Today’s photos are from this date ten years ago at this post.
Since we’ve been out of the US for most of the past Fourth of July holidays, we haven’t really celebrated in the past almost 11 years. Once, I recall, we were in the US and had a barbecue at our son Greg’s home in Minnesota. After beginning our journey, as mentioned in prior posts, we don’t celebrate many holidays anymore.
Without a home of our own, we don’t put up US flags, and now, here in The Villages, the fireworks displays are too far away for us to reach by golf cart. We’d have to drive far to get back to the house amid tons of traffic in the dark. As a result, we have no particular plans to watch a fireworks display. We are OK with that.
Most of the friends we’ve made here are away for the long holiday weekend, seeing family members and friends outside of The Villages or who are like us; it’s no big deal whether we participate or not.
Last night, I had the worst night’s sleep in months. I was awake until 3:30 am, tossing and turning, trying to fall asleep. I did breathing and relaxation tips I’ve read online over the years. But, nothing I did let me drift off until that late hour. If I would have been able to sleep until 9:00 or 9:30 am, I’d have been OK. But, at 8:00 am, I was wide awake and decided to get up and get on with my day.
Since we arrived here, on Sundays, we’ve been washing the bedding and remaking the bed. We hadn’t washed our own bedding since we were in Arizona in January 2020, before we left for India. Wow! That was a long time ago. Also, I usually make a special dinner on Sundays, perhaps something that takes a little longer to prepare.
Today, I’m making baby back pork ribs for Tom, enough for two nights, along with fried rice and salad, while I am making a shrimp and scallop stir fry for me, enough for two nights and a salad. I like ribs and will eat them occasionally, but it was easy to make a separate dish for me when we had one large slab, enough for Tom for two nights. This way, I won’t have to cook tomorrow, only make a fresh salad and heat our respective meals at dinnertime.
We had another fun evening out last night at the bar at City Fire. Before 7:00, we returned to our new favorite restaurant, Cody’s Original Roadhouse, for another excellent dinner. I ordered shrimp and steamed broccoli, which I had along with their delicious bottomless salad.
Tom ordered pulled pork (not on a bun) with mashed potatoes and ate salad. The waiter forgot to bring Tom the buns but didn’t ask for them when he had plenty to eat. By 8:30, we were on the road again to head home to stream another show on Starz, which we downloaded to watch the series we love, Outlander, but ended up watching a fantastic series, The Serpent Queen. We’re now hooked on that one too, and hopefully will find a few more series we like on the app.
After dinner, we’ll relax and stream both series until I get sleepy tonight and can make up for last night’s poor sleep.
Sorry, we are so dull right now. This is what life would be like if we stopped traveling and lived somewhere in the US. We’re looking forward to being on the move again and have no plans to stop our journey unless health makes it an absolute necessity (which will happen at some point, a reality we accept).
May our family members and friends in the US have a safe and happy Fourth of July weekend.
Be well.
Photo from ten years ago today, July 2, 2013:
