Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Bob’s Update
Happy Mardi Gras Day!
Laissez les bon temps rouler!

It has been a very busy 2014, with lots of changes. This year, we decided it was time to liquidate our house and surrounding property, a plan that we have always had in place. Although there is never a good-time, the time was right to get it done. With demanding upkeep, frequent absences, and having no heirs, this is the best thing for us. Also, our dream of cruising the “Great Loop” made the big-change necessary.
Thanks to some good friends and professionals, we have completed our house sale, with the final walk-thru scheduled for Thursday. It was astounding to discover how much “stuff” we had to dispose of. We had an “estate sale” which was conducted by professionals, with Terry and I assisting. Our goal was to find a good home for our belongings and dispose of everything, in the sale. The “estate-sale” professionals did exactly that, and additionally, we had fun doing it. We worked together organizing items and pricing each item. Lots of buyers came and purchased the majority of the smaller items. The new owners and special-contacts purchased the larger items. Finally, the remaining items were purchased by a single buyer/dealer. I was pleased that a very small volume of “stuff” went to the dump. (Mostly things from the barns that had just deteriorated over time) It’s amazing what people will buy! One man’s junk is another’s treasure! Of course, all this activity was not without it’s stress. We had to make lots of decisions with the emotional factors suppressed. Now, we are ready for a big vacation with lots of rest and relaxation. The next big-change will be acquiring a safe, accommodating, live-aboard boat.

Now, we head-out, in our RV-rig, to find the perfect boat for our “Great Loop” adventure. When we move aboard the boat, we will sell the truck and RV trailer and declare ourselves “live-aboard” cruisers. Living and cruising on a boat will be a completely new lifestyle. Efficient cruisers do not have a lot of “stuff”. Just the bear essentials to live-aboard, manage the daily challenges and experience the sights and sounds of our historic inland waterways.