Our New Dilemma

We have been on the road for over 3 years now, after selling our house and most all of our possessions. "Living the Dream" so to speak, traveling and exploring. People would ask us if we ever planned to get off the road and settle down again and we have always said that we don't see that happening in the near future. Little did we know how fast things can change in a blink of an eye.

Which brings us to our new dilemma. With the passing of Lisa's father, we have found ourselves homeowners again. He had a very nice house in Florida which he left to Lisa and her sister Heidi. We were in Minnesota when he passed away and the house has been sitting vacant since June. He summers up in Minnesota because of the Florida heat. So we scrapped our plans for this winter and cancelled all of our commitments and headed south to take care of his estate. There was a hurricane and we wanted to check for damage and to just occupy the house.

We got to Florida and walked into the house, which was a little weird. The last time we where there was in May and we had spent many good times with her dad all winter. Just walking into it the way he had left it 4 months ago was like I said, weird.

We really don't want to give up our lifestyle of traveling, and we don't want to get rid of his house. So that leaves us holding the bag to figure this out. For the time being we are turning in our membership for "full-timing" and getting a "part-timing" membership. The wheels of the legal system move very slowly here in Florida. So we have to take a "hurry up and wait" attitude to see how everything gets resolved.

So that is the dilemma we find ourselves in now.

A September to not Remember.

September has quickly come to an end. We are still in Minnesota which means the nights are getting cooler and the leaves are starting to turn some magnificent colors. Harvests are in full swing. Fall has always been one of my favorite seasons. All of the summer boat traffic is off of the lakes making them glass calm, except for the occasional duck or loon that floats by. In the sky you can hear a couple of geese fly by, honking some encouragement to each other.

However this fall is different. August 26th we got a call from Lisa's father. He was calling from the Intensive Care Unit in Fargo. Apparently he had fallen and his momentum carried him head first into a tree. It sounds like a funny joke, I know, but when Lisa got to the hospital and was told how extensive his injuries were, the laughing stopped. Possibly blood on the brain, 2 cracked cervical vertebrae in his neck, a cracked vertebrae in his upper back and a punctured lung. We couldn't believe it. All from a fall. He was in a neck brace and would need surgery.

The surgery was put on hold for a week because of the blood thinners he takes. They had to wait for them to get out of his system. So he spent a week flat on his back. He couldn't even see the TV. They say that being on your back for that long can do funny things to your mind. LaRay was no different. He was seeing things on the ceiling that weren't there. Trying to touch things in the air that weren't there. One day they asked him if he knew Lisa and he said that he thinks that he met her before but wasn't sure.

We would call the hospital every morning and then stop by for and hour or two each day before work. Each day he slowly digressed. We eventually quit our temporary jobs to devote as much time with him as we could.

To make a long heart-wrenching story short. LaRay was in the ICU for 19 days, battling to survive. But going into this, he had many strikes against him. Such as his age, his diabetes, his life long addiction to cigarettes and alcohol and his poor circulation. The hospital called a "Care Meeting" one day to discuss his treatment options. It hit us like a sledgehammer to find out that LaRay would never go home. That is not what we were expecting. That is not what he would want either.

So taking his wishes to heart we had to make the horrible decision to remove him from life support and to let his body do what it would naturally do. We never thought we would be put in a position to make a decision like that. Never would we have thought that this is how he would go. When they took him off of the ventilator, it was just a matter of minutes before he succumbed to the inevitable. I was there with Lisa and Heidi till the very end. It was very sad to see the life leave his body. Something that we won't forget for a very long time.

Now we are left to pick up the pieces and to to take care of what he left behind. Our lives have literally changed for us for the time being. We will have to see how this plays out.

Potato Worshipping

In other news. This past weekend was Potato Days here in Barnesville. They have all kinds of activities centered around the potato. Potato peeling contests. Mashed potato wrestling which sounded interesting. Although the weather was cool and rainy. I was going to enter Lisa in the Miss Tater Tot contest, but they said it was only for 10 year olds. I bet she would have won. There was a fashion show. The clothes that were on display had to be made out of potato sacks. Lots of food vendors selling potato items. Lefse, dumplings, potato soup and of course french fries.

I thought it kind of funny that they had to have signs advertising the potato item.

The leaves are starting to change. It has been a very wet and cool August. Making us itchy to get going south. Someday.

I'm Not The Man I Think I Am.

