I’ll be in Florida when the last days of the 1000 Places to see before I Die calendar finishes its daily duty. I thought that I would look ahead, cheat a-bit, and put it to rest after a long year of showing off its envious travel destinations. So many of these I will never get to see, but at least I know they exist. The last day of the year is appropriately Times Square that I’ve been to many times but never when the ball dropped. I’m not sure I could stand the crowds or cold temperatures waiting in anticipation. I will also get to Indonesia this next year but our time will be spent in a Bali resort not diving in Raja Ampat. While flipping through the next few weeks, I was glad to see The Hague, Netherlands among the final pages, another spot that we’ll visit in the near future. We’ve already been to Croatia, nearby Haystack Rock, Lake Tahoe, and Florence several times, but need to get to Cinque Terre, located in yet to be explored Northern Italy. Stonehenge is a must-see, along with Nuremberg, South Africa, Bethlehem, Buenos Aires, and the Northern Lights. Other remote locations featured like Kenya, Uganda, Laos, Antarctica, Tunisia, and Chile hold less intrigue for me. I have mixed feelings about Nepal but would like to see Mount Everest and the Himalayas. I’ve never been much into outdoor or underwater adventures, so even a safari is not high on my travel bucket list.
I did receive next year’s calendar in the mail yesterday from our new financial adviser. It was her predecessor who recently retired that sent us the “to-die-for” calendar last year at this time. After the premature death of this year’s calendar, it looks like next year will be filled with nature shots from around the world. It’s a sturdier version that probably won’t fall over as often, but sights that only a photographer would likely experience. I’m not a nature-lover and sadly don’t often stop to smell the roses. My travels seem to be more about quantity than quality, so this new calendar may be a stretch for me, but I appreciate the thought. As I turn its colorful pages, it may give me a new appreciation for nature.
My wife and I have been grounded for about 75 days since I flew back from Florida. She hasn’t been on an airplane since our New York trip 25 days before that. In this time period, we’ve sold our home and moved into an apartment. She’s also joined me in at least semi-retirement, so we’re anxious to hit the road. On Christmas Day, we’ll be in Orlando instead of traditional Indianapolis and without family for the first time in our 18.5-year marriage. We’ve escaped before on Thanksgiving, but never on Christmas. We’ll celebrate with a Roy’s dinner when we get there, and hopefully my wife won’t feel lonely and homesick after the loss of her mother and the distance away from her two daughters. We’ll be close-by my son and his family, but will not get together with them until after the first of the year. It will then be fun with the grandchildren at Universal Studios.
The Pineapple Express may be headed towards the Northwest, but we should hopefully get some drier weather in Florida, Las Vegas, and Phoenix during the first quarter of the year, followed by bucket-list Bali. This “homebody” will soon be away from the comforts and routines of my living room and faced with the uncertainty of rental cars, hotel rooms, and travel schedules. I will look forward to the change of pace and challenges of the road. It’s time to pack those bags!
When I first retired three years ago, I set a goal of “one million” travel miles. I write this with my pinky finger held to the corner of my lips Mike Myers’ style. My thinking was 70,000 miles a year for fifteen years, hoping I could stay healthy until the age of 80. I’ve kept a diary of my adventures so far and will be at 197,500 miles at the end of this year, slightly below my target. However, travel had been somewhat restricted by my wife’s limited vacation time. I also had the benefit of accompanying her on business trips but those were primarily to Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago, and New York. It’s overseas travel where you really rack up the miles.
This past year will finish with 59,300 miles, following our flight to Orlando on Christmas day and subsequent drive down the Gulf Coast. We’ll work our way up to Pensacola and end in Tampa with a New Year’s Eve celebration. The two of us will start next year’s log with a drive through Sarasota to North Port where my son resides and then take my grandchildren to Universal Studios for a few days. In the meantime, we hope to find a retirement property where we can bask in the Florida sun between adventures around the world. Our longest trip last year was to Thailand, comparable in distance to our Venice to Athens cruise the year before. Next year, we’ll do two major excursions to both Egypt and Bali that should easily help fulfill my annual mileage goal.
