Preparations take shape: 3. How we spent the winter waiting for the warmer Spring weather

I want to digress a bit before we start with the bike ride. Christine and my daily lives changed markedly since our retirement in July 2020 and these changes all influenced the bike trip and its detailed planning. We made a couple of big decisions and refocused our lives to enjoy seeing the world, our family, our kids (and grandkids) and our friends more than before.

We took a lot of time with our home sale in early January 2021. The sale surpassed all our expectations and we signed the final documents on February 16.  

The movers arrived on February 18 and we had to smile when we saw how our 250 pound wooden hippo went into the container. It is HEAVY :):):)

With our furniture packed into storage, we were "free to go."

We spent the remainder of February and March with our children while we were waiting for Spring and the warmer weather. Conte's Bike Shop also needed some more time to complete the upgrades on my bike and the building of Christine's bike.

We left Northern Virginia on February 20. Our first stop on our round-about road trip to Idaho (we decided to take our Subaru to Lizl and Steve) was Charlotte NC where we helped Daniel pack for his work transfer to Tampa FL. We were very glad to help him with this move, as it gave us some quality time together. We helped with the packing, the cleaning up of the yard, etc. and were glad when his stuff went into the Penske truck. We thought of a well-deserved rest then. 

Then we were off to Breckenridge Colorado to say hi to Louise and Sampson. She loves the mountains and so do we. 

Then off to Post Falls, Idaho, to stay with Lizl, Steve and our grandchildren, Mia and Michael. We had so much fun with them among their toys, books, playground, picnics, baking pancakes for breakfast, lunch and dinner and playing hide and seek in imaginary castles. Thanks Steve and Lizl for giving us this time with them. :):):) 

   

It was great to be with our kids and we were sad to say goodbye again and again. I begin to understand how our parents felt when we would visit them on our annual holidays - the expectation before the arrival, the always-too-short visit and the sadness associated with the leaving again. 

We flew back to DC on Sunday, April 5, to do the final organisation and head out to Rehoboth Beach to get on our bikes.