Today’s a beautiful day and yesterday was a beautiful day, so that means it’s a great life.

What could be better than sitting on the deck overlooking the clear, blue waters of the Gulf of Mexico and our white sandy beach at 7:30am enjoying the warm 20 degree Celsius weather? Ahhh. Nothing. (Richard he loves his early morning walk on the beach.) I enjoy walking the beach too but also enjoy just sitting, looking, and listening.

The weather has been lovely since we arrived. Now granted this is our first year here in December. January, if anything like the past, will be cooler.

We’ve settled into a quasi routine. We’re early risers (6:15 am) but around 5:30 I turn on Island Morning https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-30-island-morning to catch up on the news at home. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Edward_Island

We’re about a 15 min. drive to town (the house is on a long strip, one road in and out, with the Gulf on one side and a lagoon on the other)

thus our decision to do gym/yoga here https://www.gulfshoresal.gov/1162/David-L-Bodenhamer-Recreation-Center only three days a week (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday). A little fiscal responsibility. Other days may be included in January and February if the weather’s not as sunny.

We were smart this past year. We slowly put away $$$ to use for meals by selling items we no longer used or needed on Marketplace plus our little side hustles. Our goal was to save enough to have one breakfast and one lunch/dinner out every week. And we reached our goal. What a fantastic feeling; NO MEALS ON OUR CREDIT CARDS. Yay! What a nice treat every month not to have that on our bills.

After the gym we headed to the Tanger Outlet Mall.https://www.tangeroutlet.com/foley As we’ve been many times in past years we have some fav stores. Mine are TJ Max, Kate Spade, and Michael Kors, though this year I’ll also be spending lots of time in the children’s stores. Get ready David for some surprises.

The next stop was just across the street to Marshalls. Another fav. Bonus. Two people stopped me and told me they loved my hair.

I guess December’s not a great month to shop there. Things picked over. Hopefully January/February will be better.

Our plan was to stop at the Safari Club https://safariclubgulfshores.com/ for a late lunch/early dinner, whatever you want to call it. But the best laid plans… Apparently if they’re not busy in the afternoons they close whenever they want. (Told to us by a person in the zoo beside it.) Not open for us today. That’s ok. We’ll go another day.

Of course I already had a list of places we wanted to eat so we chose one from it. The Pink Pony. https://pink pony pub.net/?utm_source=GMB&utm_medium=organic

Lovely to sit on the deck overlooking the beach. What a way to end this beautiful day. Pub food. We had burgers, fries, and coleslaw. Mine was ok. Richard loved his as it was on sourdough bread.

It’s a Beautiful Day – Michael Bublé

Take care and stay healthy.

As always, thanks for your interest and thank you for reading.

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A great relationship is about two things: First, appreciating the similarities, and second, respecting the differences.

He’s been here on our beach every year, sometimes on the deck next to us and sometimes on the beach. I know, I know some of you might say it’s not the same one but don’t burst my bubble. I like to believe it’s George.

Breakfast this morning was at Sunliner Diner, one of our favs.

https://www.sunlinerdiner.com/gulf-shores/

Mostly the same. One difference: cutlery is now given to you in a small paper bag with their logo on it. Covid I’m assuming. We ordered our usual. Richard got the Corned Beef Hash and I got an omelette. Funny how the mind works. When our food arrived I was sure the servings were much smaller. I looked back at photos from 2018 and you guessed it. The serving sizes looked similar. And silly me. I forgot to take pictures this morning. You’ll have to take my word for it. Here are the photos from 2018. Still basically the same meals with some differences. Back then Richard’s corned beef was cut smaller and I had grits and fried green tomatoes. Today I replaced them with a fruit cup and Richard had fried eggs instead of poached. Things change.

Comparing the cost of the trip to Gulf Shores from PEI in 2018 to 2022.

• Bridge toll 2018: $48 2022 $50.25
• Gas. 2018: $246 2022 $373.98
• Hotels. 2018: $260. 2022 $190.23
• Food. 2018: $282. 2022 $140.66

Guess this needs little explanation. We learned from the first trip. We can do the trip in three days and two nights if the weather cooperates. Bring protein bars so we don’t stop to eat midday. (Have a free breakfast at the hotels and get the evening meal from a grocery store or a chain restaurant.)

Everything Must Change – Billy Paul

Take care and stay healthy

As always, thanks for your interest and thank you for reading.

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Now that’s a tip I need to remember.

First an update.

A nice, low key kind of day. Putting things in their places for the next four months. Sitting on the deck with a cup of green tea and a book. (20 degrees Celsius). Sweet. Making tomorrow’s to do lists: groceries and supplies (Publix and Dollar General), library for new cards as ours have expired, and breakfast at Sunliner Diner. Yum.Yum.

https://www.sunlinerdiner.com/gulf-shores/

But that’s tomorrow.

