Puza 2 Retirement 101

September 26, 2008

We’re starting this blog so we can keep up with family and friends and we hope they do the same and post comments and stories here.

Our summer in Stone Lake, just south of Hayward, is pretty well established and turned out to be a pretty good choice. Our park trailer worked out well and Tim did a fabulous job on our deck, including a ramp for me and my power chair. When the awning is out, we have a lot of shade and it feels really cozy. All but one of our daughters and family had a chance to visit for a while. We’re hoping that Dennis & Sharon and Mom & Erv will be able to come up for a visit in 2009. We were fortunate to have some friends of ours live nearby in another park.

As I write this, acorns are dropping from the oak trees and bouncing off the trailers, cars and anything else in their path. They sound awful but are harmless, just noising and boy, they have a good bounce to them. So with winter around the corner, we are going to head to Arizona, taking along Zoe, our 8 year old (see picture). We love her, she is a trooper but also a pain in the &%$ at times. Our park trailer is too large for the road, so we have a travel trailer and new big FORD to haul it. We hope to be safe and comfy.

I posted two pictures of our summer home. We are in Sand Lake Pines RV Park. There are 50 full hook-up sites and 6 cabins and boat piers. I posted a picture of our big FORD and travel trailer too. Wow, looks huge!

You may ask “why Arizona”? It is warm. It isn’t Wisconsin. There won’t be any ice or snow (God willing) and we’ll have a whole lot of new things to see and places to explore. Hopefully, we won’t see any snakes! Yes, there are snakes in Arizona, rattlers.

We are heading out on October 1. Our first stop is a KOA near Des Moines and then on to a KOA near Branson. Our plans aren’t firmed up past that but I’m sure we’ll find our way. Using the internet, we were able to view several parks and decided on a park in Apache Junction for our first stop. There were hundreds to chose from. We may not like it there, and if not, we’ll look around for something else. With the internet, you not only see the park’s websites, but you can use google earth to view the parks and see what they are surrounded by. The park we chose is east of Mesa, at the foothills of the Superstition Mountains.

We do have a few challenges. My multiple sclerosis can be a problem and Tim’s back can be a problem. In addition, his knees are aging.

This final week we have to clean, pack and winterize our Stone Lake home. Then we‘ll be off on our adventure and I promise (well, I propose to promise) to keep up with information and a few pictures.

Love and prayers. Mom and Dad