I returned from my wonderful trip to Japan and once again became the ‘house mom’ at Gamma Phi Beta sorority on the campus of UC-Berkeley.
For the next 9 months, this was my full-time, 24/7 job. I experienced the graduation of my seniors, the moving-out of the entire house (what a mess!), a summer filled with huge construction projects with a houseful of men pounding and banging from morning to night, attended the House Directors Conference in Salt Lake City, had houseguests from Northern Ireland and Auburn, LA, the return of the women for Fall Semester, formal ‘rush’, new members, more formal dinners, more parties for the girls to attend, more small and large headaches, some great OLLI classes and lectures to enjoy, my fabulous monthly Menlo Morning sewing group meetings, special days spent wandering through the wonderful museums of San Francisco, making great, new friends, visits with my ‘grands’ and from my son, and even my photo on the yearly ‘composite’. Below is a collection of pictures from those 9 months – in absolutely no order whatsoever.
I had told my boss when I was hired that if the November election results went the wrong way, I would not be staying after the end of the semester. Though asked, I had learned from the last time it was in office, that I could not bear to stay and suffer through another 4 years.
On December 19th, 2024 the young women of GPB and I went our separate ways. They went to their homes for the holidays while I hopped a plane from Oakland to Long Beach, CA, where I boarded the Coral Princess for a cruise from Los Angles, through the Panama Canal, ending in Ft. Lauderdale, FL – in other words, from “ocean to ocean!”
The 11-day cruise dates included celebrating both Christmas and New Year’s on board, and changing time zones 6 times! I must have been much more exhausted from the year of being a ‘mom’ for 46 young women than I thought, as I did nothing but read, sleep, read, eat, and sleep for the first 5 days.
Below, is a selection of photos from the cruise. Everything from my room with balcony to lovely sunsets, champaign glass towers, towns and cities we visited – from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico to Cartegena, Columbia, the ship entering the canal and the massive locks that raise and lower them, with the last photo being of the 5 lovely ‘single, solo-traveling women’ I dined with each evening. We had a great time, got to know each other well, and drove our waiters a little crazy!!
Once we docked in Ft. Lauderdale, I Uber-ed to the Amtrak station and caught a train to Tampa, where my dear friends and old North Carolina neighbors, Don & Karen, picked me up. I would spend the next 2 weeks in my own little guest house at their lovely, new home in Dunedin.
They have graciously volunteered to be ‘my mailing address’ for the next however many years I am away. We had a great time catching up. Donnie did a turkey on his new grill, Karen and I toured a weirdly wonderful art studio, and I realized that Florida never changes; you can still see the strangest things while driving along the road. Karen, who is the very best cook I know, shared one of her delicious recipes, which I happily share with you. Just click on the photo to enlarge and copy!
And so, my time in the States came to an end. On January 22nd, 2025, I flew from Tampa to Philly. Later that same evening, I flew from Philly to Lisbon, Portugal. From Lisbon, I caught the bus to my favorite fishing village, Ferragudo, located on the coast of the Algarve. My friends, and owners of the house I have now rented 5 times, were there to pick me up and ‘take me home. ‘ I will live here for the next 3 months – the allotted amount of time a US citizen can spend in the Schengen territory.
I have much more to share and what I have planned next, but for now I’ll just say…
…Unitl next time.
My Home on the Roam 