Since we've been in Florida we've hitched up with a new Good Sam Chapter, the Space Coast Sams, which is the 2nd oldest Chapter in the State.  They are a fun group and we've been enjoying meeting them and camping in places we've never been to.

On Devcember 15th, 2012, Alice and myself were privileged to participate in a Wreaths Across America ceremony with the Space Coast Sams Camping Chapter of Good Sams, in Bushnell Florida at the Florida National Cemetery. These are a few snaps I took at these proceedings. http://bobpayette.blogspot.com/

Christmas lights at Titusvillage Section 1, December 2012

http://titusvillagesection1.com/TitusvillageChristmas2012.jpg  This link is to a collage I made for the Titusvillage website.

Click on right to view Our Titusvillage Section 1 Homeowners Association Website

2012 Florida Samboree in Eustis Fl...we were guests of Space Coast Sams

https://plus.google.com/photos/103565328419904276941/albums/5812275965659984545?authkey=CODG_7a98b3QrgE

The process…life?...is moving forward.   We’ve made contact with what we think is the closest Good Sam Club (Space Coast Sams) and have received a very informative reply to my inquiry post from their Chapter President.  We won’t be able to attend their October campout as our primary cat-sitter Joanna is heading North for Halloween festivities and to catch up, but we’ve made reservations for the Good Sams of Florida Fall Samboree in November up in  Eustis Florida.  Prior to that we’ve made reservations for a Florida “shake down” campout to Jetty Park in Port Canaveral, Oct 2^nd thru 4^th.

In the meantime we’ve set up a contractor to come in and install a small lawn sprinkler irrigation system with timers and a water holding tank  (we already have a well and external pump for watering purposes), and we’ve getting an estimate on the cost of re-doing our upper decks that need some serious attention.  Coming in here we had (through a full home inspection) a real good idea of what was good, what was bad, and what needed attention and now that we’ve sold our Preston digs we’re taking care of it one item on the list at a time.

It’s getting repetitive but we both do LOVE Florida.  This morning I spent a few hours at the Viera VA Clinic having signed up with a program to lose a few pounds if possible.  It’s great looking ahead with some real optimism, and we hope it ‘s going to be a fun winter here in the Sunshine State J. 

The fat lady has sungJ.  We actually closed on the Preston property on September 14^th, but the wire transfers won’t hit until today the 18^th as our Preston Town Hall is closed on Monday’s and the deed could not be filed until today.  It’s going to seem good NOT waiting for the phone to ring on additional problems, inspections and requests.  Anyone who tells you that selling a property is easy is either not paying attention or they’re living in a different world than we are! The adage “All’s well that ends well” is true enough though, and this post is the last you’re liable to read on our moving adventures.

When people talk about retiring to Florida, different images come to mind depending on what Florida you know.  We wintered here in Titusville for four years so we came to know the city and the area pretty good.  It’s very different living here permanently as compared to snow-birding here for the winter months, as now we’re really getting to feel a part of this community.  Our Titusvillage is a town-house Association with 88 town houses in 22 buildings.  We’re 3/10^th of a mile to the YMCA (walking, bicycling distance) and from the Y there is a nice bike path that’s a joy to ride on.  Alice likes the pool for water aerobics, and I’ve been using the weight machines and riding my bike in an effort to get more physically fit.  Living here is more conducive to that end, at least for us anyway. 

We attended our first HOA meeting a few weeks back.  I’ll be on the Board as of the coming year (2013) and I’ve set up a website for the Associationhttp://titusvillagesection1.com/ .  If you go to the photos page on the site you’ll see some snaps of some of the town houses.

Last week we put out a few tomato plants and planted a grapefruit tree and lemon bush.  Also, just for giggles I planted a few small cacti as I love them….Alice not so much.  Now that our Preston home is sold we plan on slowly finishing the furnishings here….we need to pick up some odds and ends as we didn’t feel it was necessary to bring everything from Preston with us and those moving pods only hold so much! (we had two, packed to the gills).

