It's Been A While

 Greetings from Inverness, Florida,

I am down with a cold today.  I don't think I have enough energy to do a whole blog.  But I thought I would let you know we arrived home safely from our travels this summer.   

We are planning on touring some of the mid-West this summer and this fall we will fly to Croatia for a Bike and Boat tour with our friends, Christy and Mark.  Then we will part with them and fly to Italy for another bike tour.  We may be gone a whole month!

Last I wrote to you we were still in Wisconsin. There we got to reunite with new and old friends and see my son and his wife briefly.  We also got to participate with 20,000 others in the No Kings Rally at the Wisconsin State Capital.  

Julie and Mark biked and marched with us in Madison, WI.  We met them when we were on a few Withlacoochee Bicycle Riders rides in Florida.

Sandy and John came over from the Waukesha, WI area to camp with us in Madison, WI. I have been friends with Sandy since the early 1990's.

Mark and Jane came over to Madison to visit us too.  Here they are with Sandy and John and my boy-toy Steve at the botanical gardens in Madison.

Here is a picture of a tiny part of the crowd we marched with in Madison to protest the power over-reach of this administration.  "No Kings" rallies were held all over the US and in other countries too.

We headed to Southern Illinois and met up with the trail-promoter and Extraordinary Triker of the Tunnel Hill Trail, Jean Clayton.  When we left there we stopped in Metropolis, IL.  That was cool.

We were getting anxious to get home, but we still stopped up in the panhandle of Florida and biked and took in some music a few days before arriving home.

It was great to be back home in Inverness and back on the trail with our biking friends.  

But there were a few holes in my former life down here.  Parts of it are missing.

While we were traveling, I missed seeing my biking friend, Margaret.  She and I usually saw each other six days a week.  Three when we were with the bike group and three when we were exercising at the Windermere (my old neighborhood) clubhouse.   She had a stroke last winter and it has affected her ability to get to exercise and on the trail.  But I got to see her this winter and enjoy her company a few times before she had to leave us and move closer to her family.  I have it in our summer plans to stop and visit with her and her husband in Cedar Falls, IA.

And I miss my friend, Jean.  She passed this summer after living with ALS for a few years.  She was boisterous, fun, and full of surprises.  You probably know how it is when you see someone walking and think that could be your friend, but then remember that it can't be them.  I imagine that she's still laughing with me.

My friend Debra is moving too!  She is moving to North Carolina to be closer to her kids.  I will miss her, and I have promised to stop to visit this fall on our way south from New York.

Frankie, Me and Debra

A protest in Inverness had about 100 people.  Pretty good for a small town in a deep red county.

Our friends Louise and Richard decided not to sell their Florida home this year.  We get to see them a bit longer!

In this picture on the left is Ann and Fred.  Fred turned 90 this year and I think Ann is 86.  They both rode with us to Crystal River to see the Manatee.  About a 44 mile bicycle ride!  Take that, father time!

I have taken Lilac out for two very short camping trips.  She still performs well for me.  This past trip I meet up with a Sister on the Fly and we did a Ropes and Ladders Course in the woods in Dade City, FL.  It was a blast, I want to go back, and so does she.

So Steve's daughter and her boyfriend are visiting and I get this cold on the second day of their adventure.  Today I am isolating.  But tomorrow, if I distance, I should be able to bike, if I have the energy.

I have good news, my sister is coming to visit in the end of March!  We plan on taking her on the Silver River.  And by the bra tree on our way to Sleepy Hollow in Floral City, FL.

Here is a link to the video that Steve took at the bra tree recently.  It was a very Very windy kayak ride to and from Sleepy Hollow.

With Matt and Erin on the Silver River we saw lots of birds, Green Herons, Night Herons, and nesting Cormorants.  We saw lots of manatee and a few gator and one lonely monkey in a tree.

I hope you are doing well.  No colds and flu for you, I hope.  My heart and best wishes go out to those of you caring for a loved one.  A good friend just let me know that her husband has started shadowing her.  Remember when George did that?  I would be working in the kitchen and my elbow would be hitting his belly as I cut up veggies.  I would turn around and gently move him back a few steps, but in a few minutes he was back right at my elbow.  It is very tough and tiring being a full time caregiver.  Take care of yourselves, the best you can, so that you can survive because the stress can kill you. 

As you can tell from my life, there is a lot of living to do after caregiving, if you can survive.  Be selfish enough to take care of yourself.

'til next time,  Sue