April 5, 2020

March 21, 2020

 Wow!  Life has changed dramatically in the last few weeks as I am sure all of yours has as well.  I’m not going to dwell on it here but to say that Joyce and I are doing a lot more praying for all of our friends, our men and women in uniform, first responders and all the medical care folks on the front lines.

 We are very surprised at all of the folks here in the Palatka area that seem to not be taking this pandemic seriously.  Joyce and I have both experienced folks sliding right up next to us and of course we’ve seen the spring-breaker’s on the news.

 We’re trying to limit our travels as much as we can.  However, we both have had medical appointments that we couldn’t cancel and of course grocery shopping.  Since we living in a motorhome for now we have to shop more that other people.

 So far the closing of our house is still on track for March 30th and we’re keeping our fingers crossed.  We are also optimistic that all the furniture and appliances that we have on order will be delivered on time.

 We got up very early this morning so that I could be at the pharmacy at NAS Jacksonville to pick up some medications.  They open the drive-thru windows at 0800 and I knew that it was going to busy.  I dropped Joyce off at Costco first so she could pick up a few things and then back-tracked to the NAS.  I’m very glad I got there when I did because there were long lines at all three windows.  I did get through in forty minutes which made me happy.  BTW, when I drove past the Commissary there are limits for the amount of folks allowed in at one time.

 When Joyce went through the door at Costco the folks at the front were handing everyone  a case of Clorox Wipes (one per cart).  She was also able to get a package of chicken thighs and some TP bur no hamburger was available.

 We don’t have to go out again until the 24th for my angiogram. Gov. DeSantis has not issued a “stay at home” order but both Joyce and I think that will come very soon.  That order will be very problematic for us closing on the house and getting our new furniture and appliances delivered.  We’re praying for the best but planning for the worst, following the news here in Florida closely.  The good news is we have a place to live until all of this go’s away and life gets back to normal.

March 22, 2020

 During this time Joyce and I have been calling friends that we haven’t talked to in a long time.  I’ve reached out to CMSgt’s Troy Fore, Jack Pledger and Carl Parker.  I also talked to SMsgt Percy Raleigh and come to find out he and Nancy live just thirty minutes from us.  Joyce has talked to several folks as well.  We are also keeping in touch with family more that we have in the past.

March 25, 2020

 Yesterday we to Green Cove Springs for the initial walk-thru of our new home.  We spent about two hours going through the house looking for things that need correcting, using all of the appliances, running the sprinkler system and learning some of the features.  We did find a few minor things that will be fixed before the final walk-thru and closing of the house on Tuesday.  We’ve got our fingers crossed that the governor doesn’t shut the state down before then.

The warranty representative from Richmond also stopped by to go over the procedures for getting warranty work done and how to get work scheduled.  It’s all very simple, especially the appliances.  We will have a General Electric app on our phones and all we have to do is scan the barcode, enter the problem and when we want the repair done.

March 28, 2020

 Joyce and I have been staying close to the house the past couple of days.  Joyce did get out yesterday to make a run to the grocery store for some necessary supplies.

 I have been contemplating for a couple of years about compiling all of our Barry & Joyce’s Adventures newsletters and putting them in a book.  Since I am confined to the house now I thought I would get started on that project.

 I’m finding that it’s really interesting going back and reading the newsletters and reliving all of our travels. Joyce and I are truly blessed in more ways than one.

March 30, 2020

 We got up early this morning and after stopping at Micky D’s for a biscuit, we drove up to our new house to do our final walk-thru.  Dan, our Superintendent went over our all of the things that they have fixed from our initial walk-thru.  Then he told us some of the items they didn’t get to that would have to be done later.  As we expected he is having trouble getting tradesmen in to do the work right now because of the Chinese Virus.  

 Next we drove up to Jacksonville for our appointment with Fidelity National Title for our closing appointment of the house.  Murna, our Title Officer told us that they had not yet received the closing cost funds from our credit union.  We were a little surprised to hear that since Joyce did the wire transfer request last Thursday morning.  She told us that we’ll go ahead with the document signing and check on the transfer after we finished.

 So, we pressed on with the very boring document signing.  When that was completed Murna again checked on the wire transfer and told us it had not be recieved.  Then we tried to call First Tech Credit Union and had to wait on hold for forty-five minutes.  The gal that answered said that she would forward the information to someone and that they would get back to us within twenty-four hours.

 Next, I called Travis Credit Union to see if they could help.  They said sure but told me that a wire transfer would take seventy-two hours.  That was not what I wanted to hear.

 We finally left and headed back to Palatka with hopes that the wire transfer would get there sometime in the evening.  On the way Joyce decided to call WyHy Credit Union in Wyoming.  The lady that she talked to said that they could get the transfer done in about two hours.  So with that news we turned around and drove back to Fidelity’s office.  Keep in mind we now had two wire transfers for the closing in the works.

 We waited for about three hours and at the last minute before the office closed they told us that the had received the wire transfer from First Tech.  We now are the owner’s of our fifth home.

 I’ll write more about the moving process later.

Barry & Joyce