It’s been a tough year for my wife, including the loss of her 96-year old mother, 18-year old cat, and oldest schnauzer at 15.5 years. She also gave up her advertising career and Portland home that will give us more flexibility for travel in future years. She can’t really decide if she’s truly retired or not, but won’t have time for full-time work with all the trips we’ve planned. We’re in Vegas in February and Phoenix and Tucson in March, hoping to escape Portland’s winter rain and dreariness. We’ve talked of New York for Broadway shows and the California coast, since they are no longer business destinations. We want to fill-in some West Coast holes in our Bucket Lists before we potentially move to Florida. For example, a side-trip to the Grand Canyon is planned during our stay in Las Vegas. We also need to get to Albuquerque, Moab, and Alaska while we’re still in the general area.
As part of my million mile quest, we’ve booked a Viking river cruise through Russia and an ocean cruise from Barcelona to Norway. Those will take place two years from now as we spread out the payments. A trip through China is also on our radar to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary. According to Hallmark, the gift for that occasion should be china, so it’s only appropriate that we visit the Great Wall together. We’ll continue to take advantage of Marriott Vacation Club time-share opportunities to conquer the world. 197,500 miles down – 802,500 to go!
There was a lot of conversation about travel, as the friends we originally met in Decatur, Illinois visited with us this past week. They now live in Tucson, Arizona but are off to Maui yet this week. Their world travels are pin-pointed on a map in their study that would be the envy of any adventure wanna-be. In the movie Stripes, Bill Murray quips to farm boy Lee Harvey after his escapades with a cow, “I want to party with you, Cowboy!” Well, I wanna travel with them.
Now that they’ve left Portland, I now have time to tear off a few more pages from the 1,000 Places to See Before You Die calendar. It was a gift from some other Decatur friends that now live in Steamboat, Colorado. Incidentally, we actually planned this week together in Oregon wine country when all of us were reunited at Steamboat several months ago. The calendar is growing thin as the end of the year approaches, and it continues to humble me with sights that I’ve never even thought of visiting, let alone visit. Places featured like the Seychelles, Gamla Stan, Gros Morne National Park, Tuamotu Islands, Quang Nam, Manitoba, Lisbon, Temple of Heaven, Dodecanese, and Myanmar were never on my Bucket List.
I’m sure that I don’t have the resources to travel to all these intriguing destinations, but at least now they are on my radar. I still have the basics to cover that we’ve already made plans to visit. These include Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Norway, Russia, Bali, Finland in the next year or so. After that we’ll tackle China before the money starts to run out. Honestly, there are still so many things remaining to see in the United States, including Alaska and Maine, the two states that I’ve yet to conquer.
The calendar is also a reminder that time is short, and what you ultimately see is a factor of how long you live. No one knows when they’ll die or how. It could even be tomorrow. All I do know, is that as long as I live, I wanna continue to travel. Hopefully, I’ll have a chance to see my travel dreams come true.
It’s been a busy week of traveling and entertaining. We just finished a trip to the airport and returned a rental car. This immediately reduced the number of keys in my sagging pockets. I still have two other sets in my possession that allows access to our apartment and cars. We needed the extra space of an S.U.V. to haul passengers and wine boxes from vineyard to vineyard. It was great fun with good friends who are now on their way back to Tucson. We talked, toasted, and tasted for 6 days, spending two of those nights in a cozy McMinnville boutique hotel. They were with other friends for the prior 3 nights, so I’m sure they’re anxious to get home. However, three days later they are headed to Maui. We envy their travel schedule, and are always happy to hear the stories of their many adventures.
The next time that we’ll see them will be four months from now in Phoenix for Spring Training. We bought tickets for the warm-weather version of the Crosstown Classic, as the Chicago White Sox battle the Cubs. We’ll combine that with a few more games, other friends, shopping, dining, and side-trips, then ride back with them to their Tucson home for a few more days of sunshine. I don’t think they were impressed with our chilly Portland weather, but at least the rain stayed away. By that time of year when we reunite, we’ll be glad to escape from the Portland gloom. We’ll also be in Florida and Las Vegas during this year’s rainy season. I will definitely not need large doses of Vitamin B or my Happy Lamp to get through the winter months next year.
We hope to visit the Grand Canyon during our “too long” Vegas stay. A snafu in Marriott Vacation Club points made it necessary to use a week of lodging, when three days is more than enough in “Sin City.” It was where we were married 19 years ago and haven’t been back for a few years. Most of our travel there centered around business conventions, including the timing of our ceremony at the Bellagio. I wish we were staying in their luxurious accommodations, but instead we’re “slightly” off The Strip. On this stay, we’ll sacrifice convenience and comfort for practicality. It will probably not be the romantic experience that we shared on our wedding weekend. However, we always have a good time.
