Restless Prairie Girl

Well today was a great day - we took the ferry over to Southport which has charming houses from the turn of the century (20th that is) and older. We visited a Christmas shop in a wonderful old house complete with a pirate Santa! Walked along the pier and then we drove on to Oak Island which was lovely. Saw the lighthouse and drove to the other end of the island looking at all the beach houses, stopping for ice cream on the way back. It was very windy though and so we didn't walk on the beach like we had planned to. Yesterday we went to Carolina Beach. I had a catastrophe. As I was getting out of the van my camera slipped out of my hand and crashed to the ground - as in cement parking lot. With heart in mouth I surveyed the damage and what I thought was my lens was shattered. However it turned out to be only my UV filter - whew!! I am so glad I listened to a friend (you know who you are..) and got myself one as it saved me getting a new lens. It took me a while to quit...

Well Sarah and I walked from the pier at Carolina Beach to the pier at Kure Beach this morning. It was about 7 km and took us 88 minutes. (93 if you count me stopping for a potty break half way) It was awesome. The wind was blowing (luckily at our backs) and the waves were fantastic with bits of foam blowing around at our feet and sandpipers dashing along the sand. It was exhilarating. I am so glad we did it. After a great lunch the rest have gone off to look at a house and I am staying in to relax a bit. By the way I saw Linda and Doug's friend Al yesterday from a distance but I can already tell he's not my type. Only five feet (I like my males tall), a bit on the lazy side (doesn't seem to have a job), a real loner and he looks like he could snap your head (or at least your hand) off if he felt like it. The weather has been great but showers are predicted for the rest of my stay here - oh well better than the snow (shudder) that is happening at home.

l - Chimney Rock r -Beautiful Biltmore Estate, Asheville Well I've been here since last Tuesday but it's been a whirlwind of activity. Flew into Raleigh Tuesday night and stayed at an airport hotel. Took a city bus into Raleigh (because I'm cheap) which was fast and painless. Had a ham biscuit for late second breakfast/early lunch at Ed's in City Market (brains and eggs were on the menu but I resisted) - dragging my suitcase behind me. Greyhound charges $3 per bag per hour - forget that. Anyway went to the North Carolina History museum - I had visited there last time but there was a pirate exhibition on which was fantastic. Despite being immune to Johnny Depps' charms as a pirate I really do have this thing about pirates and vikings. Hmm.... Afterwards I sat in the sun for a while - it was mid 60's. Much different then Saskatchewan! Then I headed off to the bus depot. The bus depot was much calmer this time and bonus - the driver didn't get lost this time an...

Well tomorrow I start my "Spring Fling" - three almost back to back trips. Then I will lay low for a while....I promise! Tomorrow afternoon I am off to North Carolina for two weeks to visit my oldest and dearest friend Linda. We have been best buddies since we were toddlers - yep since I was two and she was three. Yes, she is a year older than me and let me tell you I never let her forget it. :) Should be fun anyway - they are going to introduce me to their friend Al. Linda says he is about six feet tall plus with a strong jaw line and impressive teeth. I'm told he'd love to have me come to his place for dinner some evening. Stay tuned!! Anyway I fly into Raleigh via Minneapolis and arrive at 10 p.m. I have a room booked at an airport hotel. Wed. morning I will make my way into Raleigh via public bus as there is no proper airport transit and I am too damn cheap to pay for a taxi. I'd rather use the money and have lunch at Clyde Cooper's Barb...

Totally lacking imagination for the name of this post. Here I am over a week back. I'm still not sleeping well - waking up very early. I think it's a combination of jeglag (not wanting to let go of English time) and the stress of the past week at work. We won't go into that here...let's just say one more week and then it's over. I made a decision while on vacation that will affect my bank balance but make my life happier. Yep, cutting down my retirement working hours. There are a lot of other options out there. I intend to make my life simpler as well - how much simpler I can go is a question mark as I don't have a car nor do I own property - both matters of choice. A friend at work told me about the blog of a lady who has retired and is living in Mexico -I am now addicted to reading it each day and to me her life sounds idyllic. Like me she does housesitting and petsitting. I think I would like to try it in a few years once my working days are...

Yep I am - spent most of the morning booking flights. Tried to use my NWA points to fly into North Carolina and out of Vegas with a cheap flight in between but they won't let me do that. I have to go in and out of the same area. Snarl....hiss! So luckily snagged a seat sale on West Jet to and from Vegas and then booked my freebie air miles flight to North Carolina. I was ready to punch my fist thrugh the computer screen though as my computer kept crashing when I would go to complete my purchase on the NWA site. If I booked it on the phone they would have charged me an extra $20 so I kept trying - I am cheap when it comes to stuff like that what can I say. So in just one month and one day I am off for two weeks in North Carolina to visit my oldest friend Linda and her family. Can't wait!!! Gonna be fun, fun, fun and I will get my ocean fix too. As long as Al the Alligator stays in their backyard pond and doesn't join me for my morning coffee life will be good. ...

Less than 48 hours home and already working on the next trip. I managed to score not one but two tickets (one for my friend Pat) to see Paul McCartney in Las Vegas April 19th. He is opening up a new night club in the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino - standing room only seats. I GOTTA BE FRIGGIN NUTS!!!!! So now I am working out how to get there from North Carolina where I will be visiting my good friend Linda and then home on air miles - the back home on air miles isn't working too well. Ah well.....it's fun to be insane.