More wandering around the countryside.

Because that's what we came for, after all. Before I get into our activities, I want to make note of something I could have put under "Bitching," but forgot. Due to the dicey neighborhood we were in, we thought it best to carry with us anything valuable or dangerous. All this schlepping added two trips back and forth, up and down the hill out back, through the gardens, every time we went in or out. Oh, and there was a cipher lock on the back (kitchen) door of the place. "Tarzan" showed us how to work it, and when we tried, we couldn't press the buttons! We both have arthritis, and it was too much. "Tarzan" is huge and strong and didn't get it, but Joyce told him he'd better have an alternative means for us to get into, and lock out of, the house. Fortunately the stupid thing can be overridden, but that was another reason not to consider this property a primo vacation destination.

There was other stupid stuff, too, like loose throw rugs all over and bedding that didn't fit. They are so concerned making it cutesy-kitschy that they weren't very practical. The ice-machine in the fridge didn't work, and there were no ice cube trays anywhere on all their properties that they could get to! Thay had to bring bags of ice from the Hive. Next day we bought cube trays, and took them with. Normally when we rent, if we buy some little thing or other, we leave it for the next guest. But this place was high-priced and low-satisfaction. It was okay, but a rip-off all the same. Never again, of course.

So we spent that day driving around in ever-deteriorating weather conditions, only too delighted to scamper back to our warm, if inconvenient, cottage, and nap (because we were so tired all the time!) and watch TV and surf the internet. I am not doing without TV and wifi again. Learned the hard way. Oh, well. I wish I could blow it all off like we used to, but I need updates a couple times a day. Joyce can make do with once. I think I could make do with a newspaper and a decent radio station, but even those things aren’t always available. It was also at this point we ceased taking pictures, because it was so cold and gray. We decided the next day, Thursday, we would antique again, for the last time, and spend Friday doing the usual routine of laundry, packing and prepositioning. But anyway, here are the last couple of shots we took. We got to see more color on the drive south, but for reasons that will become apparent, we were no longer stopping for pictures.