Waking up in Retirement

Monday at 7 AM was the beginning of Retirement.

I don't think it is nice to take pictures of people waking up early in the morning.
But I think this is probably how I looked at the beginning of this new stage in my life.

That's me:

Just "chilling" after many years of working.

Finally deciding to get up.

And doing a big stretch before getting in the water!


PS
We think you probably have to have a good sense of humor to follow this blog.
Hope you enjoy it.
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Easy and Simple Barbecue Ribs

I had to try at least a few more of these easy meals before getting in the motorhome next week.  There have been many newsletters that have been arriving in my email inbox as well as all the searches that I've done online. It seems that they all have so many ingredients required, or just stovetop preparation before going into the crockpot.

I decided to just make my own recipes and see if they worked.  Detailed, time-consuming recipes just don't work for me.  And now that I'm planning on being in a small space with few appliances, fewer spices and ingredients, and no extra space, those recipes won't work for me.

I decided that some barbecued ribs sounded like a great meal.  In determining the easiest way to cook these I realized that store-bought barbecue sauce was on the store shelves for a purpose!  Use it!  So, I took a small package of beef ribs, placed them in the crockpot, and slathered them with barbecue sauce. That's all.

I turned the heat up to "high" for about an hour and then lowered it to "low" for another 3 hours.  By the time I was ready to eat the ribs were almost falling off the bone.  They were juicy and delicious.  This recipe will work so easily during our travels.

One of the primary reasons that I am trying these new recipes is that with "retirement" comes another term that is common to many people: "limited budget".  We have been fortunate for the the past 30 years that our monthly salaries easily covered our expenses and we were able to eat our frequently.  Now, we have a much smaller set income that will certainly limit the number of our "eating out" times.

So, for now we'll just sit back and enjoy our ribs and think of more "easy to prepare" meals.  I would love to hear of other ideas people have.

Ready to start our adventure

As of June 10, 2013 Carlos will  "officially" retire.  We will stay on the island of Kodiak, Alaska however, since the ferry to transport us to the mainland won't arrive until the end of the week. It seems that the Tustemena Ferry was having repairs and won't be ready to come back until July.  Instead, we will catch a ride on the Kennicott Ferry.  It doesn't travel as often but it has a vacancy for us. This is lucky since all the departing Coast Guard families are also leaving about the same time.

Thankfully, our landlord has allowed us to say in our apartment for the few extra days before the new tenants arrive.  We will be spending a lot of time together in very close quarters over the next few months. This will truly be a test of how we will be able to deal with both of us not working (for pay).

More later as our journey continues.