Today we drove 170 miles from Wanaka to Franz Josef Glacier. This may not sound like much but the road compares well with some of the tougher stretches of CA 1 otherwise know as PCH. Other comparisons might include the Blue Ridge Parkway.  We were constantly changing altitude and twisting through the coastal mountains.  It was gorgeous but tiring driving, especially with 28 one lane bridges just a foot wider than the coach. The “right of way” is declared on signs on the approach to each bridge.

The twisting and turning was so severe that near the end of the day I noticed something protruding from a “locked” compartment.  It was one of our chairs and I watched it fall to the road.  I managed to retrieve that one, but another is some place back on the road.

We stopped at Blue Pools and walked on about 15 minutes to see the magnificent glacial melt water pools

We were looking forward to taking a helicopter flight over Fox Glacier.  When we got there we were told the clouds were a problem and they weren’t flying.  I said we were continuing on to Franz Josef and he said they might be flying out of there.  He called and put our names on the list and we drove another 30 minutes and found that they had a flight going up in 30 minutes.

I guess that last was really less than brief 🙂

We have been driving South from Christchurch along the east coast of South Island until today. At Dunedin,  or southernmost point we visited the only castle in New Zealand.  It has a tragic history, it fell into disrepare and had been restored by a couple who have made it their life’s work.  We saw the half that was once the busiest Harbor I in NZ and we had a treat seeing Blue Penguins coming home from the sea to their colony.  There are actually two seating areas darkened with stern warnings about quiet to avoid scaring them off. They are very cute.  No pictures permitted.  We also stopped to see the Yelloweyed Penguins, but none are appearing. Either predation or disease has taken its toll on this particular group.

We also visited the Cadbury factory and came away with many samples.  It felt rather like “trick or treat” neither of us cares much for the commercial stuff.  The Jaffas are pretty good and the real chocolate bars are fine,  not up to Lake Champlain Chocolate, but we will eat it.  We have also shopped along the way to stock the RV kitchen so we can eat on board.  The cheeses are wonderful,  very creamy. The lamb I bought was also fine.  We are also becoming fans of NZ wine, especially the Pinot Noir.

For excitement we have ridden luge in concrete tracks,  I have taken a Zip line and a very exciting jet boat ride with Shotover Jet boat on the river of the same name in Queenstown, the home of crazy out door activities. We did not ride Hydro Attack

Haven’t posted in a while because we have been busy enjoying ourselves and have had some conectivity problems.  This is brief as we are preparing to leave Queenstown heading for Wanaka with a stop to ride a jetboat on the Shotover River

More later if We can get connected.

24 hours after landing we have not made it out of the hotel.  Sleep and eat and a bit of exercise is about all we have managed.  Oh and struggling with Vodafone trying to get the hotspot on the phone to work with the local sim card.  Dinner in the hotel last night was a pleasant surprise

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As I sit by the open window of the coach I am overwhelmed by the scent of orange blossoms from our neighbor’s site. Several nights ago I stepped out to grill and immediately thought someone had sprayed orange blossom scent over the entire park. It is sweet and wonderful and just a bit overwhelming. It seems our life here can be like that.

Saturday night was Lasagna  night with the Valley Winds performing. Dinner at 5 PM does take some getting used to. The meal was delicious and the Valley Winds are a 20+ group of Trombones, Saxophones and Trumpets playing Swing. That big band sound in our Friendship Hall was amazing. Here is the group with one couple out on the dance floor:

Since the last post I have followed doctor’s orders, mostly, taken my antibiotics and much to my relief I feel much better!. In fact, I went off on a weekend with Yechiel and 58 other men for some MAN time which included much strenuous activity. I’m sworn to secrecy about what that means so I will leave it to your imagination. NO NOT THAT 🙂 I returned wet, dirty, tired and happy to go to a fund raising event for an organization that Yechiel is on the board of, then we drove home and got to sleep.

With minor exceptions we have stayed put here at Jojoba Hills since December. This may be the longest we have been in one place in many years. It feels good. The community is warm and caring and anxious to be of help to each other. The life style is simple yet full of opportunities for culture, hiking, nature, socializing and even playing Bridge. Yes I just got back from an afternoon of bridge with four tables going and I am signed up for a duplicate tournament on Friday. Bet I play a time or two before that. Carol is keeping very busy with things that interest her.

