Congratulations! How nice it will be to live somewhere warm and close to what you enjoy doing! You're living the dream and that's what we should all strive for.

Congratulations -- it all sounds great! (except for the long cat ride)

Try golf! I think you'd enjoy it. :)

Your moving to close to my area. I just moved back down here from New England a few months ago. We are also big cruisers and love being close to the ports. Good luck with your move, it is stressful but once you get settled you will enjoy it. It has been chilly here past couple days. My son has been complaining it feels like New England. I like yes it may feel like that today but instead of feeling like this 5 months out of the year if you wait a day or 2 it will be over and back to normal.

Wonderful! ! DH and I are considering Florida when DH retires in a year or two, also to an over 55 community, but no idea which part. I have two brothers who live south of Sarasota.

When you get settled, do let us know how you're doing and how you're enjoying your new surroundings.

"There is even a golf cart in the garage!"

Sweet!!

I understand why you want to leave. I left central Illinois (Urbana) 38 years ago to move to California. I hated the freezing cold winters and super humid summers. I still have a brother there and I keep telĺing him to join another brother and sister in Florida.

The brother is in the panhandle in Destin and sister in Vero Beach. Before that she lived in Key West. I always liked KW. Great place to visit. She has done cruises almost every year since living there, being so close to ports. My parents went to FL every winter for a month since the mid 1960's (me too till mid 1970's) and bought a place in VB in 1987. I have visited there quite a bit. Got to know East coast FL pretty well. I always wondered what the West coast was like.

Hope you enjoy your time there and the move goes smoothly.

How great that the leaving the weather is only part and the going toward is a big reward! And how fun to be able to spontaneously jump on a cruise ship and go on an unplanned trip to wherever it's going. I've never been very interested in cruises, but the idea of just going for it willynilly sounds very appealing. You're experienced, so probably don't have to worry much about what to pack, and the ship provides all the living necessities that one has to deal with on vacation, so it's sounds like it'll just be, hey, they're going to X and have a nice cabin/nice price for us, let's go! How fun!

Thanks for all the kind words.

One of the big things that we will miss is the atmosphere of being in a university town (University of Illinois). There is something special about being near all the students. There are many things to do that we just won't get in a 55+ community.

For those who want to get more information, this is the site that I started with as we explored the potential for moving. http://www.55places.com/

Cruising for us is fun. For this upcoming cruise, we have been to every port multiple times, one gets bored trying to explore places you have already explored. We'll stay on the ship and be calm. No running around to explore and then get back on the ship to eat a meal and go to the show and go to bed and repeat the next day.

Jim, since you don't seem to mind the idea of a day's drive, I'm sure there must be universities within an hour or two driving from your new home. There are surely interesting and funky places there to go with them. You'll have a whole new state to explore, and I'm sure you'll find plenty of great areas for day trips.

It's sounds like a perfect move for your lifestyle. Congrats on the new home.

Enjoy! My bro and his wife plan to move down to Tampa/St. Petersburg in the next couple of years - they love it down there and are tired of Chicago winters. There seems to be a lot to do in St. Petersburg. It's not my climate, but I'll visit in spring or fall. (I refuse to get trapped by winter airport-closing snowfalls, and I don't think I'd enjoy the summers there.)

You will love it there!! Good luck traveling with your cat.

Jim, welcome to my neck of the woods. You'll be close to the University of South Florida, Tampa University and not too far from the University of Florida!

Go Gators!

ML (Tampa) (shout out if you need any info)

I'll be interested to hear how you like living in Tampa year round and how you like the Seniors community. You may find you need to take up golf if you want to 'fit in'. At least that is what friends found when they moved to a Del Webb-type community in California.

Funny how New Englanders migrate to the Atlantic side of Florida, and Midwesterners go the the Gulf side! Half our town 'gets away from it all' to Sanibel in winter -- seeing all the same people, of course!

We thought about moving when DH retired. We did, too -- moved 16 miles farther north of Chicago. We have always lived in the 'burbs. We like the weather nine months of the year. Our DS and family are there. We dealt with winter by buying a condo in South Maui. We use it three months in winter and rent it to vacationers the rest of the year.

One of our fellow owners here tells me she and her DH are selling their home in Minneapolis to live here permanently -- and take lots of cruises the rest of the time! I understand the allure. You see interesting places and meet new people every cruise. There's medical care on board. I compare cruising to carefree childhood -- when Mom made your bed, cleaned your 'room', fed you, and gave you money for the movies.

Jim, if your cat has not been in a carrier very often, you might try putting some treats in it several times a day and leaving the door open so she gets comfortable with it and not be as afraid when she has to be put in it as packing and loading is going on and of course during driving. When we moved with our cat, our veterinarian gave me some mild sedative for him. I would get kitty chipped if it hasn't already been done.

You know we are all highly jealous, don't you? You two are going to have just so much fun! I haven"t been over to GP today, but I'm sure that they would love to hear this from you. And I'm also sure that you have thought about more travel generating more pictures. Just want to make sure that you know that WE know (smile).

Jim, best wishes for your move and new location.

Chisue, I think I'd mentioned that some friends decided to try Maui for a retirement location. They were young retirees - mid 50s - who moved to Kihei. They rented a house for the first year and then bought a condo in a "no short term rentals" development.

We went to visit them a couple of times. We love Hawaii, having made innumerable trips ourselves, and thought the setting in Kihei was close to ideal. After 3 years though, they got island fever and left. They've said they'll go back for vacations but it was too much of a small town setting to suit their interests. Maybe if your neighbors are older and plan enough mainland and other travel trips they'll do fine.

We're staying where we are, no plans to move.

Although I have been trying to sell it, I have a Toyota pick up with a topper on it. I put some old carpet remnants in it and we'll take a test drive tomorrow with the cat back there. He will have his litter box and water available and I put an empty cardboard box there so that he can have his 'man cave'

For the move, I'll have all the perishable foods in styro containers that we managed to get from friends from that meat place in Nebraska. I will also have the TV and computer. Tony will still have at least half of the 8' bed to call his own.

Today, the vet suggested a trial with half a tablet of Benadryl to see how that works. My biggest concern is what will happen when we open the back...will he try to jump out! He does not respond when called. I don't need him wandering all over a parking lot at a hotel in Dalton, Georgia.

Maybe put a harness and a leash on him, tie it to something inside?

(I'm a dog but not a cat owner)

Some cats do better in small, hidey hole crates than larger ones with more room to move around.

Also if he is an indoor/outdoor cat be sure he stays an indoor cat for several weeks or longer at your new home. Many cats have been known to get lost shortly after moving because they go in search of their old digs. I ditto the cat carrier/crate while you are driving.

Jim -- A friend 'commutes' to Florida from Chicago a couple times a year with her cat in a carrier under her airline seat. It's a short flight, as you know. Might be easier on the cat (and *one* of you). Your cat might appreciate the security of the carrier while adjusting to the new digs -- might 'mark' less?

Snidely -- We've owned here 15 years. No plans to *live* Hawaii -- even Oahu. It's a comfortable, reliably warm winter escape. We have no illusions about blending into Maui society! We wouldn't live long enough to be other than 'ex-pats in our own country'. There are a dozen other congenial couples/owners who also come in winter. We have well-enforced Quiet Hours. It's one of the few low-density complexes without a golf course running through it. (316 units/23 acres)

We've joked about never entering a 'home', just booking back-to-back cruises.

Congrats on your plans, Jim - hope they work out as well as you've planned.

When I saw the subject line ... a somewhat different line of thought came to mind ...

... especially as, when I began radiation in the lower torso area about three weeks ago, they suggested that I might need to take bathroom breaks more often than I was used to ... and they weren't kidding!

ole joyfull ... sorry, as I'm a bit too "full" - gotta go!

