Tag Archives: travel

Starting over again

When I moved to Florida way way back I kinda went kicking and screaming. That was the 80s. My parents were going to be there so that was a positive for my son. In fact, if not for that move I would not be sitting here in NC totally enjoying my awesome son, dil and two wonderful grandkids.

Sometimes life turns out the way its suppose to.

Here are some fun photos

When you live in Florida for years of course you have warm jackets. I had even gone to LLBean and bought what I thought was going to be a warm jacket. My kids laughed me and said “We want you to be warm so they gave me a gift certificate to REI (I love when I go there and they ask if I am a member and I tell them “Yes since prehistoric days!” ) This is a Cotopaxi. So warm!
This is was winter looks like. I love being back in the seasons again. #durham
An actual snowstorm! My first in years. If you look closely there is a cardinal hanging out there. #carrboroNC
If you know me I’m obsessed with the Durham Bulls (and the movie Bull Durham.) My son Adam was going for a drink and it literally ended up in his hands.
Hockey! Lots of Hockey! We are a hockey family! Here are the Hillsborough Hogs. Triangle Youth Hockey of North Carolina (TYHNC), also known as the Hillsborough Hogs, is a nonprofit organization in Hillsborough, NC promoting and sponsoring youth hockey. Established in 1980, they are the original, longest-running youth hockey organization in the Triangle (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill area). Hillsborough Hogs members range from ages 5 to 18. The Carolina Hurricanes mascot is Stormy the Ice Hog.
Speaking of Hogs we have Hog Day in the fall! its a huge celebration. This has nothing to do with the hockey team. Hog Day is Orange County’s largest and oldest family-friendly festival. Held annually in downtown Hillsborough, North Carolina since 1983, this free two-day community tradition celebrates North Carolina pork barbecue with a competitive cook-off, live music, classic car shows, arts and crafts vendors, and children’s activities. Schedule & Location
When: Held annually in mid-September. The upcoming festival runs Friday, September 18, 2026 (6:00 PM–10:00 PM) and Saturday, September 19, 2026 (10:00 AM–6:00 PM).
Where: Centered around East Margaret Lane and historic downtown Hillsborough, NC

So far we’ve got baseball, hockey, hikes, snow, community celebrations. Hope you enjoyed! I’ll be posting more.

Adventures at the North Carolina DMV!

When I moved up here and said I had to get my drivers license people literally laughed at me and said ‘best of luck.’ 

This whole ordeal started when I decided to change my insurance to my current location. I was told I had 15 days to register my car or my Florida license would be revoked.  Immediately, off I went to take care of this only to be told you cannot register your car unless you have a NC drivers license.

I’m not sure how the DMV ended up this way. People say it’s the fault of legislature. I’ll have to dig into that but if you have some insight please let me know.

People blame the Governor but he just got elected and quite recently he called for cross-government partnership to improve customer experience. It’s not his fault at all and kudos to him for wanting to fix it.

This post is not about blame. Its about trying to be helpful until the issue can be resolved.

Lastly, I just need to say this- every person I dealt with could not have been kinder. 

The first day I showed up was right after I was told I could not register my car without a nc license. When I was in the title office this guy came in and told me to go immediately because no one was there (They are both in the same shopping center.) I ran over there and was indeed in the process of getting my license when there was a glitch. 

It took me about a week to get my glitch straightened out. I went back on the third and the sign was out that they were full. I went back on the seventh and they were closed because we had a bad storm and there was no electricity. I went back on the eighth and it was filled. I went on the ninth and was told I could come back at four. I came back at four and was told I may or may not will be seen and there were many people in front of me. Then one of the nice ladies that worked there told me how to do this. She said I had to come back at  4:30 am and bring a chair. I decided to listen. This may not be what I wanted to do but what I had to do. 

Off I went to buy a chair.

I did wake up at four and made it there around five. There were about 15 people in front of me. By 6:30 there were at least 100 people in line. Around 6:30 staff showed up. Not their first rodeo! Everyone got in line. We all went in to sign in and get our number. Then we were free to go sit in our cars while they were in touch via text message. At this time you can see how many people are in front of you. Then, when there were 10 people in front of me I was texted to go sit in the lobby and then I waited for about an hour.

I was a total wreak but happy to report this mission was a total success!

If you have any other suggestions let me know! Thanks!