We haven’t camped with the rig since we moved here.  The motor home is being stored at a storage facility in Christmas Florida, about a half hour down the road on US 50.  There’s a Samboree at the Daytona International Raceway in November preceded by a National Good Sam Rally and Alice wants to look into that, but our first local campout will probably be to Jetty Park CG, on the water at Cape Canaveral.http://www.jettypark.org/  .  Our CT camping Club Seaport Sams will be heading for the Berkshires the end of this month for their last camp-out and we’re going to miss not going to Country Aire, and our good friends at Seaport.  Way back in-the-day Alice and myself started the Northward final hurrah campout, initially going to Travelers Woods on the recommendation of a good Power Squadron friend Bob Smith.  The Club went to Travelers Woods for several years, and then we migrated to Country Aire CG.  It has to have been ten years now the Club has headed north for the fall foliage…and we always enjoyed the Shelburne Falls, Greenfield area for sure.  It was always a bitter-sweet campout in that the next step after that campout was the winterization of the rig, the rig not being used again until the following April.  Another change:  We won’t be winterizing a motor home or boat…and are actually planning camping trips through the coming winter.  It works for us!! J.

Under contract.  Those two words are sweet, but as they say it’s not over until the fat lady sings and there are several inspections to be performed as the sales process progresses to closing, which will be hopefully the end of September 2012.  Our home was actively listed and on the market for 63 days.

In the meantime we’ve been making good progress in this major life transformation.  I’ve spent some quality time with the Veterans Administration at their clinic in Viera Fl, and have met my primary physician who has changed some of my meds.  I’m now officially in the VA medical system, and they seem very pro-active and competent and caring.  It looks like they are looking for their patients to take more responsibility for some things, so I’m now doing daily glucose and blood pressure readings which I’ve never had to do with the civilian physician. 

Tonight we attend our first performance since we’ve returned to town at the Titusville Playhouse.  It’s going to be a murder mystery comedy that sounds like it could be fun.  The full “Season” at the Playhouse looks good…..you can log into Facebook, search for Titusville Playhouse, and see the listing of coming attractions.

Robert R. Payette

We’ve been here in Florida now a week and a day…having arrived July 17th with bag, baggage, three cats and one Spaniel to our new town-house digs. Moving doesn’t change a lot of things….you still cook, clean, establish new routines, meet new people and catch-up with old friends but this has been an exciting and unusually hectic period in our lives. Alice has been doing a lot of the grunt work and organizing the kitchen stuff, clothes and other high effort, low-reward things that just need doing. I can retreat to my computer and pay bills, organize our life digitally and do some cooking….but I know who’s making that all possible, for sure!

A main reason for our deciding to move South was my health, which is not great. Here I’m very close to the Veterans Administration clinic in Viera and I spent a good part of yesterday there doing orientation along with some blood work. I’ll meet my primary care team the first week of August. Here in Titus Village it’s a joy to wake up early (5:30-6:00ish) and walk Kincaid in this wonderful urban environment. Rural life has its charms, but walking down a 500 foot gravel driveway to an unimproved country road gets old quick when your legs don’t work as good as they used to!
A few days back we spent some time at the local Brevard County Tax Collectors office(s) where we registered the car here in Florida and obtained Florida drivers licenses. Joanna seems to be settling in nicely with her new position in Merritt Island….it’s not perfect, nor her first choice, but it’s a starting point from which to build.
We thought we might have an issue with the holding tanks on the rig, and to be sure things were running clear we brought the rig to Manatee Hammock this morning where we pumped out, did a black-water rinse and then topped off our fuel on the way back to Christmas. All systems are go . The Hammock sure looks different in the summer than in the “high tourist” season of January thru March! Now it’s all local Floridian’s whereas in the winter tourist season it’s totally filled with folks from the Northeast, Michigan and Canada.
My only regret is we didn’t make this move a long time ago, as both Alice and myself are in hog heaven here in Titusville. If you have been thinking about a major move, but have been afraid to do it……just do it. Life’s not a rehearsal as they say.

