Marcia Richards:  

Life Married, two daughters, one grandaughter. I retired at 59 to pursue hobbies of reading, sewing, gardening, cooking, travel. Just discovered the joys of winter vactioning after a couple visits to Key West. This year's trip will be a (late summer) drive to Alaska, leaving only Hawaii and I will have been in all 50 states. Since retiring I have had time to join a gym and try to get there four or five days a week. My husband belongs to a car club and we go to car shows and car club events quite often, and ALWAYS stop for car museums in our travels. Caring part time for Mom, who is 86 and still lives alone with some help from her three daughters. Wishing she lived closer because it takes an hour to drive to her house. As the only sister who is retired, I get to drive her lots of places, especially to medical appointments. Wondering what everyone else is doing, besides getting older??? >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 2/15/06 update: The only real change from my previous profile is that we lost our older daughter in a boating accident in last winter's California storms---she lived in California for just about all of her adult life. She was 42. We were devastated, of course, but there is no choice but to go on living, and we are attempting to focus on the best parts of the past 42 years. She was an adventure junkie, and she ran out of luck. Her "boyfriend"/domestic partner/companion of 17 years suffered hypothermia, survived the accident, but is struggling to accept the new reality of being alone again. We did take the trip to Alaska last year, driving across Canada to meet my brother in law and his wife in Vancouver for a couple days visit, and then taking a car ferry up the inside passage, touring on our own for a while, and driving the entire Alaska highway on the return trip. Highly recommend this trip to any and all---it's really something. The Yukon Territory is breathtakingly beautiful, as is much of Alaska itself. I would love to go back another time and see even more of it, although driving proved more tiring than expected, and we are veteran long-trip-drivers. Must be advancing age. This year's projects are some re-decorating of our circa 1905 Victorian home, and an in-depth exploration of a closer state: Pennsylvania. Maybe some time in Maine if possible, another of my favorite places to visit, and it's been a while since we've been there. We can only do long trips every four or five years, since it expends so much energy---and, in the case of Alaska, MONEY. It is quite expensive since most everything is shipped in by boat or air. Pizza Hut pizza for two, with soft drinks, runs about $25, and what might be a $30-40 dinner for two here will cost double that there. But the fresh salmon, for one thing, ...Expand for more