October 30, 2022 is fast approaching. That is my last day of work at the Town of Madison Police Department. Retirement Trip 2022-2023 starts October 31 with a trip to the doctor for Scott (regularly scheduled doc appointment.)

We should be on the road by 10:30 am heading south! I think we have our first 71 days planned as best as we can. Major stops include:

1. St. Louis to watch our beautiful granddaughter play in a soccer tournament. This will include 3 one day stops at Harvest Host locations on the way there. They include a farm, a bee farm, and a wild mustang sanctuary before spending 3 days at a Boondocker’s Welcome location for the weekend.

2. 3 days in a RV park in Eddyville, KY to catch our breath and walk some beautiful parts of the state before we go to Scottsboro, AL for a couple of days. Main reason for going there is it is close to that place that sells lost luggage at airports.

3. Couple of days around Stone Mountain GA to see our cousin Liz and Anthony.

4. Of course, we will be stopping at Bucc-ee’s south of Atlanta, GA before stopping at a couple of more Harvest Home farms (Rita loves farms!) Reservations yet to be made!

5. We have a reservation for a week in a city park in Jacksonville, FL to explore the area and visit our brother and sister-in-law before we keep heading south. While here we will stop in Green Cove Springs, FL and make FL our domicile. Hello FL drivers license, vehicle and boat registration and good-by WI taxes!!

6. On our way to West Palm Beach area we have a reservation at a county campground in Titusville, FL for a couple of days to catch our breath again and just walk the hopefully warm beaches of FL. Then we will have a few days in West Palm Beach to visit Audrey’s mother and father-in-law and spend some quality time with them. And, maybe drop off a couple of the best Brookfield Christian School apple pies you have ever had.

7. From West Palm Beach we will make our way over to Sebring, FL where we have a reservation for 46 days or so. This will put us close to Tampa and Ft. Meyers Beach to visit friends and maybe do some day labor for Samaritan’s Purse to help clean up after Ian.

The second half of the trip is laid out, but details are a little more sketchy at this point. I know we want to hit Tallahassee, Fl to visit a friend and spend some in Louisiana, because that state and the swamps fascinate me. Then to Austin, TX to visit my longest (I don’t want to say oldest) best friend Sean and his family. From Austin we will turn and head back east with a stop near Hot Springs to visit Dave and meet family at the Noah’s Ark Encounter for Spring Break.

That will take us to early April and we will start slowly working our way back to Sheboygan to get our boat in the water so we can get below the lock closures on the IL River before they close May 1. Because I want to spend some extra time on the TN River and take side trips to Nashville, Chattanooga, and Knoxville before we get to tidal waters and the Gulf of Mexico on the boat.

We are so blessed and can only thank God and his blessings.