Before I go any further, I want to set the record straight. I am not following the path of Bruce/Caitlyn Jenner. I know what kind of equipment I have and I am not afraid to use it.

What I am talking about is this. I awake every morning and look in the mirror. Several questions pop into my mind. The biggest is "Damn, how did I get to be so good looking?" Second question is "Who am I?" You look at me and you can tell that I look Native American. I mean, throw me in a loin cloth, stick a can of cigars in my hand, put me in front of a dime store and I could sell cigars for a living.

Dino, is that you?

I always knew that I was part Indian (sick of being PC. Sorry if you are offended) and I wanted to find out just how much. So with that in mind, I got on the Ancestry.com website and ordered a DNA kit. The kit came and I spit in it and sent it back. Waited patiently for the results and now the results are in. Drum roll please.........

Before I get into that, some of you may not know that I was adopted when I was a "wee little lass"(hint). Adopted by a great father and mother who I love extremely. They made me into the person that I am today. My sense of humor comes from my mother and my work ethic comes from my dad. My Italian name has thrown people off for years. I have found my birth mother but have no information about a father.

Now back to the results. Biggest percentage is Native American-35%. I thought it would have been more like 50% at least with my character traits. But when I think about it, 100's of years of America being a melting pot and what not, is 35% these days considered to be quite a lot? I don't know. 

Next highest percentage is Irish. 17%. I have a new enthusiasm for celebrating St. Patrick's day and I just might buy a kilt. I dare you to look up it. I double dog dare you.

Next, Scandinavian- 15%. That explains why I was always good at the game of Husker Du. 

Then the lesser percentages are as follows.

Asia central-9%

Great Britain-7%. Bloody hell you say!

Iberian Peninsula- 5% Where is that?

Finland and Europe west-each 4%

Asia east-3%

It also breaks it down further in those areas to specific regions. It is very interesting. Ancestry.com will also send you a list of people with DNA matches. According to Ancestry.com there are over 800 people that are somehow related to me as 2nd cousins and further related out to 6th cousins. I can not afford that family reunion.

Armed with all this new knowledge I don't know what to do with, I think I will go kilt shopping. I wonder if Amazon sells them? I bet they do. I also know why I have a calling to wear loin clothes. I was also dabbling in some name changes. The scandinavian in me likes Sven Swensen or Ole' Olivieri. My Irish self likes Patty O' Furnichur.

Maybe someday I will find out that my father was Fabio. That would explain the first question I asked at the beginning.

Dad?

I can see the resemblance.

And I thought that I wouldn't have anything to blog about this summer.

Our work gig is going well. We are on the downward slope before we pull up anchor and head down the Amazon. We are learning that it is hard to get stuff done that we need to do when you work 5 days a week. Our 2 days off we end up just running errands, visiting people, helping our son and mother-in-law. It is keeping us busy and we are looking forward to a vacation. At least I am. Yes, Lisa, I said the "v" word. Or at least another pink margarita day. Until the sun gets over the missen mast.

Emergency Conferance of the MNdrifters Society

That's right folks. There was an emergency assembly of the MNdrifters society because of allegations of transgressions of one of it's members. With such an important gathering, I am surprised that the "Mainstream Media" has not reported on it. But then again they don't report on anything that isn't on Facebook first. So after this post they may pick up on it.

I can't go over the grimy details of the ordeal but I will give you a brief wrap up of the proceedings. The allegations were read to the board. Allegations serious enough to bring a "vote of no confidence" to the floor. But before that, arguments for and against the accused ensued. Good times were brought up to try and sway the board for a positive outcome.

Beach time in Florida

Jeeping in Utah

Arizona

Nevada

But the allegations were just too serious to ignore.

The major month long breakdown in Moab

Leaving us stranded in Cody, WY.

So the vote went forth.

Moose-Abstained from voting. He was quite silent on the whole matter.

Journey-Also silent.

Lisa-Yay vote for "No Confidence"

Dino-Yay vote for "No Confidence"

So with the votes in and tallied, the accused was given the verdict. Thus ending the proceedings.

Just like that Lil Blue was voted off of the MNdrifters adventure from here forth. In the future I would like to get another Jeep. One that is newer and more reliable. Someday.