On a sad note, tonight will be our 15-year old schnauzer’s last meal. Tinker still has an appetite despite losing a lot of her mobility in recent days. (See Post #1145). She’ll be put to rest tomorrow after a long and happy life with our family. It will be a tough day of tears and memories.
Despite our concerns about leaving Tinker at home with failing health, it was still an enjoyable weekend in wine country. As a distraction, I was able to watch bits and pieces of I.U.’s Bucket Game football victory and a basketball win. It was also “Rivalry Week” for most conference opponents with lots of surprises. Unfortunately, I.U. Soccer was the victim of an upset in the Sweet 16, a heartbreaking 1-0 loss in double overtime to U.C.S.B. Tonight, the Hoosiers will play Florida State in basketball, their first real test of the season. It will be an evening version of our weekly “Leadership Meeting” at Buffalo Wild Wings as I get back together with my Portland friends. It also marks the return to my normal, boring retirement routine, after such a busy week of entertaining.
Six days together,
Not one “Five-Peak” day.
Glad we were part of,
Your Portland stay.
Hydraulic parking,
Too many keys.
A lobby filled,
With Cheesy trees.
The cramped quarters,
Of big city living.
But near Urban Farmer,
To celebrate Friendsgiving.
Streetcar stop,
Just next door.
Homeless problem,
Hard to ignore.
We each bought Knives,
And saw Them “Out.”
Learned what McMinnville,
Was all about.
Diet Coke stops,
Along the way.
Visited wineries,
Like Ponzi and Shea.
To welcome us,
They held a parade.
We guzzled Pinot,
Like Kool-Aid.
Atticus weekend,
Twinkly lights.
Red Hills’ breakfasts,
Chilly nights.
They had beds,
With two sides.
And day reminders,
On elevator rides.
Sazerac, Absinthe,
And gourmet grub.
From the Driftwood bar,
To the Country Club.
Thaw-out in Maui,
We’ll see you come Spring.
Once you run out,
More wine we’ll bring.
Wild Turkey,
Spruce Goose.
Make Walla-Walla,
Next year’s excuse.
It was day #3990 of my running streak, as I wandered through the streets of McMinnville, Oregon. It’s been our home base for wine tasting these past two days and the gas alone propelled me along. I did mange to get out between rain showers in the near freezing temperatures. So far, we’ve tasted from eight different vintners plus dinner pairings, and plan on at least three more today as we make our way back to Portland. I was “key” on watching watch some I.U. soccer this morning as they play in the Sweet Sixteen, but there is no television coverage out here in the boonies. It will be another frustrating day of internet monitoring with a sporadic signal. I missed the thrilling end to yesterday’s Bucket game while we were traveling on a gravel road to our favorite vineyard. Our host was somehow able to get me the final score. It made my day.
During yesterday’s travel, we stopped to see the famous Spruce Goose that is actually made of birch and bought some custom cooking knives and a pearl Christmas Tree. My wife, the “Pearly Girl,” could not resist a little shopping along the way. We also have several cases of wine in the back of our rental SUV so we could easily accommodate the four of us, packages, and luggage. Neither of our convertibles would have worked for this particular trip. The dogs stayed at home with a sitter, her first trial with them in our new apartment.
I haven’t felt burdened with keys these past few days. One of the biggest hassles of living in a secured building is that every door requires a key or key fob. I’m always digging in my pockets to find the right one and my pants sag from the weight. I’m ready for a stylish janitor’s key ring to wear on my belt. I passed along most of my heavy keys to the pet sitter in exchange for a plastic hotel room key card I can carry in my wallet, while the valet has my car keys. As a result, my pants are staying up much better on this trip.
The new knives that we bought made me think of our plans to watch “Knives Out” tomorrow for Matinee Monday. Once again, we’ll walk to the theater. Our friends are getting a taste of big city living before they return to Tucson. I’m sure they feel somewhat trapped in our tiny apartment, knowing that they can’t get in and out without us. The trip to wine country has given us all a chance to spread out and breathe some cool mountain air. However, it’s just a bit too cool, especially for their much thinner blood from living in a considerably warmer climate. We hope that our next home will be near a hot, sunny beach. We’re “all keyed-up” to check-out the Florida Gulf Coast in a few weeks.
Bucket Day is off to a good start, with I.U. ahead 14-0 just after the first quarter of play. A victory is on my bucket list every year. I.U. basketball plays this afternoon, and I.U. soccer tomorrow, as our Wine Country Weekend continues with tastings in-between sporting events. Friends are visiting from sunny Tucson, struggling to stay warm in our near freezing temperatures. We booked an additional week with them for Spring Training in March. They leave for Maui next week to thaw-out from their Pacific Northwest experience. We want to eventually be like them with their envious travel plans all over the world.
We are in tiny McMinnville, Oregon at the charming Atticus Hotel, as Purdue scores twice to narrow the score. We covered three vineyards yesterday, with an additional tasting back at the hotel and champagne upon check-in. As the score gets tighter, I will need another glass soon. We may take a break in drinking this afternoon to visit the Spruce Goose, Howard Hughes’ famous airplane at the nearby Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum. Herbert Hoover’s boyhood home is also in this area, if we need an additional educational experience this weekend. One can only drink so much Oregon Pinot Noir!
After breakfast and another Indiana touchdown, we are headed for our first winery of the new day, It’s 28-10, as the Hoosiers continue their quest to stop a two-year victory streak for the Boilermakers. Regardless of what happens today, Purdue will continue to dominate the overall series that stands at 74-41-6 before today’s rainy Bucket battle in West Lafayette. Purdue somehow hangs-in-there to make it 28-17. I will soon need a bucket of wine to calm my nerves. In the meantime, my wife continues to parade into the room with her many purchases from the local merchants. It is, after all, “Small Business Saturday,” and she’s certainly doing her part.
Yesterday as we arrived at the hotel, we had to weave our way around the road-blocks set up for the annual Holiday Parade. The streets were crowded for the arrival of Santa Claus, so it was a challenge to get to the front door. As soon as it turned dark, the trees in the downtown area began to twinkle in holiday splendor. In the spirit of the season, favored Indiana continues to “gift” Purdue with three missed field goals and too dam* many silly defensive penalties. As is typical with Bucket games, the underdog always finds a way to stay in the game. It’s now 28-23 I.U. with nine minutes remaining.
I was forced to leave before the game ended, and lost cellular service on the way to our first tasting. When I finally got an internet connection, the game was tied at 31 in overtime. The Hoosiers eventually won in double overtime 44-41. Twenty-six years ago was last time I.U. had secured 8 victories and a winning conference record. Coach Tom Allen is undoubtedly hoarse from his high-energy cheer leading. I.U. basketball also won to move their record to 7-0, another standard that hadn’t been reached in years. I.U. soccer plays early tomorrow morning P.S.T., so the excitement of wine and sports will continue in McMinnville. Go Hoosiers!
What’s wrong with this picture?
Condo for a week in Las Vegas $330
Airfare $22
Pet Sitting $800
For retirees who want to travel, pet sitting is the biggest expense. For our two dogs, it’s about $100 a day for someone to come into our home. A kennel stay isn’t much less, so we’ve always opted for the personal attention and security of having someone stay here. By next year, sadly, we’ll probably be down to just Tally, since Tinker is blind, deaf, and quickly losing her sense of balance. Tally will probably then enjoy the social interaction of boarding. At this stage, it would probably kill Tinker.
Tinker leaves the apartment every day by carriage. When we get to the nearby park I carefully lift her out to do her business. Six times a day it’s a never-fail poop, as even old age has not tarnished her dubious reputation as “The Poopingest Pup on the Planet.” There is little delay when her feet hit the grass, while sister Tally always takes her sweet time. My wife claims that she has many secret canine messages to “decode” with her nose. We miss our precious pups when we travel, so it’s worth it to have someone carefully looking after them. We typically rotate between two sitters, based on availability. One is a little less money than the other, so we tend to favor her a little more.
My wife’s daughter occasionally provides pet relief for us when we travel. This has been complicated by a recent marriage, a new house, and her new adoptive addition, Falco, a mixed terrier. Falco spent time with us during her recent honeymoon, but Tally had some adjustment issues with the new niece. She likes her time with “Mom” after I’ve left our bed every morning. Falco tried to hone-in on this treasured time. To be honest, I’m not sure if Tinker was aware she was even here. None of the dogs have much demand for me when their “Mom” is home.
All Tinker cares about is food, and needs the input to create the output. She has become persistently annoying in getting fed and has an incredibly accurate internal clock when it comes to dinner time. This is about the only movement that we see all day, as she begins to stalk us at about 4:30 p.m., in anticipation of the five o’clock feeding. She also begins to bark when I fail to feed her from the table, a habit that we have to change. Tinker, despite her lack of hearing, has an innate sense for an open refrigerator door. As far as both dogs are concerned, I’m just the guy that takes them outside and often interrupts their comfort in the process. At least, I’m no longer charged with kitty-litter duty, but I do miss Frankie that passed just before our apartment move a few months ago.
It’s ideal when we can take Tinker and Tally along when we travel. They’ve done a few day trips and recently accompanied us to Canada. Tinker has the most travel miles, with seventeen states and British Columbia under her belt, or should I say collar. Tally has been on road trips from Texas to Indiana and Texas to Oregon. They are both great car-riders, even when the cats joined us on major moves. We had hoped to get Tinker to California for a visit with my wife’s other daughter, but we’re not sure if her health with allow another state. We always save money when the dogs are along because there are no sitting fees and we tend to stay in the cheaper hotels that are dog friendly.
When there’s nothing on my mind to write about, I consult the 1000 Places to See Before I Die calendar, hoping for some inspiration. The past week I’ve seen photos of places that I have traveled near like Peloponnese, Greece and the French Alps, along with Venice, Italy where we spent three rainy days last year. I understand that Venice is dealing with major flooding issues right now that has threatened a historic bookstore. I’ve yet to venture close to Cuba, Australia, India, Madagascar, or the Seychelles that filled the calendar pages of the last week. With just the final month of the year ahead, it’s time for a new one. A friend suggested a running calendar called Run 365 filled with original illustrations and inspirational quotes. It seems that everyone feels that I need a way to keep track of the days since I’m no longer faced with work deadlines. They do tend to run together in retirement.
My wife and I are anxious to hit the road again. We did a day trip to Fort Vancouver yesterday and BBQ at Daddy D’s, uniquely housed in a Shell station. We’ve been home now for over two months, anchored by both my step-daughter’s wedding and our move from condo to apartment. I was able to sneak away to Florida for a few days, but my wife commented yesterday that this has been one of the longest stretches of non-travel for her. We’ll escape to Oregon wine country next week for a couple of nights and then head to Florida for the new year. It’s hardly calendar-worthy, but at least something to look forward to, visiting family and possibly finding a retirement home.
As I flip over the pages on the calendar, it’s a constant reminder of my mortality and the race against time to see as much of the world as possible. It’s a game of crossing things off my list. The desk calendar’s very title, …Before You Die, is somewhat morbid. This coupled with the hobby genealogy work that I do on Ancestry.com often brings me face-to-face with the Grim Reaper. I can’t help but note the birth and death dates of my ancestors and wonder what it might read on my tombstone? There will be no stone monument, but future generations might take a glance at my obituary. It will probably not include all the places I saw.
It looks like a road trip kind-of-day with clear blue skies and cool temperatures. It may be what we like to call a “Five Peak Day” where you can see the tops of five mountains. We might head towards the coast and to the city of Astoria that I like to call “Goonies Town” where the movie was made in 1985. There’s a film museum located in the old jailhouse that has a tribute to Oregon-made movies, as I once again lazily reference Wikipedia: “The first documented film made in Oregon was a short silent film titled The Fisherman’s Bride, shot in Astoria by the Selig Polyscope Company, and released in 1909.[3] Since then, numerous major motion pictures have been shot in the state, including F.W. Murnau’s City Girl (1930), One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975), Animal House (1978), Stand by Me (1986), Free Willy (1993), and Wild (2014). Portland – Oregon’s largest city – has been a major shooting location for filmmakers, and has been featured prominently in the films of Gus Van Sant, namely Mala Noche (1985), Drugstore Cowboy (1989), My Own Private Idaho (1991), and Elephant (2003).”