Some things we have learned along our path. You had better like as well as love your partner. We spend way more time together, just the two of us, then we ever did in Rochester. We need much less stuff than we ever thought. As we are moving some stuff from the coach to our shed, much is going into the “donate” pile. Why do we need two winter coats when we seldom have call for one. We have much more luxury than most would think possible in our motorhome. The destination is the journey. We may be staying put for a time, but it is our choice. We could pull in the slides tomorrow and head on down the road. The only limitation is our flight to New Zealand, a trip we have chosen. I look forward to resuming the road in June and leaving our wonderland until November (or whenever). I guess I had best add, be ready to change plans and to move on. Time seems shorter now, planning for big trips 10 years out does not seem reasonable. We need to do them sooner, we can always rest if necessary.

I am not being morbid, just realistic. Over the weekend a 63 year old said he only had 20 years ahead of him. I said “don’t limit me!” or yourself. The president of Jojoba Hills is 81 and looks my age, I’ve been accused of being in my 60’s when people see us on the move or dancing.

I guess I have scattered enough ideas around for one post. I look forward to hearing comments from many of you on how you are going about this aging thing.

Who said “growing old isn’t for sissies”? I would would like to smack that person upside the head for understatement! Both of us arranged to meet with a new doctor, just to “have someone in place.” Starting a couple of hours after those meetings I started with something that felt like a kidney stone. I have spent uncounted hours in ER and doctor’s waiting rooms since and so far little resolution, except the pain is gone and I am taking antibiotics for a “maybe” bacterial infection. Carol has been pursuing her own course just trying to get a needed injection for bone loss prevention. Different medical systems and different doctors, each wanting their own set of tests. Where, oh, where is a unified health care system in this vast country of competing needs/wants? But I will stay away from the politics – seems almost impossible in this season, but. . .

In the midst of this the Jeep wanted its own “doctor.” We started hearing noises from the wheels and pulled in to our new service center for a “look see”. We now have wonderful new rear rotors and pads. I kept saying to myself “only 36,000 miles, how can this be?” Then self said “plus another 30,000 miles being towed with the supplemental braking system hitting the Jeep brakes every time we braked the coach.” and so it goes.

Joyful news; we are in the midst of preparations for our NZ-AUS trip and have told the various docs that this is a major objective. So far no one has said we are nuts.

Here we are on our new site in Jojoba Hills SKP Resort. This site is 801 and unlike our previous site we are already working to make this ours.

Just a week ago we were sitting in our nephew, Moshe’s home in W Orange NJ. The next day we flew back to sunny and warm Jojoba Hills. It felt like home as we drove through the gate and we were welcomed back into a warm and friendly community that understands our loss all to well.

Shortly after our return there was a major banquet, I think the Annual Dinner. I showed up alone with both my ticket and Carol’s, veggie ticket. I explained she wouldn’t be coming to dinner and before I could ask, they packed up her dinner for me to take up to her – I had offers from a couple of people to run it up to her so I could enjoy the dinner. You need to know there is a STRICT No Takeouts rule at all these events. The enforcers never even twitched an eyebrow.

Life has continued at the usual hectic pace Bridge and Pool for me singing and other stuff for Carol, never a dull moment. Just to keep me up with the politics and the gossip I try to get to at least one meeting a week, for Architecture, Finance, Marketing even Escort/Parking 🙂 On Sunday I noticed on the public notice board that a site near us was being offered for adoption. We had already decided there was no reason to move, but you never know. We drove by while on our way elsewhere and looked it over. We drove away and did a sudden U turn to take another look. We were immediately greeted by neighbors to the site who we know from our many activities. We immediately went to the office to put our name on the seniority list. those with the greatest length of membership get first choice. Although we didn’t get here until mid December we joined the end of April. I guess that was early enough to best the one other applicant we saw on the list. Tomorrow we move, it will be slightly more effort than our usual departure as we will have to move all the stuff I have accumulated in the shed. Most of it came out of the coach so it shouldn’t take more and an hour all told.

Here is a link to the trip we will be taking: The LONG drive.  Google measured it at 436 feet 🙂

And so it goes. the other night we invited Norm and Patrice over for happy hour after the ritual Monday Meeting, they do have quite a story. Here is a link to youtube of the group he played in. Check out the bass player. He is somewhat older and whole lot larger today. He also developed and marketed the line of Sunn Amps you can see in the background. They have both had quite varied careers and make us look like stay at home-stick-in-the-muds. We look forward to getting to know them better.

In the mean time the Londons who are classmates of mine from Brown mentioned they were driving from Coachella Valley to San Diego, passing within 14 miles of us. We arranged for them to join us for conversation and whatever on their return on Monday. It was really great having time with them, without Reunion and 40 other friends around. We really enjoyed the bottle of white wine from Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County.

