THE WINKELSPECHT'S RETIREMENT TRIP 2012/13

Thom and Lee at the finish line, Boston Marathon

16 April 2012: Thom finished the third hottest Boston Marathon on record!  Temperatures between 85-90 degrees.  Our son Lee surprised us with a visit to witness this 116th running of the Boston Marathon.

23 April 2012: Thom retired from Air Traffic Control after 34 years.

27 April 2012:  Thom and Sheila Winkelspecht's retirement trip started from 3546 Peninsula Circle, Melbourne,Florida. Our Honda Accord, two bikes, and one tent...

Our first visit was to The Villages in central Florida, a community of retirement resorts. Endless golf and other outdoor pursuits, and hundreds of leagues, clubs, activities, etc.

Thom, Sheila, Jean and Joe

Jean and Joe Strong playing shuffleboard 

We enjoyed visiting with Joe and Jean Strong, who moved there from Melbourne.

A pass to paradise!

Downtown at The Villages - golf anyone?

 28 April 2012: Traveled through Georgia to Woodstock, just north of Atlanta. Billboards want to be noticed, and they were!

 

We visited Larry and Beverly Baker and their grandchildren Noah and Lilly before heading off to the airport to catch a flight to Manchester, England, on 30 April.

Thom on the train at Atlanta Airport

1 May 2012: Arrived in Wales in time for Tuesday Night Whist Night at the Gronant Institute.

2 May 2012: Walked along the beach, visited the cemetery, and Thom and Daniel covered 20 miles on a bike ride from Prestatyn, through Rhyl, Rhuddlan, Dyserth, Llanasa, & back.
3 May 2012: We went to Chester for the day, a town on the border of England and Wales, and where the Roman's largest fort in the world has been excavated. It is surrounded by a Roman Wall, has a cathedral, and streets of black and white timbered buildings that are still used as residences and businesses.

Jan (Sheila's sister), Sheila & Thom in Chester, England, for the day.

Chester, England

4 May 2012: Janet and Stuart have The Elms in Gronant, the village next to Prestatyn, Sheila's hometown and where they live. It is an old rock cottage with lots of land with it; it sits on a hill overlooking the sea. Spring means yard work!


Our nephew Daniel's bee hives, there are 5 of them and the bees were very busy.

Jan's greenhouses

The Elms' back yard!

5 May 2012: We went into Rhyl, the town west of Prestayn, to buy art supplies for Thom's new hobby now that he is retired.  In the afternoon,

Thom and Daniel leave for a bike ride from the Williams's home (Jan, Stuart and their son Daniel)

Dan & Thom headed out for a bike ride along the Welsh coast line, and from Llandudno we decided to ride up the Great Orme, a high peninsula.  It was the toughest ride they have ever done.  The Great Orme was very steep!! Thom thought his heart was going to jump out of his chest!

6 May 2012: Spent more time working at The Elms. This retirement thing just means you re-tire doing something else, not slow down!

7 May 2012: Spent bank holiday Monday with Janet in Litchfield, a city in Staffordshire, England. Sheila was disappointed that St. Chad's Head Chapel inside the Cathedral was not the place where St. Chad's head was on display.

Litchfield Cathedral

Time for a pub lunch

8 May 2012: Back to The Elms and some brick slinging as Jan and Thom stack piles of bricks into the old wash house.

9 May 2012: Jan's husband Stuart arrives home from visiting San Diego to attend their grandson's 6th birthday. He is also an Air Traffic Controller.

Thom spent a few hours at the Liverpool John Lennon Airport ("Above Us Only Sky") with his Brother-in-law, Stuart Williams.  The weather was: 08007KT 6KM 011BKN.  As you can see weather was messy, but the rain brings the lush colorful fields.

10 May 2012: Sheila sketched the weather towers on the top of Prestatyn Hillside from Jan's house, very faint on the hillside behind the chimneys! Her parents used to live in the weather station building when they first came to Prestatyn in 1946. She also sketched the rhubarb Jan is growing in her garden that was originally from their parents' garden.