I am busy sorting and packing, deciding what to leave behind for when we return, what to throw away, what to pack in our bags, and carry-on. Tom packs all of his clothes and digital equipment, and zillions of power cords. But, as always, which he prefers, he doesn’t start until the day before we leave.
Since I am the cook, I prefer to pack all the kitchen items we’re leaving behind since we aren’t taking any of those items with us. Also, Louise provided us with many household goods from her inventory, and we are sorting and keeping those separate to return to her. It’s been a daunting task.
Usually, when we’re moving out of a holiday home, we only have to pack our clothes, toiletries, and equipment. But, this time, it feels like another time in my life, many moons ago, when moving from one house to another. Every cupboard, drawer, and cabinet in this house has our “stuff” in it.
It’s not as if we did a monthly run to Costco, loading up on inventory of household goods. But, over the 14 months, we’ve spent in this house, we accumulated enough to make packing more challenging this time. I have run out of room in the two plastic totes I borrowed from Louise, and she, too, is also out of empty containers. Soon, we are heading to the hardware store to see if we can find a few more bins.
As for leftover food, we are in great shape. We will have used every frozen item and all meats by tomorrow night. Tuesday, we’re dining out with Louise and Danie on our last night. Tonight and tomorrow night, we’ll be eating grilled chicken breasts with sausages, green beans, rice (for Tom), and salad. We’re using all of our eggs and bacon. Since we don’t snack, we don’t have leftover chips and other snack bags to toss.
The few things left in the fridge, such as unopened butter, cheese, sour cream, and a few condiments, we’ll give to Zef and Vusi. Plus, I have accumulated a pile of clothing for their wives and daughters in good condition, which they may or may not be able to use.
Shortly after returning from the local hardware store, unable to find any large plastic containers, Vusi showed up at the door with another large empty tote. Louise emptied it so we could use it. That’s her! She’s always thinking of everyone else. They are such great friends and the best property managers in the world. We know from experience!
We enjoy our wildlife friends in the garden even though it’s a school holiday and the park is packed with tourists. We couldn’t believe the number of tourists at the shops, the water park at the Bush Centre, and the restaurants. At these holiday times, we don’t often see many animals. But these boys and girls know, after 14 months, which “side their bread is buttered on.” Pellets are still offered in abundance.
We have over two 40 kg, 88 pounds bags of pellets left to use before we go in three days. Certainly, we’ll have no trouble getting them tossed into the garden in the next few days.
Our flight from Nelspruit/Mpumalanga/Kruger Airport is at 6:30 pm, 1830 hrs, so we don’t have to leave here on Wednesday until about 3:00 pm, 1500 hrs, leaving us plenty of time to drive the problematic N4 highway, in the event of any unforeseen slowdowns.
Are we excited about our upcoming visit with Karen and Rich in Apollo Beach, Florida? Absolutely! We missed their wedding due to Omicron, and it will be fantastic to spend time with them at their oceanfront home. As for the two cruises, we’re very excited to be cruising again and surely will enjoy both Atlantic crossings on two very different ships.
Then, of course, we’re excited to spend time with our adult kids, grandchildren, Tom’s siblings, and hopefully, my sister Julie (who may come from LA) in Minnesota and then off to Las Vegas/Henderson, Nevada, to see son Richard and his girlfriend. If time allows, we hope to see some of the many friends we left behind in 2012 when we began to travel.
Thanks to many of our readers who have written to wish us safe travels. Finally, you’ll be able to read and see photos of something other than wild animals in our garden! They never bore us, but they may have become “old news” to all of you.
We hope you have a pleasant Sunday. We’ll be back tomorrow with more!
Photo from one year ago today, March 20, 2021:
