave a job without having a job lined up.  I walked away from employment for the first time in many years, maybe ever!  Bittersweet for sure as I really didn’t feel like I was ready to stop working for the rest of my life.  And happy – to walk out the door and leave!  With my desire to relocate near family, my thoughts have been that I would work again once I’m settled on the east coast.  Turning 65 and being eligible for health insurance – finally – not linked to employment is what made this finally possible.  Otherwise I’d still be working in Illinois until I found a job on the east coast. Today I’m still not sure what the possibility of working looks like…it’s been a “work in progress” to figure out as the year has unfolded and as 2015 comes to an end.

For many, many years I’ve wanted to move back east.   I’ve made a lot of wonderful friends in Illinois.  Friends that are near and dear to my heart and always will be.  In Illinois I went back to college, finished a degree at DePaul and bought and sold a couple of houses as a single working Mom.  I started my career in Human Resources.  I made memories traveling all over the Midwest and exploring small towns with many motorcycle friends.   But it was time to move on and do what I hoped to do for a very long time - relocate near family.

March 13^th was my last day working at NorthShore.  On March 14^th I left early in the morning and drove to Rhode Island.  This is where I decided to make my next “home.”   I rented a furnished apartment in Wickford, RI for sIx months.  In those six months I wanted to be available to travel to NJ to be with my sister and her husband Bill, who was struggling with a terminal illness.  Also, I wanted to be flexible to travel to the west coast to spend time with Andrew, Alicia, and Tim.  Andrew and his beautiful fiancé, Alicia, were in the final months of wedding planning and I wanted to travel to San Francisco a couple of times to see the wedding venue and visit with my sons there. 

This is the first picture I took when I arrived in Rhode Island, and walked to the end of the street where I was staying.  I love the ocean and the little apartment I was renting was located in Wickford, which is part of the town of North Kingstown where Mike lives.

From March until the end of October, I had a thrilling six months near my grandchildren, Emma and Will.  I continued to travel, and in between trips to Colorado, California and Washington, I was able to enjoy dinners with Mike, Shelagh and the kids.  Mike loves to cook and I had the enjoyment of sharing many delicious dinners.  It was fun to be able to go to a school program and watch soccer games that Emma and Will were involved in.  In between all this my search for my next home continued and it turned out to be quite a challenge!

Rent?  Buy?  House? Condo?  Apartment?  Choices…choices.  I had my wish list and drove all around the small Ocean State, as Rhode Island is referred to, trying to learn neighborhoods and communities.  One thing I really wanted was a garage - that isn't expecting too much considering there is WINTER in Rhode Island?  Rhode Island isn’t Florida  - they have cold and snowy winers – and I was surprised and disappointed at the housing options that didn’t include a garage.  My six month rental was coming to an end and I was extremely frustrated that I was not able to find a place I felt I could call home.  And in the last week a condo became available in nearby South Kingstown (the next town south of Mike) that seemed perfect.  The deal was put together and I’m happy to say I will have a new permanent home – and address – as of December 21st.

After I quit my job back in March, I traveled around the country for almost two months.  From Illinois my first stop was Rhode Island.  Continuing south my next stops were in New Jersey, Pennsylvania,  North Carolina and Georgia.  After a little rest in the Atlanta area with friends that used to live in Barrington, I traveled west to Texas.  I enjoyed a fun visit with my sister Gail.   My road trip was a great adventure! From Texas I flew to California and spent a week with Tim and Andrew in San Francisco.  I spent my birthday in San Francisco, enjoying a cable car ride, a visit to the SF Apple store, dinner with Andrew, Tim and Alicia and visits during the week with friends from Moraga and a high school friend who relocated to the West coast and whom I hadn’t seen in about 40 years!

In April while I was visiting San Francisco, Andrew and Alicia took me to see the place they chose as their wedding venue, pictured below.  I stood there trying to imagine what it would be like at the end of September, vineyard in full bloom, with my son pledging his love to his beautiful bride.

It was fun to celebrate my birthday with Tim, Andrew and Alicia while in California.  I decided I could enjoy a "tour" of SF if I jumped on one of the cable cars in the afternoon.

Since Tim moved to California, he has taken up sailing.  While I was visiting in April he rented a sailboat and we had an amazing day sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge and in and around San Francisco Bay.

I had fun visiting old friends, Andrea DeLuca in the Atlanta area, Pam Pocklington in Moraga, California and Carol Zangwill in San Francisco.

Oh!  I almost forgot to mention a REALLY fun visit when I drove thru Texas!  My very first “boyfriend” and I met for dinner.  Thanks to facebook, he found me a while back and we agreed to meet some day wherever/whenever our paths might cross.  I gave him a heads up that I would be coming to his home area and we arranged to meet for dinner. 

It turned out to be one of those moments where you pinch yourself cause you can’t believe it’s happening.  I don’t even want to count the number of years it has been since I saw him!  When I was in 8^th grade my family moved from North Jersey to South Jersey…and that was the end of our little “relationship.”

New adventures began in this motor home mid year!  And yes, I drive it!  My friend Don and I took off on a three week tour in early July.  We traveled to Denver and enjoyed time with his son and family and then drove north thru Utah, Oregon and Washington state - where we spent a week in what I love to call "paradise" - the mountains of Washington state.  On our way thru Utah we were lucky to catch my nephew Jess and his wife for a dinner visit and meet their two beautiful daughters and new baby Jonah.  That was a highlight of our drive north for sure!

During our visit in Washington state we drove across the Canadian border to Vancouver and enjoyed an afternoon at Capilano Suspension Bridge Park.

Andrew, best man at his best man's wedding (Paul Ochenrider) in Beaver Creek, July 2015

I was honored to be invited to Paul Ochenrider’s wedding in Beaver Creek, Colorado in July (Andrew’s best man and high school friend).   We left the  Denver area and traveled north to thru the Rocky mountains in the RV.  What a beautiful wedding high up in the Rockies.   Driving the 40 ft. RV thru the mountains of Colorado was an experience in and of itself!

 Our destination for our final week of this trip was an hour or so north of Seattle to the town of Sumas, Washington, almost to the Canadian border.  Don’s daughter has family that live on a ranch in Sumas and they plan a camping cookout each year in August, with hundreds of local friends and family.  There were dozens of campers in various types of camping vehicles.  It was an amazing week outdoors – where cell phones and computers did not work!  I loved every minute of it.  At the end of that week we drove straight back to Illinois…a long 2,000+ mile trip that took seven days.  In the RV/bus we can cover about 350-400 miles a day, before getting too exhausted!

There was a car rally during the Campout weekend.

This old boat was strategically placed in a sand pit for kiddos to enjoy!

The entire Campout weekend is hosted by the Hammer family - these salmon steaks were grilled for the crowd.

We weren't the only motorhome that arrived to enjoy the event.

The "dining" area.

The best news of the year was Andrew’s wedding.  On September 26^th he married a beautiful California girl, Alicia.  What a fantastic wedding celebration we all enjoyed.  The week began with Tim renting a huge sailboat and all of us sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge out to the ocean to whale watch.   All of this fun just took my breath away!  My heart was singing to have this experience with my sons and grandchildren!  The kids got to see sea lions and dolphins swimming in and around the bay and ocean.  And, Will was the first one to spot a whale once out in the ocean!

Andrew and Alicia got married in Geyserville California in the heart of Wine Country.  Andrew had asked his brother Mike to perform the ceremony on what was a very warm, picture perfect day in Northern California.  Night dancing under the stars was magical thanks to mother nature providing a full moon above the vineyard setting.  

No words...just no words...

Big brother marries little brother!  Be still my heart....

As the year closes in on me, I’m feeling so very thankful for being able to make all these memories.  Some of the best moments are those that I spent visiting family and friends around this country.

May this find you happy, healthy and as ready as I am to make new memories in 2016.

Happy Holidays!

This is How They Make Them!

While traveling thru Alabama we stopped at Tiffin Manufacturing, the manufacturer of the motorhome Don purchased.  There were a few things on his list to have checked or modified.  While in town we decided to take their factory tour and see how these RV's are made.  Tiffin is just about the only show in town in Red Bay, Alabama, at every turn you see a motorhome being driven.  There are several camp sites where folks can stay while waiting for work to be completed.  What is even more amazing is that you can stay in your motorhome while it is worked on!

We arrived at the Welcome Center, a small building onsite.  There were rows of chairs set up and most of the folks that arrived ahead of us were also Tiffin motorhome owners.  There was a short video introducing Bob Tiffin and his sons and explaining a little history about the company.  

After the video we strolled over to the factory and I was quite surprised to see that we would be walking in and around the work stations in the factory as employees did their job.  There was a path that was clear for the group to stroll from one work station to the next.  Most of the folks working didn't acknowledge that we were there.  Guess they're used to tours as Tiffin offers a factory tour daily, Monday thru Friday at 9:30 am.

Tiffin motorhomes are pretty high end and all cabinets and woodwork are solid wood.  There is a good amount of cutting, sanding, trimming, etc. done in the beginning stations of the tour as the cabinets are being made.

This particular staton is where cabinet doors are made.  Below you can see sections of cabinets being built.

Picture this going around the yard!

I was fascinated with the chassis of the motor homes.

Here they are all lined up for the final inspection before they are shipped off to folks waiting for them!

The engine!

When you see one of these motorhomes coming down the road, this is what is underneath that beautiful exterior, in and under and around the windshields!

This machine finishes the parts that will be the sides of the motor home.  In the picture below you can see the labels for the drivers side wall and the passenger side walls.

These folks were not distracted by all of us tromping thru their work space!

This is one of the wagons they use to move parts around in the factory, I like it, it reminded me of children's red wagons.

He's standing inside - on the floor of the motorhome.

It's truly like putting a huge mechanical puzzle together.

The rear end.

Looking more like a motorhome, no?

The new motorhomes have incredible bathrooms!  Check out this shower stall.

Some of the cabinets that go in the main living space area.

These two pictures are of a piece of roof structure that gets hoisted up in the air and placed on a motorhome.

Living room sections.

Bedroom section or what will be a slide out for the bedroom.

Walking thru the wire section was amazing!  Spools and spools of wires...in colors. 

These two folks work all day on "threading" particular wires on this board that will be installed in sections of the motorhome.  The lady was real FAST at her job.

It was AMAZING to tour the factory and see how these motorhomes are made from top to bottom!