by Plumerias » Sun Jul 05, 2020 10:10 am
Thanks for the welcome!
In the RV life, internet connectivity is expensive, sometimes not so good, and in no way unlimited. Thus we have never heard a podcast and have always kept our video watching to a minimum. So nope, listening to podcasts while recovering never even occurred to either of us.
I don't mind saying where we are at all, never have. We've actually had quite an adventure as of late. When we started the RV life 10+ years ago, it was never meant to be permanent. We figured about ten years maybe, as there was a LOT we wanted to see. You learn early on that you cannot see everything, and that trying to do so is just plain nuts, thus you prioritize. We've seen all 50 states (no, the RV stayed behind and we flew to the 50th) and seven provinces. The next step was some international travel, some of which we've been fortunate enough to do already. But we're tired and long for a home. One of the purposes of the travel was to explore options for our later years. We did go back to our former hometown, Columbus, Ohio, several times to see if it could be home again, most recently last year. No, it cannot. We liked the west when we were exploring. So....... in early February we left Orlando and took our last cross country road trip. Long story short, we "came off the road" in Portland, Oregon. Eeehhhh, the timing was, well, we've had better, lol! We did manage to find a place to live, gosh living in a house is weird, and the RV is listed for sale. Of course, learning much about our new home is impossible at present, oh well, we're safe and have each other.
Back to the podcast question, I spent lots of time just sitting in my rocking chair resting my eyes. Most especially after the first one when I felt so horribly lopsided and disoriented. There is a thread, now in excess of 400 posts, on a European travel board to which I belong. It's title is "Traveling through the alphabet". The OP started with A and I honestly don't know how many times it's gone through the alphabet. I sat in that chair and did that in my head, one option being our RV travels, another being the National Park Service. It's wonderful to travel down memory lane, recounting some of the things we've been so fortunate to have done and seen. When I have full use of my facilities, that is to say proper reading glasses and I'm comfortable, I'm planning to write all those lists out, revisit my journal entries and the photo albums. Counting my blessings, yes indeed.
Erin, have you shared where you live?
We did try to plant a little garden, emphasis on little, as this is a postage stamp lot with lots of shade. The (expletives of choice) slugs, grrrrr. You need slug bait to grow something simple like marigolds and we're not fond of using lots of chemicals. The parsley plants have a distinct failure to thrive thing going on, as does the rosemary. It was interesting, shopping at an unfamiliar garden center, distanced and masked. But, on the bright side, folks here sure love to celebrate spring bloom, wow! And it lasted for a long, long time, which was both a surprise and a gift. I'm trying to learn just by looking at others yards. I wish I could go to a botanical garden and/or arboretum, because there's so much that's new and unfamiliar. Alas, safety first, plus, well, nothing's open here, so....
I miss shopping at the farmers markets. One of the really fun things was doing that across the travel spectrum, learning what grows where and when, learning new foods. At this time last year we were in Vienna, Austria. It was apricot season, and wow, are they celebrated there! Also the cherries and strawberries were burpalicious. Peppers (capsicums), gosh, you never saw so many different kinds! Potatoes were also cropping, and if I remember correctly, were all of a Euro a kilo! Guess which starch we ate?! So, I am studying the websites of local options, learning. They grow lots of kale and its kin here. Must be the slugs don't like that. One of the local fussy grocery stores is carrying local berries, sold by the half flat, oh, more burpalicious. My husband caught an article some time ago about a local farm that was developing its website so as to facilitate online shopping, you order and pick it up at the farmers market. I got some dried beans, three kinds, and some flour, this was during the time when the shelves were bare, so that was very nice. Hmmmm, a selection of locally grown dried pulses, that's new. Anyways, we did that in early April, but it just plain didn't feel safe, so we've not returned. But now they sell at their farm on Tuesdays, same online ordering for pick up, so we're planning to try that when the season has progressed enough that the drive is worth it. Another market has a good website where you can order from the list, and for a $5 fee the market puts it all together for you, from the various vendors. We must have a comfortable solution by peach season, according to my husband! One of the unique things here is the Hood River Fruit Loop, which just begs to be explored. Maybe next year.
Lindsey, did you get that fresh corn? Sigh. Corn season in Ohio is long, like where you are. Here it's so short. I used to buy extra each week and freeze some. By the time corn season ended I had enough to last the winter. DH says he'll just buy me a couple of bushels instead, I asked if he was planning on helping!
Okay, enough blathering....