Puerto Rico, Atlanta, Omaha and the new motorcycle

My 1st day of retirement was April 1st last year (I heard that!) which coincided with Pattie's spring break from school; so we headed to Puerto Rico for a week.  Not a bad way to kick off the next phase of life.  We stayed in San Juan for a night and visited the fort and other historical landmarks, viewed from land and from a boat tour of the harbor. We then spent a night in an ecolodge in El Yunque, the rainforest on the east end of the main island. We had great views of the jungle and sounds from the waterfall 50' below our bedroom.  

Vieques Island, part of
Puerto Rico

The rest of the week was spent on Vieques, an island east of (and part of) Puerto Rico (thanks to former co-worker Todd for the tip). Lots of great beaches which we visited by motorbike.  A very relaxing time.  We flew back by small plane (ever had to weigh everything, including yourself, in order to be balanced properly in the plane?) and enjoyed seeing it all from the air.

The next outing followed on the heels of the PR trip as brother Eric and I (and our spouses who then flew home) met at cousin Carla’s in Atlanta and joined the family for Easter. (Those of you who know Carla know that she is battling cancer, please keep her in your hearts).  

Eric and I then (and the dog he adopted from Carla) camped our way west to brother Jon’s in Omaha to help him celebrate his 62nd birthday. On the way we stopped at Mammoth Cave National Park for a night and enjoyed one of their many tours.

In early April after my severance check arrived from Viavi Solutions/JDSU/Network Instruments (the company name changed twice in the last 2 of the 10 years I worked for them); I celebrated the end of my 5 decades in the workforce by purchasing a new BMW motorcycle.  In 49 years of riding, I’ve ridden mostly BMWs and yet this one was only the 2nd new one!  Of course I was itching to get away on a long trip and since Mom had just turned 95 I took off for Florida.  

On the way to FL I met up with a Jim, who I worked with in the late 60s, and who now works at a BMW shop in Iowa City (Jim will pop up later as he re-introduced me to his ex-wife who now lives in Ecuador). 

I was also able to connect up with my good friend Guy (yes, another former co-worker and fellow Minnesotan), who was also on his way to Florida (New Port Richey) and we stopped at the Lost River Cave in Bowling Green KY.  The “Lost River” comes from the fact that the river dives in to a cave system.  

We camped near Chattanooga, and then had several great days enjoying the warmth of Florida. Here's a 'story' Google created from my shots of that trip.

Next post: the return trip north through the Appalachians