Today I want to share tips on how I travel plus some changes or additions I need to incorporate for future travel. If you have any helpful hints from your travels please share them with me. I’d love to hear them.

Travelling Tips

KEEP A JOURNAL

I use a new one every year and keep the old ones for reference. (Of course I left the old ones home this year but had the good sense to write pertinent information in the back of my new journal.)

On the trip down and later back home I keep track of:

• morning departure times and evening arrival times
• each day’s km, gas stops, rest stops and the time we stopped
• particular exit numbers that we found tricky so we can remember them for another year
• what time we crossed the US border
• towns and hotels where we stayed, arrival and departure times, plusses and minuses (close to gas station/restaurant/convenience store, cleanliness, breakfast, bed comfort, and if we’ll stop there again).
• decisions about length of driving for the next year and possible changes
• toll $
• hotel $
• gas $
• food $ (even the small amounts spent at the gas station convenience stores)
• the total of each days $ spent and then the total $ for the three days (I also keep track of all our daily expenditures for the entire trip.)

Now if you looked at my journal right now it’s messy. I will write it out neater later. But give me a break. I did have vertigo. 😵‍💫

SUPPLY BAG

I keep a supply bag close to me in the car.

In it I keep:

• passports
• rental contract
• vaccination papers
• protein bars
• mints/gum
• paper maps and CAA books (I like to follow the paper map while Richard is driving.
• bottled water
• tea bags
• toll money in a ziplock bag

TRAVEL BAGS

We use two bags. As Richard drives, we put his by the driver’s side back door and mine by the passenger’s side back door. That way we have easy access to get something when we stop.

In mine I pack:

• very basic cosmetics: face cleanser and face cream
• toothpaste and tooth brush
• hair brush (and oops I forgot it this year but thankfully today I found it in my suitcase)
• medications (put them in a small weekly case)
• underwear
• socks
• clothes for warmer weather: sleeveless tunic top, black capri leggings, sandals
• a wall charger and cords for Apple products. I use USB Wall Charger, Anker 60W 6 Port USB Charging Station, PowerPort 6 Multi USB Charger that I bought on Amazon. I also bought these short cords from Amazon. Short Lightning Cable [5-Pack 7inch], ARCCRA 20CM Short iPhone Charging Cable Fast USB Charger Cord. I love these. I can plug all iPhones and iPads into it and the cords are nice and short so everything stays tidy.
• Apple battery pack (fully charged)
• folder with: travel insurance, health directives, copies of health cards, copies of important cards
• my laptop (I was so tired each night I never used it so next year it will be packed in my suitcase.)

Return to Pooh Corner – Kenny Loggins

That’s enough for today. Tomorrow I’ll give a comparison of our travelling expenses from our first trip to Gulf Shores (2018) and this years. I’m really interested on seeing what changes there’s been.

Take care and stay healthy.

As always, thanks for your interest and thank you for reading.

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We’ve arrived. We had excellent driving conditions.

Sat on the deck with a cup of tea. Ahhhh. Went for a walk on the beach. Delightful.

Here are two pictures of the beach taken from our deck and one taken on the beach of the back of our home away from home.

And sorry about this but the sound was too lovely to pass up.

Groceries are put away, bathroom stuff too but just can’t tackle the clothes tonight. Totally exhausted.

Some of my blessings:

We made it.

Richard did a fabulous job of driving.

My vertigo isn’t too bad.

We’re lucky enough to be down here.

My children gave me a new iPhone as an early Christmas present. A total necessity for the trip and I am so grateful for their thoughtfulness.

I planned sharing a bigger post tonight but it will have to wait for tomorrow.

Count Your Blessings (from White Christmas) – Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney

Take care and stay healthy.

As always, thanks for your interest and thank you for reading.

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What an interesting day!

Well first let’s backtrack.

Yesterday: excellent driving conditions. It was a long day and we were glad when it was done. 15 hours driving is really too long.

Today: a shorter driving day, only 11 hours but stressful. Started with rain. No, actually it stared with a knock on the door at 5:19 am. Impressed I was not! And no we did not answer it. What made it worse was it woke me with a jolt and that triggered my vertigo. Ahhhh. Thanks goodness a gravol and an extra hour in bed did the trick. Whew.

A few issues:

The rain. Oh yes and the fog. But it only lasted part of the morning and it wasn’t an extremely heavy rain so that was a positive. Funny thing. Richard couldn’t remember how to work the windshield wipers. Oh my. Is this a sign of what’s to come? Lol. I looked it up in the car manual and we were all set.