OJ, when I came up with those words, I was hoping that you would take it to an extreme! Thanks.

Just completed a test run. I put a small box in the back of the truck over a big sheet of left-over carpet. Tony's favorite lounging pillow was inside the box. We drove on the interstate for about 20 minutes. Initially, he was having a bit of it, but he settled into his box and was fine. Back into the house after the ride and he did not go and hide. He got a couple of treats as a reward. We'll do it again to get him more accustomed to the ride.

Here is my BIG complaint for the day! We had to put a deposit for the water/sewer folks. OK, I have a $50 deposit on this house. Those thieves in Florida wanted $300 plus a $35 handling fee! That is beyond outrageous. See if I use their water! Huh!

I moved from San Francisco to Cincinnati (and then on to Baltimore) with my cat years ago. I put him in a crate, in the back seat, high enough that he could see out or just nap if he wanted to. The day I left I tried to medicate him. He frothed at the mouth and scared me to death. I never tried that again. He didn't need it anyway. We drove for about 8 hours a day and then checked into a motel and let him have the run of the motel room at night. It worked out great and he made the trip just fine.

Chisue, there are ships that are basically floating condominiums. There are also normal cruise ships that have some people, mostly seniors, who live aboard. The ships relocate to different areas through the year, offering seasonal cruises to the regular customers, so eventually the full time residents get around the world to everywhere that has an ocean port.

Jim please put your cat in a carrier. There is a huge, huge risk that he will jump out of the truck, or jump out of your arms to and from your hotel room and you will never see him again.

Also if he's loose in the back, if anyone rear ends you or if you have to slam your brakes or you get in an accident, guess what happens to kitty? He becomes a projectile and will slam into the truck walls at a very high rate of speed, which is likely to hurt or kill him. It's better to have him in his carrier restrained by a seat belt.

He will be just fine in a carrier. I moved 3 cats from Massachusetts to California driving. They all had carriers that were buckled into my car and I didn't open them that until safely in a hotel. I put puppy pee pads in the carriers to soak up any accidents. I set up food, water and a little litter box in the hotel and they were just fine and more importantly safe.

I hear so many stories of cats escaping when traveling and it's heartbreaking. Please please take the very simple precaution of putting him in a carrier and securing it somehow. You owe him safety more than comfort.

Jim -- The water police think you are going to be filling a pool or watering your lawn. You could run up a big bill FAST!

If it's a deposit and not a fee, the interest you're losing on it is about $1 a year. No biggie.

Jim, I would be excited too. We hate to lose you from our state. I'm an Illini too but what a new life/adventure it will be.

The cat needs to be in a carrier or kennel. We moved with our cat and dog a couple of years ago. The cat was terrified. We didn't medicate the cat because my dh over medicated the previous cat. during a move. I had bought her a kennel a little bigger than my dogs, but she stole the dogs kennel. I guess because it had a familiar scent. Anyway, we broke the trip down into two fourish hour drives and spent the night in a pet friendly hotel. The cat hid behind the bed. Leaving her in the vehicle over night was not an option because of the heat. We opted to sleep on the floor in our new home the next night rather than a hotel just to keep her anxiety down.

After a short adjustment period, the cat loved our new house. This house has two stories with a bridge that overlooks the outdoors. We have windows that are close to the ground. It has made a difference in how she acts. Our last house was only one story. I guess she couldn't get enough height or a view of the outdoors. She never seemed happy there. Oh well. At least the move made someone happy. ;)

I just moved from Ma to Florida with (don't pass out) 8 cats. I hired a transport company who picked them up and delivered them right to my door. She is a vet tech and the truck has gps so you can track their movements. The van she uses is a Mercedes sprinter van with crates built in and she sleeps in the vehicle with the animals.

She is very very reasonable and the piece of mind of knowing I didn't have to handle the animals while I was juggling everything else made the cost well worth it.

