HOMELESS!

Often new journeys begin with saying goodbye and ours is certainly no exception.


Over the next month we will be saying goodbye to friends, colleagues, familiar places, favorite eating places, etc.  In most cases these goodbyes will not be permanent as we will be returning to the area several times a year but earlier this week we said our final goodbye to a place that was a part of our lives for just a couple of weeks shy of twenty two years, our home.


Beth and I finished up the cleaning Tuesday night.  Did a walk through of every room and shared some of our favorite memories and topped it off with a 7 minute dance to "How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You". 


148 Towering Oaks Ct was way more than a house,, it was a home.  It was filled with love, laughter, silliness, Ben's friends, Sarah's friends, dogs (Lucy, Patch, Beethoven and more recently our "grand dogs" Max, Scooter and Allie) and so much more.  It was the home of Ben's legendary poker games, a batting cage, hours of playing catch with a baseball or football.  It was home to Sarah's wedding preparations with the exercise room turned into a flower shop and the kitchen converted into a chicken pasta and cupcake factory.  There were volleyball games, the annual Thanksgiving Day football game, birthday parties, a huge mud pit dug in our back yard (I never really understood this one but the kids enjoyed it) and of course Coyote field.


Sure there were the occasional tears that go with living life and rest assured that Beth and I won't miss mowing a three quarter acre lot with a push mower in August.  We won't miss the endless battle with weeds in the spring and the general upkeep the house occasionally required but all in all it was an amazing place for us through the years.


As we said our final goodbyes Beth and I were surprised that we weren't more emotional as there were no tears even by me, the more emotional one!  We realized that the reality was that it was just bricks, mortar, wood and such.  The countless memories were created by us and while they will fade as we create new memories they will be with us for a very, very long time.


I drove by this afternoon and the new owners were already moving in.  Naturally Beth being Beth made sure they were greeted with a bouquet of flowers and a note wishing them the same happiness that we enjoyed.  She wouldn't have had it any other way.


To steal a line from Bob Hope (if you're under 40 you may have to google him), thanks for the memories!

Countdown to Retirement!

Good Morning and Happy Easter!


It's 6:30 AM on Easter Sunday and as usual we're up early.


The furniture has been sold and we're scheduled to close on the house this week...........the journey is beginning!


I'm new to this "blogging thing" and hopefully it will be entertaining and informative to those who read it.  We want to document our journey for family and friends as we move into and through this next phase of our life.


First, a little about the name the Traveling Idiots.  We have one person to thank for that and it's NaNa.  When Beth asked her what she thought the name of the blog should be she immediately said "The Traveling Idiots".   Not sure if that's how she really feels about what we're doing but it's a pretty cool name so we're going with it.  The subtitle "Where the Tuck are They Now?" is courtesy of our son in law (Joey).  Seemed like a natural fit to the "traveling idiots" so here we go.


This next month is going to be crazy as we sell the house, move to larger than our house rental (thanks Ben), Beth goes to Florida and I turn in my keys and badge at the end of April. 


Stay turned for more as the journey takes off!