Good-bye Florida, Hello Maine

The Coronavirus pandemic has everyone in a tailspin, including us.  We debated about staying in Florida or going back to Maine.  We thought, if you have to be quarantined, warm, sunny Florida is a good place to be stuck, sort of.  

On the other hand, if you don't have any supplies (toilet paper, cleaning supplies, etc.) and no pantry (sugar, flour, peanut butter, etc.) and the store shelves are empty and you have no friends or family nearby, Florida is not a good place to be stuck.

Regrettably, we made the decision to return home to Maine five weeks early.  I told Bill on Monday, 3/16 that I wanted to go home and we were on the road on Friday, 3/20.  

We worked feverishly to get everything packed and cleaned.  Originally, we were going to leave on Saturday, but a winter storm popped up on the radar for Monday and there was no way I wanted to be traveling through the PA mountains in the snow, so we worked faster and were able to hit the road even earlier.

Traveling wasn't terrible, less traffic, although about half the cars headed north had Ontario plates.  Like us, they wanted to be home.  The hotels were somewhat stressful, considering the virus issue.  However, we were lucky enough to have scored some Clorox wipes, which we took in first and wiped down everything we could think of.  Bill took one side and I took the other.  Only then did we take our bags in.  

We won't get any money back, although we paid our rent through April 17, and I really don't care.  I'm very happy to be home, in our own bed, close to our families and friends.  We have a house we can work in, and a yard we can work in and a neighborhood where we can walk while keeping our distance from others. 

Although we are close to the people we love, we won't be seeing them for at least 14 days.  We agreed to self-quarantine since we had been traveling and that's currently the standard procedure...social distancing.  Strange that words never used together before are on the lips of everyone.

Strange and frightening times, certainly never something I would have thought to be living through.  I pray for my children and their loved ones, our country and our planet.  

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;o)

This is Unacceptable

What the heck is going on???  We got home from warm, sunny Florida on Sunday and this is what we woke up to on Tuesday.

Not.Okay!!!  

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;o)

Almost There...

Sunday, March 22, 1:07 PM...Hello Maine!  Won't be long now ;o)

Made one quick stop at Aroma Joe's in Eliot to get Mocha Frojoe's.  

Yummy!  Almost worth leaving Florida early for.  (so not grammatically correct.)

Home at 1:43, clear and sunny, 33*.  

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;o)

Take a Load Off

 How cool are these...

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;o)

Salvador Dali at Marie Selby Gardens

After an early walk with Titan, we left the house around 11:00, got coffees and donuts at Dunkin Donuts, then drove north to Archer and Karen Ann's house in Sarasota.  From there the four of us went to Marie Selby Botanical Gardens.  We generally don't do things with others, because we prefer to be on our own, with our own schedules, but we made an exception because they invited us.

First thing we did was eat lunch, outside and it was delightful.  Perfect day for the gardens, around 80* with sun and clouds.

"Sunnyside Up"

succulent garden

Sarasota Bay

Might be Christmas card worthy

Karen Ann and Archer

A piano hanging in the Tropical Conservatory

Anthurium

The eyes have it

Dali has a "thing" for eyes

Another piano in the Koi Pond

Representation of Dali's famous mustache

Spiral...succulents and cut glass

More eggs

It's an elephant, not a butterfly

Spectacular orchids in the Tropical Conservatory

There was a new butterfly garden...

Zebra Longwing, FL state butterfly

They actually purchase the eggs, they hatch and live inside the garden.  They take strong precautions to guard against the inside butterflies getting out but I can't remember why.

I'm not a big Dali fan, but we always enjoy the gardens and there is usually some kind of exhibit incorporated into the gardens, this time it was him.

We returned to their place and enjoyed ice cream and some homemade cookies compliments of their friend, Carol.

Left about 4:45, got iced coffees from McDonalds for the ride home.  Spent some time on the deck so Titan could have his treat.  It was a good day.

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;o)

Tried Something Different

Instead of our regular cinnamon roll, we thought we would mix things up a bit and ordered scones to go with our coffees.  They were very good and we each got our own.

We even brought along our cribbage board and enjoyed a game.

We never go to concerts any more, mostly because they are super expensive and I can't really hear well enough to enjoy them.  However, tonight we went to see a Pink Floyd tribute band called...Pig Floyd ;o)  I'm not a big Pink Floyd fan but it was fun and Bill rated it a 7 out of 10.  And...I actually recognized some of the music!

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;o)