Changes, Retirement Year Five

Many Changes

Year five of retirement was kind to us.  Looking back through 2021 photos emphasized that thought for me.   It was a year of changes and some challenges, but those changes enhanced our year and our lives. The Covid pandemic that began in 2020 kept us isolated early in the year, with the exception of camping.   However, the Moderna vaccine enabled us to be around people more,  starting in May.

A Puppy, Our Biggest Change

Our sweet Sophie came into our lives right at the end of 2020 and became our obsession for 2021.  We have not had a dog in decades and never one so fully integrated into our lives.  However, it was quickly clear that we did not correctly anticipate the amount of work a puppy would bring.

We had many challenging moments.  Potty training was certainly not easy.  Puppy biting was not fun.   But she is now well over a year old and is the sweetest thing.

Sophie is very smart and has gone through a couple of training courses, Basic Obedience and Impulse Control.   She did a great job at Love Them, Train Them.  Our greatest challenge today is that she is still excitable when people come into our home and there is way too much trying to jump on them.

One thing that made our life much easier as puppy parents was having a portion of our yard fenced.    It gives her a place to run around when she gets the zoomies and we don’t have to watch her every moment she is outside.

Sophie is a great little traveler.   She loves riding in the car and we discovered she especially likes being on a boat.  We rented a pontoon boat in Carabelle on one of our trips and she was so happy.  We will seek out more boating opportunities in the future.

More Changes, A Much Bigger Camper

Last year, we were content with out T@B 400 trailer.  It had all the basic comforts in a size that could fit into any campground.  We camped in it for three years, but having a dog in that tiny camper was a different story.

After a six-week trip covering over 6 thousand miles, we were happy to welcome our new and much larger Lance 2075 trailer.  It is a good size for our now larger family and we feel it is a real beauty.   It’s definitely not as cute as the 400, but is so comfortable in our new puppy world.

Last Major Change, a New Truck

So we got a puppy and then felt we had to get a bigger camper.  Once we had the bigger camper, we felt we needed a stronger tow vehicle.  Though vehicles were scarce, we located a Ram 2500 diesel.  It does a much better job of pulling our Lance than our SUV.  An added bonus, we traded my husband’s 2016 Camaro convertible that was mostly sitting in the garage for an excellent amount.  Win/win!

Travel in 2021

We were fortunate to be able to take some wonderful trips in this year five of retirement, including two long ones.  Our longest trip was out west to  The Great Plains, Our Summer Trip in 2021.  We were in our T@B 400 and it was tight with the pup, but we managed.  We camped in six new states and visited four national parks and many national monuments.  It was an extraordinary trip!

Our Lance arrived in August and in time for our other big trip, Lance Shake Down Trip was a Long One.   This time we were headed northeast and we were on the road for three and a half weeks.  The Lance made it much more comfortable.  That trip included three new states, Niagara Falls, and the Roosevelt Museum and Library.  That trip made nine new states for us in 2021.

We also took four smaller trips to meet friends in our T@B camping group and two shorter trips to Florida.  Needless to say, we love to travel!

Family

I am happy to say that one constant in this fifth year of retirement was family.   Though Covid was still an issue, vaccinations enabled us to spend more time with them.   We are very grateful that our immediate family remained healthy and prosperous in this year.

Though they live in another state, we are happy we were able to visit our son and daughter-in-law a couple of times.   They are well and recently purchased a new home.

Lori and Mitch live fairly close to us and we were able to freely see them once vaccinations were available.  They had a good year overall, but Lori got the flu and we were unable to see them for Christmas.  The photo below was taken on Memorial Day.

Angie and Steven live relatively close to us and we are happy we are able to spend time with them.  The photo below was taken at a celebration of Steven’s birthday.

The photo below is our granddaughter, Kayla, and her  family.  It was also taken at our house on Memorial Day.  Who knew that Memorial Day would be our big get together with photos?  They are all doing well and also moved into a new home this year.  I am happy that it is just a few miles from us.

I don’t have photos of several of our grandchildren from 2021.  We did get to see them, but sadly, we did not take any photos.

Dancing

Dancing was a major part of our retirement life prior to the pandemic.  But we danced only a couple of times this past year and none last year.  It was so good to dress up and finally get out and see our dance friends.

In Conclusion

I am grateful for so many positive changes in our lives this last year!   We are really enjoying the new trailer and tow vehicle.  Our sweet puppy was a wonderful, though sometimes challenging change.  She is such a joy!

Our family remained healthy overall, which is vitally important in a year where COVID harmed so many.   For that, we are very grateful.

Though we are certainly getting older, we remained relatively healthy and able to travel.  Every day with my sweet husband is a blessing!  We were able to see some incredible parts of our country and meet lots of interesting people.  Also, we were blessed to be able to connect with friends.

Lookin forward to 2022 and year six!