Visiting the Grandchildren

Raleigh, North Carolinao

My policy is to never report a location while we are still there. You never know when Homeland Security or creditors might be on your trail. All I can say is that we’re a Park that has a great swimming beach on a lake. The lake is only a few steps from our RV. They have a 14 day limit on camping. We’ll be close to that when we leave on August 23rd.

Our six grandchildren are close by. We set up their tent and their Dad brought over a canoe. The one-year old and three-year old are a bit too much of a handful for us to camp with, but we have had two to four of the older ones over to spend the night, grill burgers and swim every day.

My daughter-in-law has five or six rooms that she wants painted. Painting is one of my favorite things so the days pass quickly. I love the smell of mineral sprits in the morning. It's the smell of renewal.

I spent the night in the tent with grandchild number four. His name is Bob, like mine. He’s five years old. After ten minutes he said that I needed to turn off the flashlight and stop reading so he could go to sleep. I see him as a General or CEO someday; a take charge guy who knows how to manage people effortlessly and have his orders followed.

We’re heading up to Annapolis in a week so Mrs. Phred can jump on a train to New York City and attend the U.S. Open. I’ve agreed to be a dog sitter for a few days so that she can travel with friends who think that watching someone else play tennis in the hot sun is a good idea. I’ll give her the camera and ask for pictures of Ground Zero where Jil and Tom used to live on Cedar Street.

We looked at a house here in Raleigh to possibly purchase. As usual the experience solidified our desire to continue to travel for another year. We feel like we just narrowly escaped a stultifying existence. Being stuck in one place seems unthinkable. Our broker's name here is Fair Pickle. Someday we may use her talents, but not now.

Maybe next year we’ll take one of those repositioning cruises From Florida to Europe and then bum around the great cities for a few months. How cool would it be to buy an antique Morgan in England with right-hand drive and ship it on a train though the Chunnel, or maybe a take a long cruise to the South Pacific? All I need is a new tuxedo and a nice pair of dancing shoes.