Camino de Santiago

Already planning on one of our next adventures.  With our Place all set in Cabarete, DR, we can now start dreaming about where we go later.  We watched the movie The Way with Martin Sheen.  We have to wait a while for this adventure, getting Hermann to Spain probably won't be possible.  The Way of St. James or St. James' Way is the pilgrimage route to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain, where tradition has it that the remains of the apostle Saint James are buried.  This is a few years away and will take a lot of preparation.  800 miles walking through beautiful Spain stopping at night is local Hostels and enjoying community with other pilgrims.  Catch the movie it is very inspiring.  Stay tuned.

I said it would be slow to start

Well a few months have past since my last post.  Remember at first this will be more important as a log for us then informative to most. 

Well here is the latest.  We had planned to take a ferry from Tampa to the Yucatan, it was set to begin early this year then mid year and now not until early 2013.  Being retired and flexible this was a drag but we changed course.  Syd and I visited Punta Cana, Dominican Republic during 2010, we really enjoyed it but figured it was a one time visit.  Syd was doing her normal searching of Craig's List and VRBO when she came across some long term rentals in Cabarete, Dominican Republic.  Cabarete is on the North coast where Punta Cana is on the South East.  Well with our new found freedom, we just got a lease for a 5 month rental of a great 2 bedroom condo.  Hermann will fly over with us and will love his freedom on the beach as well.  More details and pictures to come.  With the writing of this blog Syd is on her annual Sisters week in Cancun.  I am so glad that she gets to do this, how fortunate to spend such quality time with Susan and Karol.

Rosetta Stone is addictive

One of the things Syd and I invested in was Rosetta Stone Spanish.  We bought it a year or so ago but as lots of things go we procrastinated after a few weeks of diligent use.  Well now we have seriously picked it up again and both are feeling somewhat addicted.  This is truly the best way for us anyway to get comfortable with our Spanish ( I didn't say fluent ).  This as we know will be a necessity and now is the time to really take it serious.  Syd is spending a few days in Ft. Lauderdale visiting Ryan and Brandee.  She caught up with Bryce today and gave him some keepsakes that she wanted him to have, so our disposition continues.

Early January Preparation

While there may not seem to be a lot of content these first couple posts, they will be very important to Syd and I as we start the process of downsizing and education.  Right after the New Year we took down our Christmas decorations for the last time.  We plan to give away our things and not sell anything.  We posted on Facebook that our tree was available and within a couple hours Syd's sister Susan was the proud new owner.  The rest of the decorations went to Syd's friend Mary so lots of room already in the storage closet.