TL;DR (Too Long; Didn’t Read) A sh0rt version of this letter, Neil & Reneé parked their boat in Mexico, moved to Missouri and worked for a year. Both had Jobs that were a really good fit, they sold their Florida home, bought one in Tennessee, went to a wedding, an adult baptism, a memorial service for a very good friend, a 90th birthday party for my mom and visited lots of friends. Neil hit a deer and we made plans for what to do next. We have truly had a blessed year, and we wish you a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
What follows are some of the details, feel free to skim below or stop here if you want.
11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:11
Well as we get to the end of this year, it is time to reflect on how it went.
Work and getting to Missouri:
Near the middle of last year, I (Neil) made a comment to a friend of mine (Brendan Ryan) that we might have to, maybe, not really sure but it could happen that we would go back to work, but we really didn’t want to. This was based on the stock market underperforming in 2022, as well as somebody over spending (me!). In any case not long after that conversation, I had a job offer. The only problem was we were in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico (PV) and we had to figure out what to do with the boat.
We asked a friend (Bob Griffith) to come and help us move the boat from PV to Puerto Peñasco, Mexico. This was about 1,100 miles, and we did it between the Friday after Thanksgiving, November 25 and December 9. Bob was with us for a total of about 3 weeks, he really pulled his weight on this trip, unfortunately he was not really able to see what sailing is really like, I think we were only able to turn off the engine for about a half hour and sail. 15 days and 1100 miles against the wind! Once in Puerto Peñasco, we prepped the boat to be left on the hard for a year, and finally took a shuttle to the Phoenix airport, that was a disaster of another travel story.
Somewhere in here, I was finally able to contact the Contract company I was scheduled to work for only to find out “Oh, didn’t the (parent) company call you?” yeah that didn’t happen and I no longer had a job lined up. A few phone calls later, a complete change of plans and a different trip than we had planned, we went to Decorah to spend Christmas (or least some time) with Reneé’s mom (Bonnie) and sister and brother-in-law (Melanie and Tim). While I played phone tag with a variety of people regarding my job. Which finally got straightened out, and I started January 3rd.
We are in the town of Fulton, Missouri. This is a small town of about 13,000 people between St. Louis and Kansas City, near Jefferson City (the state capital) and Columbia. We have a few good friends here (Brendan and Callie – who got married in January, and we got to attend! As well as some others).
My job is as an Operations Instructor in training at Callaway, a nuclear plant that is about 20 miles east of the city. Reneé went into the local state farm office to get renters insurance set up and mentioned that she used to do that job, well the boss heard that and immediately made it clear he was looking for another person in the office. End result, Reneé had a job!
Finding a house to rent in Missouri:
Regarding a place to sleep, we were staying with Brendan for a while, and we had a couple of places to check out for renting a place. Reneé added one more as we were just about to walk out the door, and based on location (it was on the way) we went there first. We had looked at the outside of one apartment before this, but didn’t really like it. The one we got to was a duplex that was being built the builder/owner was not 100% sure he could have it ready for us in time, but he did and we are the first tenants in this 1200 sq ft 2 bedroom, 2 bath, 2 car garage place that is very nicely located in a quiet neighborhood. With relatively low rent and a long walk to downtown (where Reneé works) and some other important places, like the senior center that has dances periodically, the theater and a grocery store.
Both of us have found that our employers really need us and we are a good fit in both places.
Selling the house in Florida, buying the house in Tennessee.
While here (and starting before the trip north from PV) we did some serious thinking and long-range planning. The end result of which was selling our house in Florida. We expected this to be fairly difficult, we had been talking about this for several months, and finally made the decision in January to sell it. We knew through our Property Manager (real estate agent) that our tenants wanted the house, she suggested we offer it to them and she would take a reduced commission if that was way it went. We worked with them and as a result we took back the mortgage on the house, meaning we only missed one month on getting paid for either rent or mortgage. This freed us up to look for another house.