The 5:00 pm rush hour traffic in Knoxville accompanied by the setting sun directly in our eyes. But again it didn’t last very long.

Two reasons for my title:

1. When these things happen it makes them go much easier if you keep calm. Richard is better at that than me. He calmly keeps driving. I get filled with stress and anxiety. But try to remain calm.

2. The trucks on the road. I’ve never seen so many trucks. I know we need them and they provide a very necessary service but apparently some (not all) have an problem with reading comprehension. The signs said either (and these may not be exact) “Trucks in the right lane. “ or “ No trucks in the left lane.” Not always the case. Now I’m not dissing the truckers. They are vitally important to our economy. Just saying follow the rules please.

Now we’re in Sweetwater, Tennessee for the night. So glad. Tomorrow is a shorter drive 7.5 hours (hopefully) and then we’ll be there. Yay!

Truckin’ – Grateful Dead

Take care and stay healthy.

As always, thanks for your interest and thank you for reading.

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Our journey today wasn’t a thousand miles. It was almost 1500 km. A long day but well worth it to make the next two days much easier. We made it to Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania today.

Not much shut eye last night. Found it hard to go to sleep. Thinking too much. Don’t forget this, don’t forget that. Mind just wouldn’t stop. Only slept about three hours as we were on the road at 4:10 am. I’ll sleep well tonight. 💤

Sorry my post is so short tonight but I need a nice bath and a long sleep. 😴

On the Road Again – Canned Heat

Take care and stay healthy.

As always, thanks for your interest and thank you for reading.

I invite you to click Follow or Subscribe to receive timely updates, Like to show your love and support, Share my post on your social media site, and /or Comment.

Yes, that’s right. We’re heading off tomorrow morning. Gulf Shores, Alabama here we come.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_Shores,_Alabama

Haven’t been since we rushed home in 2020 when the pandemic hit. Who could ever have imagined how life would change so much.

The last month has been busy.

Vaccines – biValent and flu.

Appointments – dentist, doctor, car, hair, esthetics, (all the necessities of life haha.)

List Making – one of my favourite things.

Lists of what to pack in my suitcase (and yes I pack too much but you never know when you’ll need something so I can’t list the basic essentials as to me they’re all essential),

in my carry on for the trip there (change of clothes, basic cleaning necessities, lap top, rental contract, vaccination papers, medical information),

in my purse (just my regular stuff plus passports, and a plastic bag with easy access to the toll money,

in the car supply bag (maps, protein bars, masks, hand sanitizer),

in the tubs and boxes (we have learned to take some of our fav food stuffs),

and what gets packed in the car (all of the above plus my piano keyboard, a kettle, two beach chairs, pillows (don’t you sleep much better if you have your own pillow?), yoga mats, and the Apple TV with remote – to us a necessity.

Then packing the car. Richard did a superb job.

Almost forgot what was most important – the visit with my absolutely beautiful grandson.

And to top it off last Friday I developed vertigo. Not fun. At least I’m not spinning anymore. 😵‍💫

That’s it for tonight. Early to bed as we hope to be on the road by 4:30 am. 😱

We’ll chat again tomorrow night and will let you know how the day went.

On The Road Again – Willie Nelson

Take care and stay healthy.

As always, thanks for your interest and thank you for reading.

I invite you to click Follow or Subscribe to receive timely updates, Like to show your love and support, Share my post on your social media site, and /or Comment.

“Sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in your heart.” Winnie the Pooh

I’m a Grammie. And what an incredible feeling. Love at first sight. He’s super sweet. And look at those long fingers and toes. 🥰

At first I struggled with what to call myself. Of course I googled names for grandmothers. I had it in my mind that Grammie made me feel old. I wanted something fun. I especially liked Lolli and Mumsey. But what was I thinking. My mother was a Grammie and her mother was my Grammie so … I’ll be his Grammie.

Three months from today Richard and I be in our winter spot in GulfShores, Alabama. I wonder what has changed over the past two years. We came back from there in a rush when the pandemic 😷 was declared in March, 2020 and haven’t been back. Covid-19 struck the world and how things changed. We haven’t done much traveling and are exceptionally careful. And yes we will be during our travels there. Bringing masks and sanitizer. Can’t be too careful.

And yes, I’ve already booked my flights to come back for Christmas. 🎄

Well that’s all for now. I just had to share my exciting news with you. 👶

Oops. I forgot to mention I’ve already started making a binder of lullabies to sing to the new wee one. 🎶 Won’t that be fun!

Beautiful Boy – John Lennon

Take care and stay healthy.

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