Here is our Christmas Letter for 2025
Christmas 2025
Greetings from us in Punta Gorda, Florida!
This year we decided after 15 years in Florida that it was time to “hang up” our boat keys and move off the water nearer family. We’ve had an awesome retirement in the Sunshine State but as we age, we realize we must position ourselves to be near help, should we need it, and away from hurricane threats. We sold Lickity Split, our cute little power boat, this past year and currently have our house on the market. Real estate is flat here in Florida and it may take a bit. We are hopeful to move to the Sacramento, CA area. In this area, we can be a short car or train ride from my sister Claire and closer to Hawaii to visit our daughter, Michele. We will look for an over 55 community with a stand alone home near a club house where we hope to make friends and be near a vibrant Friendship Force Club. We so enjoy hosting visitors from foreign countries and traveling for peace and understanding.
We were very fortunate last January to go on Atlas Cruise Lines to an amazing travel experience to Antarctica. For 7 thrilling days we cruised through icy waters and viewed breaching whales, innumerable penguins, and sea lions. We were truly blessed with amazing weather in mid-January. There were many sunny days with blue skies and water where we could get off the ship into zodiacs to land on islands most covered in snow to hike amongst the penguin colonies. The temperatures were moderate in the 30’s. We even stood on deck in shirt sleeves. The captain told us that he had never experienced such favorable conditions in the years he traveled in this wild area of the world.
Later in the year, I, Joanne, joined Friendship Force of Western Colorado on a trip to Japan. Richard decided not to go so I roomed with my friend, Linda. We stayed a week in both Tokyo and Osaka and visited Kyoto, saw the magnificent Mt Fuji, and the soul-stirring Peace Memorial in Hiroshima. The Japanese were so welcoming. Friendship Force is such a great way to travel, making new friends while being shown the sites and living in their homes, trying their food and conversing one-on-one about many different subjects, our families, and our lives!
We also managed a road trip to visit our friends, Bernadette & Marty, in Virginia and flew up to the Jersey Shore to be with our family for a short reunion.
Recently we took a Viking Cruise to Portugal that focused on the Douro River and stopped on the Island of Terceira in the Azore Islands where Richard was stationed in the Air Force so long ago!
Richard had a health scare and in late October went through colon resection surgery. Fortunately, all the lab tests came out fine, but he is now 20 lbs lighter (and he didn’t need to lose weight)! He is trying to recover and recently is starting to feel like his old self again.
This Christmas and New Year’s we will be on a Panama Canal cruise on the Princess Line. We wish everyone a Happy Christmas and a Healthy New Year.
Joanne and Richard
Posts
