Hello from Atlanta!

Jerry and I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  We are so grateful to all of you who have been following our journey these past almost 18 months!  

We have had the best time in Georgia visiting with my relatives on my mom’s side, and meeting cousins I had no idea about.  My cousin Susan and her family, Ken, Max and Haley, have been amazing to us.  Susan’s father, Herb is 97 years old, with a memory that is completely unbelievable!  He was married to my mom’s cousin Helen.  Unfortunately, Helen passed right after my mom passed in 2020.

Herb continues to remind me of when my parents and I visited them in Charleston 40+ years ago.  He served in WWII in the navy and tells us so many stories from that time.  Truly inspirational!!  We are so grateful to be spending time with family during Thanksgiving as this is the first in years that we have not been with our immediate families.  It has been wonderful.

We have eaten very well here, and it’s been very international.  Malaysian, Japanese, Chinese, Mexican, Cuban and of course, Jewish bagels, lox and cream cheese.  We were in heaven.  Susan is a wonderful cook.  So is the rest of her family.  I had the best time swapping recipes with her son, Max.  We had dinner together pretty much every night, except maybe one.  Family dinners! We have totally missed those.

Susan is very crafty and has a wonderful business. Please check out my cousin’s beautiful gifts.

She taught me to make these beautiful blankets, and I taught her how to make knitted caps.  We had the best time sitting around knitting, talking, and just spending time with family.  

As you are reading this, we are heading west.  For those of you who have been following us this entire time, you might remember that we were going to Florida for the winter.  Well, we have a BIG ANNOUNCEMENT! 

Jerry and I decided that we are ready to get off the road and back into a home.  There have been many factors to this decision; the main one being the travel days.  As exciting as it is to get to a new destination, the reality is that the travel days are pretty stressful.  Especially when you do not know the area you are driving.  We have had numerous GPS malfunctions that would give anyone nightmares.  Also, we both actually miss living in a home.  Which, I did not think I would feel that way. I really thought I would never live in a home again.  Well, remember being taught, never say never??  Lesson learned (again).

We miss having a community. As I have mentioned numerous times, this lifestyle can be lonely. Jerry misses his garden and a garage (the new home has a 2.5 car garage, so Jerry’s ecstatic) I’m excited to meet new friends.  We found a ukulele group we will see about joining! For those of you who are new, we used to belong to a ukulele band! 

After numerous discussions and soul searching, we made the decision to settle in Prescott Valley, AZ.  Why there, you ask?  After spending 3.5 months in Maine, I really thought we would end up there.  But, honestly, I cannot live in 6 months of winter.  We actually thought of buying a place there and then leaving in winter for Florida.  We even thought of living in the RV for 6 months in Maine and 6 months in Florida.

After really thinking about that, we decided that wouldn’t work for us.  I love Maine and would have lived there in a minute, but the winters… We also have our families and many lifelong friends that are on the west coast.  We knew when we left California, we would not go back for numerous reasons.  We thought about Oregon and Washington, and ended up deciding that Prescott was the place for us.  

Why?  It has 4 seasons.  It doesn’t get extreme weather. The elevation is 5367, which is great.  As you know, I would never live in extreme heat.  There are a few days in summer it will get in the 90’s and maybe a 100 here and there, but it cools down at night.  The winters get cold, but when it snows, it doesn’t last long.  Prescott has great medical care (very important at this age).  There are a lot of outdoor activities and history to explore.  We will be 1 hour from Sedona, 1.5 to Flagstaff, 1.5 hours from Phoenix.

Two weeks ago, I left Jerry in Charleston and flew to Prescott to look at homes.  It was the first time I had flown since 2019. This from someone who flew every month on business.  Needless to say, I was a bit apprehensive.  It was fine! The planes were packed however. But, I got there and back with no issues (thank goodness).

This is the first time we have ever shopped for a home without both of us looking together.  The reason we did this was the fact that there is a development there that was selling out.  We needed to see the area.  So, Jerry said, “You go, you know what you like.” Uh, ok…….

Jerry had reached out to a real estate agent there months ago while we were kicking around where we would end up.  Kristy was amazing.  She picked me up the minute I reached the Hampton Inn in Prescott Valley and had a list of pre-owned homes to look at, as well as brand new builds.  

After not liking any of the pre-owned homes, she took me to the development.  There was a home that was almost finished that, unfortunately, the woman had to back out on.  I thought I was only going to be looking at the lots and the model homes.  Well, when I walked into this home I knew this was the place.  

It was not quite finished, but I could visualize us living there.  I immediately got Jerry on FaceTime and showed him around.  I put a deposit on it right then and there.  Escrow will close on December 20th.  We changed our entire winter plans to head to Arizona right after Thanksgiving.  I had reservations all the way to Oct 8th of 2023.  That was a fun time canceling everything.  NOT!  But, we decided, “Why stay on the east coast, let’s get to Prescott.”

Remember, we sold EVERYTHING!!!  We have no furniture or appliances and get to start completely over.  We will be selling the RV and the truck. Then we need to purchase 2 cars as well!.

We will arrive on December 4th and start shopping.  We have already ordered our washer/dryer and refrigerator from Costco to be delivered on December 22nd (hopefully).  We will live in the RV for 16 days (might be a challenge as it is cold there in December ).  The final walk through is on December 20th, and we can move in right away.  

The home is in Prescott Valley, where my best friend, CJ’s grandson, Seth, lives.  While in Prescott, Seth showed me around, and we had dinner on Whiskey Row, which is the historic area of Prescott. There is a lot of history there.  Also, another friend of mine, Alice, is moving there as well.  How fun to know at least a couple of people.  

We have a granddaughter that lives in Scottsdale, and our soon to be niece, her parents, have a winter home in the Phoenix area along with other friends we have met along the way that live in different cities in AZ.  The best part, it’s only a 1.5 hour flight to CA. 

We will be traveling for 7 days to get to Prescott, so please make sure to tune in next week for more adventures.  We will be continuing the blog and YouTube as we transition from RV back to a home!  This should be very interesting!!  

We are excited to start another chapter of our lives.  It is never boring with The Sappingtons. 

Just One More…..house to decorate (this will be 6 in 22 years of marriage)