Unfinished Business

The A-75 report took a while to pull together which put a few other notable events on the sideline until now:

Our last day in WI was spent with Jennie, Charles, Alrick and Graham to help Graham move to his new apartment. Alrick was particularly pleased that the apartment is above a store in downtown Appleton, which should provide a warm, front-row seat for the annual Appleton Christmas parade. Following Graham’s move, we enjoyed pizza and beer at the Stone Cellar Brewery, our favorite neighborhood haunt. While we don’t miss the house, we do miss our friends and family.

The 1^st 45^th Annual Bacchanal was hosted at the Wards. The “regulars”, a group of folks we’ve known since joining the Northeast Wisconsin birding club (some have been on our trips to Costa Rica) brought numerous dishes to pass and snacks to consume. These are also the same people with who we’ve enjoyed many Friday evenings out, usually at Senior Tequila’s in Appleton.

We shared a day birding with long time friends Betty and Dave Dunsmore. Dave was laid off several months ago and decided to retire. Betty, who has worked at the Appleton Post Crescent for over four decades, learned that she is to lose her job before the end of the year. She may well decide to join Dave in retirement. We hope so – and then perhaps join us somewhere at some point to do some more birding!

Staying in touch with family and friends via the Internet has been a huge plus. There are various opportunities to get online: libraries, restaurants, supermarkets, free city Internet, or piggy-backed on someone’s unprotected broadband account. We purchased a data card from Verizon, the “Mi-Fi” for when none of the above are available. The size of a short stack of credits cards, when the unit is turned on, it creates a wi-fi hotspot. Sitting in our parked RV, driving down the road – any number of locations where we can get a signal we're good to go. So far Verizon hasn't heard us in a few mountain areas in Colorado, otherwise, it's been solid.

Recently we joined Facebook. All we have to do is sort out how it works. Along with our blog it gives us one more opportunity to stay connected. Our America's Mailbox mail forwarding service seems to be working well, too. So far, staying in touch hasn't been an issue and that’s just great with us.