I think that the most recognizable local film gem is The Shining (1980), with exterior shots of Timberline Lodge. The city of Astoria also hosted other recognizable productions like Short Circuit (1986). Benji The Hunted (1986), Kindergarten Cop (1990), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II (1990), Free Willy (1993), Free Willy II (1994), and The Ring 2 (2004). However, I guess we’ll be delaying our trip there in favor of Fort Vancouver, a much closer destination. My wife has a walking date with a friend later this afternoon and is concerned that the drive to Astoria won’t get her back in time. This is one of the biggest benefits of retirement – flexibility. If it doesn’t happen one day – the next day will do, as well – as long as there is still a tomorrow. This becomes a growing concern as you get older.
According to my friends at Wikipedia, “Fort Vancouver was a 19th-century fur trading post that was the headquarters of the Hudson’s Bay Company’s Columbia Department, located in the Pacific Northwest. Named for Captain George Vancouver, the fort was located on the northern bank of the Columbia River in present-day Vancouver, Washington. The fort was a major center of the regional fur trading. Every year trade goods and supplies from London arrived either via ships sailing to the Pacific Ocean or overland from Hudson Bay via the York Factory Express. Supplies and trade goods were exchanged with a plethora of Indigenous cultures for fur pelts. Furs from Fort Vancouver were often sent to the Chinese port of Guangzhou where they were traded for Chinese manufactured goods for sale in the United Kingdom. At its pinnacle, Fort Vancouver watched over 34 outposts, 24 ports, six ships, and 600 employees. Today, a full-scale replica of the fort, with internal buildings, has been constructed and is open to the public as Fort Vancouver National Historic Site.”
With the Animal Rights Movement, what was once a thriving Pacific Northwest industry is now a highly controversial issue. The fur and leather trade that was so essential to the lifeblood of existence and the growth of our area is by many standards a frowned-upon commodity. All those expensive mink and custom leather coats that I bought from my client back in Indianapolis are currently subject to red paint. Several we have given to Goodwill and the rest simply take up closet space. With all the beef and pork we consume, we’re already not a friend to the animal activists, let alone dining in a fur coat. I understand the concerns, but none of us could have ever survived without the warmth and nutrition that animals provide. Today, will be a step back in time, as we learn more about life without a retail store nearby. I couldn’t find any movies that were filmed there, but I will certainly think of Lewis & Clark on this road trip.
It’s time for another calendar check, as each day reveals a exotic destination that I probably haven’t been to see yet. This past week it showed pictures of Pushkar, Rajasthan, India. At least, I’ve been to Indiana, but I don’t recall a Camel Fair that seems to be big attraction in Pushkar. The Great Mosque of Djenne in Mali was featured on the next day. The closest I’ll come to that in spelling is our trip to Bali next year. I’ve yet to go to South Wales, either, or Hill Country in Sri Lanka for that matter. I have, however, thoroughly explored Texas Hill Country when we lived in Austin, if that counts? All kidding aside, it was actually a good week of having “been there and done that.” We traveled to Thailand earlier this year but did not get up to Chiang Mai. My cousin lives there part of the year and came down to visit us in Phuket. I’ve also been to London and Niagara Falls that are both considered among the “1000 Places to See Before You Die.” We also landed in Montenegro, a brief stop on our cruise from Venice to Athens. On the other hand, we haven’t yet been to Turkmenistan or Turkey, but plan to have some for Thanksgiving. Gobble Gobble!
The are about only fifty days left on the calendar to further remind me of how few places we’ve actually visited. Many of the “to die for” sites featured are unlikely to make my bucket list anyways. You simply can’t see it all in the short time each of us has on earth. Let alone the cost! We’re lucky to have traveled as much as we have in our lifetimes. Before next year is over, we will have stepped foot on five of the seven continents. Only South America and Antarctica will remain unexplored. Currently, I have no interest whatsoever in visiting Antarctica, but we definitely need to get south of Mexico and at least go to Rio. Maybe after next year’s trip to interior China?
Our next stop is Universal Studios in Orlando. We do have a short getaway in Oregon’s Hill Country before we head south. We’ll have a little wine with our turkey this year, with stops at several vineyards. We’ll then spend Christmas on an airplane, retirement home shop on the Gulf Coast, and pick-up the grand kids for some fun in Orlando to bring in the new year. We decided on two days at Universal Studios with the family, since as Florida residents they are frequently guests at The Magic Kingdom. After they drive back home, my wife and I will spend some welcome time as “just the two of us” at Disney World and the continental flavors of Epcot Center. It’s been awhile since she’s been there, having missed the last couple of visits to Florida. Now that she’s also retired, we can extend our trips. “The Mouse” has missed her!