It all sounds wonderful! I hope you enjoy living there. My husband is originally from Florida....have been many times and we always enjoy it.

Jim, did you see the animal news from Florida?

I think it is great that she still lives as she does. I think it is carelessness to allow that animal to be out and about like that.

Enjoy your new life in Florida and have a safe move. I hope you love it there.

My in-laws adore their adult community in Florida (Gulf Coast) and it's really wonderful down there. They've taken advantage of everything you're looking forward to.

They hate coming north and if they didn't have the grandkids up here, they'd never leave Florida except to vacation and get away during to super hot summer.

When and if DH and I move south, I'm looking forward to my golf cart!

Jim, please keep Tony in a proper carrier/crate for the trip. It's for his safety.

I'm betting you'll start having winter company once you're in Florida. :)

OK...we made it. It was an interesting trip to say the least. The moving van left on Friday 2/12 and we spent the night in a local hotel. Returned to the house on 2/13 to pick up plants and perishable food. It was 2 degrees! Since it was so cold, Tony rode in the car with the missus rather than the back of my truck. He was a bit nutso what with the movers being there on Friday and then a night in a strange place. However, the missus sprayed some of that calming stuff and she got some kitty treats that were supposed to calm him - he ate them like candy and it did nothing to/for him.

8 hours of driving on Saturday, got us halfway to our destination and it was still somewhat cold. Sunday, we arrived near our ultimate destination in Florida and it was in the 60s.

We got our house keys on Monday and moved in all the stuff that we had brought. The moving van got here on Wednesday morning. Oh! Does my back hurt. Who told me to keep all those books?

Still a lot of boxes around the place and I just now got the computer up and working. Although the cable guy was here on Thursday, I could not find the power cord (I bought a new one), but we cannot get a picture. Another cable person will be here on Saturday

Tony the Tiger has adapted well. There are squirrels in the back yard and he can sit on the porch and watch and watch. He has been playing with his toys, so he is OK with the move! Also some birds here that I have zero idea what they are. I gotta do some research.

All in all...an OK move. At almost 70 years old is a lot different from 10 years ago and moving. Two more boxes of kitchen stuff to go and the bedrooms are pretty well set up. We have met several neighbors and they are all old like us! Go figure! It is a 55+ community.

So glad you, wife and Tony are getting settled. never too old for an adventure. Enjoy yourself and don't work too hard.

I think that you'll love it. So glad to hear the Tony has settled in.

Be sure to have someone show you what a fire ant mound looks like. I'd hate to see your virgin Midwestern legs bitten like crazy.

Yay!!! Glad the hard part is over....well....until you have to unpack those books!

Birds in FL are pretty easy. Take pictures and post them here. When all else fails, THIS is my favorite place to identify birds. Bookmark it for future use.

So glad the drive and move went well and that Tony is settling into his new home. I hope you enjoy many warm winters.

I know that this will be a great adventure. Hope that your move is all that you want it to be and that you will share your experiences with us.

I'm glad that the moving part is behind you all now and doubly happy that Tony is adjusting. Take care of that back!

Jim, it sounds wonderful! Hope the move goes smoothly!

Congratulations on your new home! Glad to hear Tony is adjusting too.

Thanks for letting us know how the trip went. It sounds wonderfully uneventful! May you have countless years of health and wellbeing in your new home.

With all those hours in the car, I asked the missus what music she played to help keep Tony calm. Enya, Kenny G, and Yanni among others. No wonder he slept so much!

Thanks for the update. Commiserating with you about the cable, etc. DH and I have spent most of three days here on Maui, grappling with Computer, Cable, BluRay, Amazon Prime for streaming. The condo association switched to Oceanic for internet; had them for TV earlier. They've failed twice in three days; next time they will send someone with a new gizmo. (Modem/router/whatsis)

Take it easy. No need to do everything immediately. You aren't used to the weather.

Wishing you many happy years in your Florida home!