Heading Out West in 2014

It’s been nine months since we’ve traveled out West. Last May we went out to Phoenix, San Diego, and the Sacramento area. We were able to visit lots of friends and family. We’ve been feeling the itch to travel some again and see our very good friends in Phoenix and my married daughter in Sacramento.

Alex Zabala's websiteSo we’re heading out West in March. And we’re making it a business trip to meet with other authors, a couple of clients, and possibly do a couple of presentations for writers.

We’ll be visiting Alex Zabala and his wife in Phoenix. Alex is author of Treasure of the Mayan King and The Golden Scepter. Last May when we were there he was celebrating 5 hundred copies sold of Treasure of the Mayan King. Last month, January 2014, he celebrated 5 thousand copies sold!

Then we’ll visit with our very good friends, Terry & Virgie. Terry is a musician and Joel always loves playing with him and his band.

While in Phoenix, at some point, we’ll also have an opportunity to meet Larry Brooks, author of Story Engineering, a book Joel recommends to authors. Yet another contact in Albuquerque may be able to set up something for Joel to present to a book club.

On our way to see Rachelle in the Sacramento area, we’ll have a night in Santa Barbara, California to meet up with another author, Lynelle Paulick.

And if we can convince Tom Bentley – editor extraordinaire – not to do an overseas house sitting gig, maybe we’ll stop by and see him while we’re in California.

It should be a lot of fun! Join us on another adventure!

Adventurous Mishaps Traveling from Arizona to New Mexico to Colorado

We left at 7:30 am Saturday to start the long drive from Arizona to Albuquerque New Mexico. We had gotten everything packed the night before and felt great about getting started. During the two weeks we’d been in Mesa house sitting, we’d never had any problems with the garage door opening and closing. But sure enough, when we went to leave that morning we couldn’t get it to close electronically. After several attempts Joel manually closed it and we made sure it locked. (Since then the home owners say it works just fine!)

Our first goal was to find a Starbucks and get our morning tea. Though we know there are half a dozen Starbucks in the area we were in, we just couldn’t seem to find one. We finally gave up because we wanted to hit the road.

Quiet Day in Quebec

It’s Saturday and we’re not traveling. We’re settled in with Cristina, Fred and their children. Joel’s on a call, I’m updating the blog, Cristina is making some food for a party tonight and Fred is outside playing with all the children. So it’s a quiet day here in Quebec relaxing and enjoying ourselves.

So what’s it like to be nomads so far? Well, we feel right at home here and Fred and Cristina have made us feel very welcome. Living a nomadic life is different. Yet as with everything in life, your attitude is what makes the difference. We tend to get used to things being a particular way and when they are different, we stress out about it. So I remember that every day is an adventure.

Several years ago when I was sick and in the hospital for four months, I learned that I could not control everything in my life. It was very different for me and yet I was forced to adjust. Looking back I’d say it was a lesson preparing me for this larger life adjustment.

I’m looking forward to many more days of adventure in life!