The last couple of months have been a whirlwind. We sold our beautiful home in Sheboygan and the buyers wanted to close very quickly. In this market, it doesn't pay to be too inflexible and so we finished the packing that we had started several weeks earlier, booked a moving company and watched as our possessions were loaded onto a 53' semi. It was a bitter-sweet moment; we were happy to have sold our home, considering the current state of the real estate market, but sad to be leaving it after less than three years there. But as we said to friends and family, in the end it is just a building - the memories of happy times there remain, and we had some extraordinarily happy times entertaining in that house.

We elected to leave the furniture on the truck and pay a daily fee to store it there rather than unload it into storage, given that a couple of job prospects were looking quite promising and I was progressing well in the process. Hopefully, we thought, one of them would crystallize and we would soon be on our way to new climes. In the short term, we would travel north to Ontario and stay with various family members for what we hoped would be a short time. What we didn't figure into our calculations, was that the month of August seems to be the worst time to arrange interviews and trips to see resorts and hotels as so many of the senior teams take off on vacation.

So four weeks after our move, we are still in Canada playing the waiting game (we did take off to Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec City last week to give our relatives a rest from us) and hoping that  will receive some positive news on the job front very soon. Effectively, right now we are homeless and jobless, a fact that was not lost on us as we listened to Bob Dylan's lyrics to Rolling Stone, the other day. How does it feel? Not great, but we are confident that this situation will be short lived and we will land somewhere soon. At least  we are close to my step-daughter, Lora, whose baby is due next week. 

There is a silver lining to every cloud!

We returned from our epic journey almost three weeks ago and yet I have not been able to find the time to complete this blog until now, as it is has been completely manic since we got back on the house selling and job hunting fronts. However, the last day was as interesting as the others.

We left our very nice hotel near Sioux Falls,  South Dakota and headed due east on Interstate 90, quickly crossing into Minnesota. I had looked for some Minnesota wineries that we might be able to visit en route that were not too far from the Interstate (this was going to be a 575 mile day and so we didn't have time for long detours) and located one near Rochester. 

Salem Glen Vineyard is a small farm winery that has been operating since 2007 making wines from cold-hardy variety grapes grown on property and around the region. There are no signs to it and you access the winery along a long, straight, dusty earth road. On Saturday afternoons, they often have live jazz in the tasting room (which opened in October 2009) and this beautiful, sunny Saturday afternoon there were a couple of dozen people enjoying the music and wine. If we had more time we would have stayed longer as the atmosphere was wonderful.

Winemaker and owner, Dustin Ebert kindly took some time to show me around the winery, pointing out the astronomy observatory that is used as a logo on the wine label and explaining that he makes the wine in the garage attached to the house. A true 'garagiste".  About 1/3 of his grapes are grown on property and the rest he purchases regionally, within a 120 mile radius. Varieties include Seyval Blanc, Edelweiss, Frontenac Gris, Marquette (that was developed at the University of Minnesota) and Marechal Foch which we also saw in Nebraska. Dustin is a self taught winemaker who is extremely passionate about the wines, making about 1000 cases per year.   I asked him if he is particularly proud of any of his varietals. Currently, he really likes the Marquette and I was able to taste it with him. Well structured and balanced, the body is relatively light but the flavors are richer than I anticipated with aromas of cherry and a pleasing peppery finish. I was pleased to finish our trip at this beautiful little winery that epitomizes the philosophies of so many that we had visited in the 30 days we were away. Passion, individuality, experimentation and most of all a love of the land, and the vines that ultimately define the finished product. Wine should be for everyone and at Salem Glen, everyone is welcome. No pretence or stuffiness, just plain good fun!

After a drive through Wisconsin Dells (which we had never visited in ten years and for which we felt a bit guilty that we had never taken our kids there during their visits) we arrived back at our newly-painted-soon-to-be-sold house in Sheboygan at about 9:30pm, tired, safe and elated at having completed this epic journey.


As I reflect on the trip in which we traveled 7,500 miles, crossed 13 states and one Canadian province and visited dozens of wineries, I am in awe of several things. First, the sheer beauty of the different states and provinces. Each has an individuality and character that is unique and a personality that is distinct. It would be as impossible to pick a favorite state as it would be to pick a favorite wine. Certainly, drinking wine in the region in which it is made adds a whole different dimension to the enjoyment.

Second, the variety of wines, the different personalities of the winemakers, the beauty of the areas in which they are made and the zest for life that is engendered by everyone involved in the winemaking world has left an indelible imprint on us both. 

Third, I am in awe of our little puppy, Hopi. Spending that amount of time in the car, going to different hotels and cottages all the time could have been unsettling, but he was a trooper and so well behaved. The world is gradually becoming more doggy friendly and it was great for us to be able to have him with us both.

We are both so please we took the time and made the trip. I was able to continue the job search process and networking with the help of cell phone and WiFi connections and since returning I'm pleased to say that the job market appears to have brightened somewhat. There are several positions that I am pursuing in different parts of the country and with a little luck, one of them will come through and set us on our next adventure. 

Our house selling adventures are another story, and a bit of a roller coaster, having had one sale fall through. However that too will work itself out in time.  Whatever happens we have the memories, blogs and photographs from our trip and have experienced something that we will hold close to our hearts for the rest of our lives.

Don't forget to check out Ginnie's blog too

The prospective purchasers of our house scheduled an inspection for 8:00am this morning. So I took up residence at the local Starbucks for 3 hours where my iPhone was put to good use (free WIFI just seems to be something that everyone should offer now, and I get very ticked when hotels continue to charge a fee for something that I consider as essential in a guest room as a bed).

It is slightly strange to know that a complete stranger is tramping through your home, inspecting it for faults. And then I thought that it is not much different than when a AAA of Forbes inspector comes to one of our hotels. At least nobody was assessing us for service during the house call.

Anyway, the house passed with flying colors. We know we have to get it painted (we had that planned before my current "situation" presented itself) and there is a little bit of wood and flashing that needs to be replaced, but otherwise it is in good shape. A five star house - phew!

The offer on the house finally came through and we were not happy with it initially. However after a lot of back and forth negotiations, I think we are set. Unfortunately it is contingent on the buyers being able to sell their home so this means we continue to market the property then give the purchasers 72 hours to finalize things if we receive another offer.

The weather has been awful for the last few days, and our house shows so much better when there is no snow on the ground and the blossoms are in full bloom, so hopefully that will be the case in a few weeks and we can have an Open House.

I have had some interviews and a lot of networking meetings in the last week with some exciting prospects to explore. Ginnie is back from her trip to Canada  where she was visiting her Mom and daughters, helping with the planning of her eldest daughter's wedding in June and catching up with family and friends. Hopi, our 3 year old Teddy Bear dog was great company but we were both pleased to see Ginnie back home. We are beginning to look seriously at the possibility of taking a cross-country road trip, probably starting around Easter. My youngest daughter, Rachel, is coming over for a week with her cousin before Easter, and so there is a lot to be looking forward to and I am feeling very positive about the future.

A couple came to view the house last Saturday, just three days after it hit the market. They asked to come back and see it again on Sunday which was promising however they were "going to talk about it" and I heard nothing since then. I figured that they were not interested after all;  it seemed to good to be true that we would get an offer from the first people to take a look at it.

This morning our realtor called to say that the couple are planning to write an offer on Monday. So even though there has been little news on the job front this week, we will go into the weekend with more optimism at least that we may have a buyer for the house. Fingers and everything else crossed for Monday.

Have a good weekend!