Before leaving for Israel and Europe we had made an offer to buy a house, a short sale in Las Vegas. We thought we would have months before we had to follow through, but to our surprise, the bank accepted our offer after only a month. By that time we were too far East to drive back to participate in inspections and finalizing the deal, and having only spent 45 minutes in the house before making the offer, we just did not feel ready to follow through, so we cancelled.
After returning from our overseas trip at the end of May, we returned to Pennsylvania to visit Chris, Anne and family for a few days; then we drove across the country again to Denver to stay with Mark and Katie and visit Carson in Provo, UT and Las Vegas, NV. We accidentally got off our planned route and had a lovely drive through some of the most peaceful and beautiful countryside in Pennsylvania - including a few Amish communities.
While waiting for that deal to percolate, we got restless and did not want to impose upon Mark & Katie, so we “taken off “ again (as Louis L’Amour says in many of his Western novels) for a road trip East. This time we dipped south into Missouri to take a look at Branson and visit Michelle Lim Anderson, our former neighbor and family friend from Gilroy and later St. Helena. We had a most enjoyable visit in her home in Gainesville, MO and met for the first time her husband, Jesse, and her two little boys, Zane and Ian.
We pressed on to the East to attend my maternal grandmother’s family reunion in Mize, GA (near Lavonia and Toccoa) on 26 June, where the food and fellowship were both wonderful! We really enjoyed meeting new cousins and visiting with many family members. It was especially great to spend the afternoon after the reunion with Jack and Mary Andrews. Jack is my mother’s first cousin and the last of her generation I know who are descendants of my great-grandparents. We toured their beautiful restored 1906 home in Carnesville, which should be featured in Architectural Digest or Southern Living. Jack was kind enough to drive us to see his gorgeous farm and to the cemetery where my parents and grandparents are buried, as well as to see the property where my mother was born and grew up. We soaked in all the family stories we could and had a wonderful time renewing friendships and making new friends.
From northeast Georgia, we drove to Charleston and found we really like it there in spite of the heat wave that greeted us. We spent the week getting acquainted with the area and looking at houses that were for sale.
Over the Fourth of July weekend, we drove up to Williamsburg to meet Andrew and Polina, who were apartment hunting in preparation for Polina to start law school at The College of William and Mary. We also spent the day at Virginia Beach where our niece, Julie, and her family joined us for lunch. They have recently relocated to Richmond from San Diego.
Fireworks sold in South Carolina BIG TIME!
It was time to leave for Pennsylvania to visit Chris, Anne and their family in their new house in Newtown. We stayed overnight with Julie and Rob in Richmond on the way up and became better acquainted with their sweet children, Jack and Gracie. We stayed in Pennsylvania for about ten days, three of which we tended Isabelle, Chase and Heather while Mom and Dad served as “Ma & Pa” for the Stake Pioneer Trek. While there, Chris’ Bishop asked Alan to speak on Pioneer Sunday about his conversion experience and being the first of his family to join the Church.
We returned to Charleston to participate in the inspection and finalizing of the arrangements to buy the house. The sale closed 30 July, and we had hard wood floors installed – extending the hard wood throughout the first floor before our household goods were delivered on 5 August. Unfortunately the floors were not quite dry, so the movers had to load everything into the Living Room, Dining Room, and Kitchen. The unpacking crew will come the first of September and will move the furniture into the bedrooms at that time.
Once again we drove to Denver – this time on I-70 to follow up with dermatologist treatments for Alan – atoning for his many days at the beach without sunscreen as a child and teen. Also, our movers wanted to charge us $1,000 to stop here on the way from California and pick up a few things we had stored here, so we decided it would be worth the drive to retrieve our possessions and finish with Alan’s treatments. Katie always does our hair when I am here, so we are spoiled. It will not be easy to find a stylist who is as talented and gives as much TLC as she does. We are enjoying the dryer and warm summer weather here in Denver and plan to return to Charleston by 31 August.
To recap, after nearly buying a house in Las Vegas, Denver – and even considering buying with Chris and Anne in Pennsylvania (a home with in-law quarters), we finally decided to move to Charleston, South Carolina. So, you now have friends in “LOW” places, as Garth's song goes – the “Low Country” of South Carolina, that is.
We will remember this summer as the one where we drove across the country several times in great comfort, thanks to our Lexus ES350 - 'heaven on wheels.' Our memories are filled with sweet experiences with many family members and friends, reading at least a dozen Louis L’Amour novels, and sampling chocolate & peanut butter ice cream concoctions everywhere we went, including our favorite, Halo Farms in New Jersey. We are not sure which ones are really the best, so we may have to do the test again next summer.
I promise more details about the new house in another entry, and “No,” we are not through traveling – just need to get our home base settled first. Stay tuned.
Goldenbear's Honey
