We have been doing mostly rather mundane things of late, such as everyone must when settling into a new home, so I have been a little bit remiss on making enteies as I should. I'll tay to get back to a more regular pattern and get this journal moving once more.

As much as we loved our roving life over the past years, we have been a little bit surprised by how comforting it has been to have the knowledge that we do have a place to live, in the event that we should ever need one. I think that there are really several parts to this, although none of them alone are really that big a deal, when combined it was a growing concern, even though not acknowledged. The age of our RV had become somewhat a concern, not because it is worn out, but simply because it has reached a point where things are beginning to require more attention and the owner is becoming less inclined to do much of the work on it! It is kind of funny, but I have discovered an interesting phenomena. With every year older that our motorhome has become, the operator has seemed to age just as much! I used to think little of climbing on the roof to take care of things, but at 68 I am far more cautious and I find that my strength and agility have both slipped more than I would really like to admit.

Then there are things like our health issues that have slowly begun to demand nore attention, even though they are not travel prohibitive. Pam's doctor is a wonderful lady, and she has involved Pam in her medical decisions. But with this increased interest has come a number of new concerns and that means more medical specialists and more appointments. In my case, I continue to have very few medical issues, but I am now a cancer survivor, as I had a melanoma surgically removed from my left ear almost three years ago and that means that I must see a dermatologist twice each year and this is not something that I would even consider failing to do. As a result, the annual doctor visits have slowly become twice annual or more and what used to take a week each spring now requires at least two weeks, each spring and fall.

There have been some very unanticipated pleasures also associated with our purchase of our new home. The community is one of people who are all from the RV world and nearly all have been fulltimers at least for a few years. As such they are our kind of people, but with a permanent tie we see those same people each time and the strength of that bond is far beyond what we are able to develop while we are all on the move. The people here truly care about each other and we have quickly developed a relationship that is as strong as that of any family. When someone needs help with some project, there are usually more people there to assist than can possibly be needed! And the standard thing is for everyone to share any special purpose tools, ladders, or things that may not be required every day.

This has been a truly wonderful experience and one that is far beyond our wildest dreams! So if we must deal with a little bit of snow and some harshly cold weather, then so be it, as this is a very small price to pay for what we have found here.