LOCATION:  In our tiny house in Mission, Texas
WEATHER:  Very nice.  Cloudy.  High 74

STEPS:  14,045
CLASSES:  1 water aerobics

We will be leaving on Thursday, so today was my last pickleball game.  I ended on a high note – our team won at last.  I will take the paddle with me on the trip, in case there is a court somewhere I could play on.

Today, I bid farewell to two lover-boys that have sustained me during this Covid semi-quarantine.  This is the first time since I retired when we have been in one place for such a long period  These two guys helped me survive….

1)  Jacques Pepin, chef.  Since November, I have cooked one of his recipes almost every night from this cookbook.  The only ones I didn’t use are  from the dessert section and those savory dishes with ingredients I couldn’t find locally.  It is not a complete good-bye, as I jotted down some of his recipes that I will make while we are traveling.  Adieu, Jacques!

2)  Rick Steves, travel writer and tour guide.  Every Monday night, we have been watching one of his podcasts.  They are live programs in which he pieces together videos that he taped in the past.  He always eats and drinks wine throughout the program, ending the 2nd program one a bit loopy, after finishing off a bottle!    As with Jacques, it is not a complete goodbye as we will take some of his DVDs (thanks, Alexis) with us to watch on the road.  We often have electricity but no TV reception as we travel, so DVDs come in handy.

3)  George Reid, my faithful and loving husband.  I will NOT say good-bye to him!!!  We are the best traveling partners and we are looking forward to a nice spring/summer road trip.  (I will be in control of the gas gauge) ……     🙂 

I did another furniture switcharoo….moving all the rattan chairs outside and setting up tables for four couples to comfortably social distance.  We have all had our shots, so the atmosphere was more relaxed. 

I set up a wine bar with my “island”.  Two of the couples coming tonight make their own wine and will  bring different kinds.

The purpose of this get-together was to talk about our France barge trip.  We had signed up to go last October, but it was canceled due to Covid.  We rescheduled for this September, but are still not sure if we will be able to do the trip or not.  This afternoon, we chatted about different options.  Fingers crossed!

DINNER:  We had planned to grill some ribs, but by the time they left, it was too late to grill.  So, I sauteed the meat in butter with onions.  Sides were  sweet potato and okra.  Freeing up the freezer!