Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch…

The return home was both sweet and sour – sweet to reunite with friends and family; sour because of the condition of the house and the work it needed after only one year. It took a few days to climb out of the cloud of disappointment that had settled on Chris and Jay after they toured the house and grounds upon their arrival home. Overall the house was filthy and at first glance, there was some minor damage. The tenant had, for their convenience, not taken some items with them therefore leaving the duty of disposing of them up to Chris and Jay. One of the first tasks was to drag the portable basketball hoop, which had been left in the backyard, out to the curb and put a “FREE” sign on it so that it could find a new home via someone else’s efforts. The garage floor was so dirty that their first day home was spent organizing and cleaning so as not to track the filth into the house.

The basketball hoop and large plastic tubs that were left at the house.

It appeared that the carpet in the living area had been vacuumed upon the tenant’s departure, but the kitchen and bathrooms were left so dirty that the disheartened owners couldn’t bring themselves to use them until they were rendered “clean” after several days of scrubbing. It took Chris four days to return the kitchen to an acceptable state of use. The basement floor, which had been freshly painted when they left the August before, was so badly damaged with scratches and ground-in dirt that it required a new coat. Chris spent a full day scrubbing it and another taping and painting to return it to its former glory. During the first week home, Jay’s time was spent cleaning the bathrooms and beginning the myriad of repair jobs that were appearing on the continuously expanding multi-page list of things to do. The more problems they found the harder it was for Chris and Jay to understand how three adults and one child could inflict so much dirt and damage on a house in twelve short months.

There was even some kind of dark goo from candy or a crayon

that had hardened onto the inside of the one-year old dryer. Yuk!!!

All-in-all three weeks passed before the house was in an acceptable enough condition to show potential renters with Chris having patched, touchup painted and scrubbed the walls, sanded out gouges and refinished the hardwood floors in two bedrooms, spend a week in the garden weeding and bringing it back to life and completed 100 other tasks. Meanwhile Jay put on his lawyer hat and learned more than he ever wanted to know about filing a small claim to recoup the three month’s back rent due them. Then he started painting the “boy’s” room. Funny how they were assured that no one would smoke in the house but that Chris found ashes on the window sill and burns on the carpet in “his” room. The neighbors told them that, when the wind was right, they could have gotten high some nights when they sat on their front porch.

Their friends next door also cleared up a mystery that had been plaguing Chris since before their arrival home. Her son, Kevin, had delivered the non-renewal-of-lease letter to the tenant earlier in the summer and while at the house took a photo of the periwinkle bed that had covered the majority of the front yard for the last 25 years, with his cell phone and sent it to her as it didn’t look like he remembered. The photo was not detailed enough for Chris to determine how it actually looked or the cause and her heart sank when she saw the brown, nearly lifeless condition of it her first day home. Indeed, it was mostly dead with only a few, tiny green leaves struggling for survival. She contacted the tenant who offered not the courtesy of a reply. A conversation with the neighbors solved the mystery. It had been mowed! More questions bubbled into Chris’ mind than in an agitated can of soda. WHY?!?!?!?!?! WHY WOULD SOMEONE MOW THE PERIWINKLE!?!?!?!?!? Until the date of this writing the answer has not been provided and she will probably never know. Her only consolation is that it wasn’t poisoned with an herbicide and that the roots were still alive. Within a year or two it may regain its former lushness. She’s keeping her fingers crossed.

The brown ground where the gloriously lush, green periwinkle used to reside.

With the house again in habitable condition, it showed well and a steady stream of tenant prospects toured the estate - 95% of whom the protective owners would not have accepted had they applied. Weeks turned into months and Chris and Jay spent quality time with friends and family over dinners and at parties.

The non-travel time was an unforeseen blessing as Chris caught up on the blog posting from their summer touring and both she and Jay scheduled annual Doctor and Dental appointments. But by November they were wondering if they would be spending the winter there and the early onset of frigid weather was making them feel as if they were. Fortunately the perfect tenant moving in on December 1^st saved them from such a fate – well, almost.

Picture this: It’s December 1^st and a new tenant is occupying your house so you move the RV to the nearby Fort Meade RV Park for a week or so to tie up loose ends before heading south. By then it is only two weeks before Christmas. Your children are wondering why you’re not planning on staying through the holidays – especially since your daughter is flying home for New Years! You have no better explanation other than that you want to get to a warmer climate and actually begin the two-year trip you started two years ago!

So you stay and are glad you did. Except for the day it snowed AND the continuous days and nights of below freezing temperatures that froze the water pump and required covering every window, vent and crack in the RV with 3 mil plastic and tape AND wearing long johns 24/7 to stay warm AND having to do some unexpected repairs on the townhouse, you have a great time!

At long last on January 3^rd, Jay and Chris broke their rule of not driving on the interstates and pulled onto I-95 heading south and, figuring three time's a charm, restarted their now, “no-time-limit” Odyssey.