I always welcome comments.

For Carol’s message on the death of her brother Arthur Rudin go to her most recent blog post. Yes we have experienced an expected but totally unwelcome loss. Just five weeks after venturing to New Jersey to be able to have the support of more family then was available in Florida, Arthur is gone. Natalie, his wife, remains to continue her transition to New Jersey with her son and daughter-in-law and grandchildren. Their daughter Erica, who lives in Florida had been their main support until the move on December 29.

We are preparing to fly East to NJ. We are doing in a day what usually takes us a month. Book flights, hotel, rental car and pack. Pack! This is the third kind of packing, something we don’t do anymore. To pack for a months long trip we have complete setups for what to take and how to pack it. Besides we start preparing to pack a month in advance. To travel in the motorhome, another form of “packing”, takes much less as it is home and has almost everything we need already stowed where it belonged when we got off for a month’s long trip. For a three or four day trip into snow in the northeast we haven’t got a clue, nor do we have the proper clothes any longer. I dug out my Vermont Barn coat which will keep me sort of warm but is not what anyone but a Vermont farmer would call dressy. I found a pair of shoes (black with laces!) that I will wear, but snow, slush and winter will destroy them and freeze my feet. I did find gloves and earmuffs and a warmish hat.

I am dithering. I am looking forward to seeing the family, I am so grateful we spent Thanksgiving with Art and Natalie in Florida. It was our last time to spend with a brother-in-law who has been family almost as long as anyone I know. I remember the first time I met Arthur in their home in Stanford Conn. I was maybe 19 and dating Carol who met me there. He gave me a pretty severe looking over, after all he was 32 and had two children and I was coming to claim his baby sister, we were not even engaged yet. It turned out well and we came to like each other and eventually to love each other. I already miss the engaging interested electrical engineer with whom I went to look at “personal computers” in Minneapolis, when personal computers were a box of parts you put together yourself. Apple had yet to bring its first Apple II to the market. The engineer who was so fascinated with the work of Salvador Dali that the last outing we had together was to return to the Dali Museum for the umpteenth time. As I write, more and more memories are flooding back, all the way to his being a groomsman for me when Carol and I got married over 52 years ago.

I had a shot of Scotch Whiskey tonight in memory of the many times we shared a drink of fine Scotch Whiskey. I’ll let it go at that before I have another and get maudlin.

Yesterday, Sunday January 24, Carol and I responded to a neighbor’s request for help to unload a 26 foot UHaul truck into a new storage unit. Along with their children and grandchildren and several other Jojoba Hills members we got the job done in 3 hours. As we moved boxes and totes into storage, building a jigsaw puzzle of containers that should not move too much in an earthquake, we saw the product of years of not being able to let go of “things.” Boxes of fabrics for a variety of projects never done, toys that the kids, now in their 50’s had played with, clothes that were not worn out yet and boxes of books “to be read.” As we closed the door on the 25 foot deep storage unit there was not room for a person to stand inside.

Then today, I came across this blog post WheelingIt about the same issue. I had a feeling of superiority about all of this, we don’t have a storage unit. Uh, well, that is . .  . unless you count the 1475 square foot apartment we keep in Rochester to store our stuff. Admittedly we couldn’t stay over night in a storage unit, but we could rent a furnished place when we want to be in Rochester, for a whole lot less than the apartment costs. This year we expect to stay in the apartment for much of August and October, maybe. Our kids used it for 3 nights in December. The lease is up this August. What to do? My best guess is nothing for now, we have a lot of travel out of the US planned and dealing with storage will occupy too much energy we would rather devote to other things. At best guess we will continue the irrational storage plan for a couple more years.

This returns to the question posited in the title, what do we really need to keep. Ultimately we get to “keep” nothing, so a better question might be when do we choose to part with things. If we do nothing, our children will have the fun of deciding what they want to keep and who gets what. I am not being maudlin, when I sit at the solid oak dining table we bought from the craftsmen in 1972 I am sitting with memories from our families earliest years. The Eames lounge chair is almost as old. The art, the pieces that remain after our first down sizing, is evocative of a period of collecting and living with fine pieces. Taking pictures of these “things” will not satisfy my desire to look at and touch the actual things. The Photography Book collection too is not something that can be enjoyed in some virtual manner. Storing these things in a storage locker will not work. they need to be enjoyed in situ when we can be there. Storage for the collectible things needs to be climate controlled too. When the boys and their families have appropriate place to keep and enjoy these items I will feel better about letting them go. Although I speak as one, those who know us know that it is really the two of us together that will continue to wrestle with this issue.