We want to do America’s Great Loop in about 5 years, and will keep S/V Make Me Laugh Again, in Mexico. But we want a house near the Loop. This Loop is from Florida up the east coast to New York, in to the Great Lakes, south at Chicago on the Mississippi to the Ohio river up to the Tennessee river and down to Pickwick lake, where Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee come together then south on the Tenn-Tombigbee waterway/river and out at Mobile Bay and back to Florida. So, we did a lot of searching on the internet and made a few house hunting trips into Tennessee finally deciding on the area where Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee come together.
We found a house that, while it didn’t have 100% of what we wanted was close, and we bought it. We have 1 acre in town, with 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms a den and huge garage. It is close (a block) to Main Street and the park where they have the farmers market and concerts frequently. We are about 5 blocks from the Tennessee river and we put our names on the list for a slip in the marina in Pickwick lake (about 15 miles away). Later we found out that our house (which is in the historic district) is the first house on the Christmas light parade. (Good and Bad!).
This house is about an 8 hour drive from where we are in Missouri, so, we have been moving stuff down there and it is also about an 8 hour drive to Decorah from Missouri, we have spent about 2 weekends a month driving between house hunting, buying and moving and visiting relatives.
Travels:
In May my mother (Gayle) turned 90. We flew to California for the party, and to see family there. Reneé is dealing with a tumor in her brain, nothing serious, it was found about 13 years ago. The doctor finally said it was time to do something about it, so she got a radiation treatment in California in May while we were there. Now we wait for what’s next.
Deer! And more traveling:
We are about 3 weeks from leaving Missouri, our last work day is December 21. The plan was to rent a U haul trailer for the final move of stuff from Fulton to Savannah, but no, we are not done with adventure! Monday of last week on the way to work a deer decided to get close to my truck (at 50 mph)! end result, the Tundra is in the shop with the estimate being about $12,000. While the truck is not drivable, the airbags did not deploy and I was not injured. The deer, well he did not make it. The report today (12/4) was that it will be close on being done/ready by 12/21!
Things I missed, we went to Tennessee to witness Bob getting baptized! Later we made another trip to the memorial service for Marji Erikson, a very dear friend who passed with Lung Cancer (she was never a smoker) and left behind her husband (Duane) of 72 or 73 years, at least he knows where she is, as she was definitely a Christian.
Bob Griffith, one of my best friends from high school, has moved to north east Tennessee, he has helped us out several times over the years, coming to southern California to help us pack and move, helping to drive the ’54 GMC from Northern California to Southern California and most recently helping us to move our boat from PV to Puerto Peñasco. He has also taken the step to be baptized, we were able to be there to witness this. He has just gotten married, so there has been quite a bit of change in his life. I owe a lot to Bob for all he has done and the part he has played in my life.
What is next?
In the 6 weeks following our departure from Missouri we have lots of miles to cover. We have to finish moving our home to TN. We have a load of items to be delivered to the boat in Puerto Peñasco (too big a load to fly with), friends and family to visit as we travel from MO to TN to Mexico to So Cal to the Bay Area, to Park City, UT for a family ski trip, and finally back to TN. Our plans will get tweaked a bit by the date the Tundra is repaired. All in all, we hope to be back on the boat in February. Our life will slow down immensely as we mosey on south from Puerto Peñasco to Puerto Vallarta, arriving in mid to late May. We plan on returning to TN in June and will finally get to know our new community. If you are ever in TN (June-December) get a hold of us. We’d love to have visitors!
As always, we would love to hear from you, our email addresses are:
Neils1958@gmail.com (Neil)
4scheuer@gmail.com (Reneé)
Our phone numbers are:
(760) 518-9336 (Neil)
(760) 518-1014 (Reneé)
Our mailing address is:
245 Wayne Rd PMB 202
Savannah, TN 38372
We do not want any mail to our house, as we are only going to be there part of the year. We have removed our mailbox from in front of our house (or it will be removed shortly). If you are coming to visit, let us know and we will give you the address.