Sailing Vessel Promise, Tartan 28 Sloop

So, here we are on July 5^th, 2012, ten days out and counting from our 07/15 permanent departure from what’s been our home for what – 67 years? That’s 67 years in Connecticut, only 10 of which have been here in Preston.  Our daughter Joanna is flying in from our new digs in Titusville on the 13^th (she’ll be following our motor-home in the Prius to our new home) and we’ll have another adult within shouting distance for the three cats and her dog Kincaid the Cavalier on the 1300 mile trip.  All of our “must keep” stuff is at the town-house in Titusville, and we’re only bringing the remnants that we’ve used to live here for the last month or so.  They’ll be a fairly large pickup from Goodwill Industries after we’ve cleared on the 15^th.

We have several different lists going, some of which are time sensitive.  The newspaper subscriptions have been converted to all digital or canceled, the propane and oil service contracts have been discontinued, the change of address’s have been processed for the most part.  We have new checks with our new address in Florida (for mail use: P.O. Box 1055, Titusville Fl 30781) and for e-mail r.payette2@gmail.com and for telephone 860.460.7945. )  Lose the CT landline telephone #, and we will not have a “house land line” in Florida.  All cellular, all digital, all the time J.

It seems weird doing a final packing for the motor-home.  Normally we’re packing for a trip, either a camping weekend with the Club or a winter hiatus for three to four months.  It feels different to be actually leaving, like breaking camp at a place you know you’re not liable to be back to anytime soon.

We (Alice and I) were talking about our feelings on this move on our way back from Wal-mart this morning.  It wouldn’t be human if you didn’t have mixed feelings about moving away from family and friends, even if it’s just a reversal of snow-birding and we fully expect to come back to the Northeast periodically to touch base with everyone.  The analogy I gave Alice is this: Many years ago, when we had our sailboat Promise, we both noted that many people rarely left the dock.  If the weather was in the least suspect, if there was a risk of it getting a bit uncomfortable, many people spent the entire weekend at the dock.  They’d BBQ and drink and party…and rarely leave their comfort zone and go to sea.  We were very active in the New London Power Squadron, and I taught boating safety and was a Squadron Commander, but we loved sailing Promise when it was hard, when it wasn’t a milk run so to speak.  She was a Tartan 28 sloop, built strong, and capable of handling more than I could probably sail her into.  And, when we’re talking around the campfire it’s not about the milk-runs but the exciting runs, the sails where the weather was nasty and the conditions tested you….where ball bearings are blowing out of traveler fittings because of wind pressure and you can’t hear each other talking because of that wind….  They call it sailing, and that’s what we’re doing now.  We’re leaving the safety of shore and heading into the wind.  Luckily we’re secured with good equipment and jack-lines but we’re doing it, and it’s going to be an exciting ride!

Reflections on June 8th, 2012:

Moving into the rest of our life…………

Over the last several years Alice and I have been “wintering” with our motor-home at a campground in Titusville Florida.  Like many snow-birds, we started off with a one month stay, than escalated to two months, then three months.  The family “discussions”  or arguments were always about the time frame:  Why are we staying in the Northeast during the worst of the winter, and leaving for Florida when the weather is dicey and questionable….when the camper has been, by necessity, winterized and “put to sleep”, only to be brought out of hibernation once the Mason-Dixie line was crossed?

Long story short we decided this past winter to make a major change in our life:  We purchased a town-house in Titusville, got it all set up, had the furniture and stuff we cared about shipped there, and have put our Preston property on the market.  Our daughter transferred to that area and is now ensconced at our town-house and is awaiting our arrival mid-summer 2012.  It’s a wonderful town-house in a good area, with decks off the upper bedrooms, a great “Florida” room on the first level, and it’s located in an area we know as well as we know Preston due to our winter hibernations.

The problems in doing this are many, the most difficult being the “letting go” of a lot of the “stuff” we’ve been hauling around for our 44 married years.  The way we did is was this:  We contracted for two large “Pods” and we loaded them with all the things we thought we would need at our new digs.  This was shipped to Titusville, and myself and Joanna drove down and, with the help of good friends in Seaport Sams Camping Club unloaded them and got the town-house ready for occupancy.  I than flew back to CT and we did a lot of work getting this property ready for sale (Alice is a true Polish wonder-worker!)….and we made the decisions as to what to sell, to give away, to donate and to trash.  The theory is that whatever did NOT make the first cut, and could not fit in the motor-home Prius combination on our last trip South, had to go.  So, with Goodwill, Craigslist, some friends and relatives, we have unburdened ourselves of a whole lot of STUFF that at some point in our life was important, but – as we move forward, has been relegated to “stuff” that has to be disposed of.  It’s Not easy.

Of course now that the Preston house has been totally “de-cluttered”, cleaned and polished (we had a great company come in that professionally power-washed the house, shed, greenhouse and the roof’s…living in the wood’s it needed serious attention but vinyl cleans up great!) it’s a little hard leaving it behind it’s so nice.  But that’s OK…our new digs are different, offer much less maintenance and are in an area that we really enjoy being in and that I think will add ten years to my life. 

We’re not the first ones to do this and we won’t be the last I’m sure, and it’s kind of liberating making things simpler.  The Titusville town-house has two parking spots…and our daughter is using one, so that leaves us one….so we’ve sold my faithful Miata and the old Jeep will go next…after we’re through with the Goodwill and land-fill excursions.  That will leave us with the Prius and the motor-home, and eventually we’ll sell the Prius and get a newer vehicle that is four-wheel down towable behind the motor-home.  My brother and sister in-law did that in Atlanta (went down to one vehicle) and it’s worked out well for them.  We’re freeing up time and finances to be able to travel more and do more of the things we truly enjoy doing as we enter our dotage.  I’m hoping my health holds on for a little bit longer so we can make this happen for a long while J. 

Relocation is hard!!  Joanna's last day at her CT employment was last Friday, and she starts her new job in Merritt Island on the 23rd of May.  We've finalized the purchase of our town house in Titusville, and are using the U-Pack moving system to start getting our "stuff" down South.  We have about four decades of that "stuff" we're going through, and the local library and charities will be the beneficiary's of a lot of our gear that is not going South with us.  Joanna and myself will leave for Florida in her car on Saturday the 12th, and I'll fly home on the 21st or so to continue getting our Preston home on the market.  There is a lot of upheaval going through this process, but at the end of the day I'm feeling a little lighter and a bit relieved to have gotten rid of a lot of things that were a part of a former life, and not my current reality.  It's sort of liberating!!

We've closed on the new town house (on Friday April 20th), and we've been doing some preliminary house set up.  The plan is we'll leave Titusville with the motor home for Preston on Saturday April 28th.  I'll be coming back with Joanna early May to help in the off-loading and organizing of the two U-Packs from ABF Movers.  Things have been moving very quickly but well, and we're real exciting moving into this new stage of our life :).

Transitions: We're purchasing a Town House here in Titusville.....

This has been a very busy winter here in Titusville!   We made an offer on a nice Town House here in Titusville and things are on schedule for a closing on that property in April.  Our initial plan was to return home to Preston on April 3rd, but that has now been put on hold pending this new development.  Over our lifetime we've moved several times, but never a great distance....so we have a lot of fat in the fire so to speak and a lot of issues to resolve.  It's going to be an exciting ride!

Settling in nicely here in Titusville..

We've been in Florida for ten days now and are settling in nicely.  Our site is the same one we had last year, but we parked "face out" rather than "face in", and it's a much nicer arrangement for privacy and livability.  Last week we attended a concert in Melbourne; this weekend it's a play at the Titusville Playhouse downtown....and we're getting in a lot of relaxing and reading.

We arrived in Titusville Fl on January 2nd, 2012

So, we left Preston on December 30^th for our trek to Florida and arrived here on January 2^nd.  We were scheduled to arrive on January 1^st, but we had some mechanical issues that forced us to stay on the road for an additional day.  Long story short is we had multiple tire blow-outs, a result of an inside duel that blew and we didn’t realize it thinking it was a truck backfiring as it passed us. This blown inside duel did not affect the handling in any way….there was no vibrations or shimmy’s and a cursory inspection after the loud bang did not reveal any issues.  From there it all went downhill, that’s my story and I’m sticking to itJ.

We’re not ensconced at our wonderful campsite at Manatee Hammock in Titusville.  It’s “chilly” but about to get warmer in the next week or so, so we’ll be taking our time setting up camp and unwinding from the travel-down adventures.