3 Years!

Yes, you heard me right. 3 years. That is how long we have been living this crazy lifestyle and we don't see an end in the foreseeable future. Lisa told me that she read somewhere (probably Facebook. So it has to be true) that if you can get past the 3 year mark, you will probably be doing this for awhile. And look, we did it. I can see where that may be true because one couple we know sold the RV and are off the road. Two other couples we have met have purchased their paradise and are off the road. And two other couples we know have purchased land for future paradises to be built. We have not found our paradise yet but there are a couple of places that we like to go back to.

So if you allow me I will do a quick recap of our year.

Yellowstone at night, taken by Stewart.

Last July we were working in Yellowstone National Park. We worked June through August. That was a great experience for us. One that I really enjoyed. We bought our new fifth wheel then. We met so many new people who we still stay in contact to this day. "The Kids" as we liked to call them from Taiwan where so nice. It was very interesting to get to know them and our record of 8 people stuffed in our Jeep still stands.

Yellowstone's Grand Canyon.

September found us heading to Minnesota for family visits. Then we heard the calling from Amazon.

So October we made the trek to Kentucky to work for "The Man". We were hoping to make some quick cash without having to sell our bodies, but the overtime wasn't there this year. For Sale: two old bodies. Cheap. Oh well. We worked October to Christmas.

End of December we made the trip up north to the frozen tundra. We have no ass's because we froze them off last winter. It was brutally cold. Spent the holiday's with family and our son announced his and Heather's engagement. "Bravo!" we said.

Frozen Minnesota style.

January found us heading back to Kentucky to get our fifth wheel and then over to Knoxville Tennessee to get some work done on the RV. Once that was done we bee-lined it to sunny and warm Florida. We stayed in several different parts of Florida. We were in Sanford Florida, north of Orlando for awhile. Then over to the Tampa area for several months, working the dreaded Strawberry Festival of Horrors. It really doesn't seem that bad, NOW. Then back to Orlando to visit the mouse. Our kids each came for visits which was great. That was January to the end of May.

Strawberry Festival of Horrors.

Vicki and Kendra visited.

Lisa enjoying some beach time.

Heather and Roman visited.

It's so magical.

Kelly, Rich, Lisa and I.

We visited with Lisa's uncle Gary and girlfriend Trish.

Lisa's sister Heidi and two boys visited.

Then it was getting too hot in Florida so we headed up north again to Minnesota for VIP's and our son's wedding in July. What a great girl he found and they really compliment each other perfectly.

Jim and Barb tracked us down.

Roman and Heather's wedding.

Milage wise, we did put on a lot of miles last year. It's all part of the experience though. We spent nearly 5 months in Florida getting to know the Orlando and Tampa area very well. We spent a lot of money last year. Probably more than we care to admit. New fifth wheel, tires, 2 hitches and all the Disney tickets. But the smiles are all worth it. Our jobs for last year included Yellowstone NP, Amazon, Strawberry Festival of Horrors and our current job, DDI Healthcare. Working about 7 months out of twelve. Not to bad.

We don't keep track of our financials like we used to. It all goes down as the cost of living, and living ain't cheap no matter how you do it.

So that is our year in a nut shell. We are starting to plan next year and it should be a good one. So stay tuned.

Allejandro, Butterpump Reunion

We are back in Minnesota for the summer for a number of reasons. Number one is that our son is getting married and we are very happy for him and his new bride. Also we need to visit family and friends. Lisa's grandfather just turned 100 which is a huge milestone. One that I hope that I never see. And the way that I see it, he ain't getting any younger.

We plan on being here till the end of September and then dragging our butts down to Kentucky to give Amazon another whirl. So what do we do for the 4 months that we are here. I think we have seen all 10,000 lakes. We have seen Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox. We have even been to the Mall of America a thousand times. We get jobs! Nooooooooo!

We just spent 5 months in Florida. Relaxing, sunning our bums, killing our fair share of brain cells. We learned that relaxing that much can get expensive, not to mention the other costs that we incurred down there. New tires, new hitch, a new tooth for Dino and just plain expenses. Plus we have a wishlist of items to get in the future. New generator, new recliners, new couch, new glasses and Lil' Blue needs a makeover.

So instead of sitting around, we decided to treat this as a work camping opportunity. We both got jobs at one of my former employers who were quite happy to have us for the summer. That way we are on the same shift and schedule. The pay is good, can't complain about that. Plus it should put us in the black. Win, win.

Don't hold your breath waiting for updates from us. It should be a quiet summer.