I promised that this year, at the end of the season, I’d leave everything here in Florida. I said that all clothes would stay. If I felt I was missing anything, I’d buy it in Michigan. In fact someone said to me, “You shouldn’t take your clothes back and forth because you’re used to two distinct seasons and, if you haul your Florida clothes back, you’ll wear them 12 continuous months. It’s better to have your ‘Florida identity’ and your ‘Michigan look’.”

But it isn’t working quite as I figured. I am taking one big zipper bag of clothing back with me (some of my favorite items) and a plastic bin for techie stuff. John will put his summer clothes in a large plastic bin, and John always brings back a good suit (just in case). Between us, we bring back quite a few pairs of shoes. We must pack music books and I always like to bring back a few paperbacks (because I buy them five for $1 down here).

Although I tried to talk him out of it, John is hauling back his bike (which also has a motor). He also needs his oxygen generator (in case his condition worsens). Those are bulky items.

So we’ll have a full truckload again.

In the truck cab, there needs to be a place for Charlie, our cockatiel, and our music instruments (dulcimers, autoharp, banjo, and sax). We’ll both have our travel items (tooth brushes, changes of clothing, etc.) We’ll bring snacks and stuff for lunches.

After we have everything packed, I want to go through and polish up the condo and make it perfect so when we get back here in September, it’ll look grand. The screened lanai will be empty (because we’ve moved everything into the garage. (When we got down here in December, the lanai furniture was filthy.)

I’m sure we could be ready to leave tomorrow (Sunday), but we’ll take our time and be ready to pull out before 8:30 a.m. Monday.

I’d love to just go back without going through all this hassle. I thought this year would be simplier but it’s still a major chore.

This afternoon (5:30) we have tickets to a poolside barbeque. There’ll be live music, lots to eat, and many of our friends. It should be a fun way to wrap up our season. We will try to get to the pool tomorrow too.

During the 1,300 mile trip back, I have lots to do on my computer. I hope to organize the workshops for the July Evart festival, and also I hope to edit the videos from the lip sync contest which was held a couple of weeks ago. With 20 hours of travel time, I hope to accomplish a lot.