Jim – freerangefreysorg

Hello!

Here’s a quick overview of the Free Range Frey lifestyle ……

In September 2023, we sold our house in Ligonier, Pa!

We gave away or sold much of our furniture and belongings…. it wasn’t the easiest thing to do, we had so many great memories with our daughters, family, friends, parties, and we were and still are so grateful for that house and everyone that was connected to it.

It was difficult to leave our family and friends, and our wonderful hometown of Ligonier.

But our daughters left the area and weren’t coming back anytime soon, we wanted to downsize so we decided since we’re going to downsize, why not explore some other cool areas.

We both work remotely, so the “where” isn’t necessarily important.

The house was bigger than we wanted, the girls’ bedrooms were empty, so we set out on an adventure.

From then on through today, we moved around, staying at Air BnBs, VRBOs, and even long term apartments and condos.

We started our life the day after our house sold by traveling to Lexington, Kentucky where we spent a week on the Bourbon Trail.

Next, we went to Oak Island, North Carolina for a few months. We enjoyed living in a beach town, living about 700 yards from the beach, riding bikes, walking, hanging in and flip-flops and shorts and enjoying a different lifestyle.

We met some good friends there.

Then North Myrtle Beach, SC for a few months during the winter. It was a cool planned community, again we had bikes, used the fitness center, and we were able to use three golf courses. It was a beautiful setting, with lots of restaurants and stores nearby. It was a quiet time of the year and we enjoyed being there (the summer might be different).

Back to Oak Island for a few more months. Again, we enjoyed the beach, the quiet neighborhood, the beach bars, and restaurants and a change of life. we became familiar with the weather, the trees, the grass and the different vibe there in the coastal Carolina towns.

In Southport, NC we rented a condo for a whole year and watched a few movies and TV shows getting made. Jill even was an extra in one of them! Lots of boats of all kinds, bars, and restaurants right on the water, a beautiful quaint town .

While still in Southport, we took a month and went to stay with one of our daughters where she lived and worked, Maui! (Our other daughter joined us for about a week.) We explored many beaches, snorkeled, hiked, visited multiple other islands and lived somewhat like a local, as much as we could.

A few months later, that same daughter from Maui moved to Spokane Washington. So we took our car, loaded it up, and drove out west, hitting lots of national parks on the way to see her.

Starting in Ohio, we visited well-known and lesser known national parks, including but not limited to Yellowstone, Glacier, Mount Rushmore, Tetons, and others.

We spent some time in Spokane with our daughter, then went down the coast to visit a good friend in San Francisco. Along the way we hit Redwood National Park, the Sequoias , down the California coast, to Napa and then San Francisco.

We hit Yosemite, spent a few days in Sedona, visited other parks in the Midwest, then the St. Louis arch, and wrapped it up with a tour of the Biltmore in Asheville, North Carolina before heading home to Southport.

In about 26 days, we visited 20 national parks and traveled over 9000 miles.

Then we moved to Wilmington, NC for a 6 month apartment lease downtown, walking distance to many, many restaurants, bars and stores. Our balcony was right next to, and overlooked an outdoor amphitheater and we got to see so many concerts for free while we gazed at the Cape Fear River.

While living in Wilmington, we took about two weeks and set sail with our two daughters and our new son-in-law, along with some good friends and their adult children, on a cruise from Italy to Greece to Malta. It was great to see the towns, the buildings, briefly experience the culture and explore so many historical sites. Wonderful, we want to go back soon.

We decided to go back to Western Pennsylvania for the Fall and holidays, staying October through December 31.

We spent the winter in Orlando, Florida and enjoyed being active, visiting Universal and Disney, and touring parts of Florida. We hosted our daughters and some friends and family as they visited Florida as well.

We took about 12 days to visit Switzerland, Germany, France, and Amsterdam, with three other couples, good friends, on a Rhine river cruise. First time for all of us, we really enjoyed the scenery, architecture, and food. The Frey name apparently originated in the Alsatian region of Germany and France, and we saw the Frey name frequently in a few of the countries.

Back in the U.S., we spent Spring in Carolina Beach, NC, right on the beach. We literally walked on the beach each day for 31 days. A different type of beach town, a different flavor, which we enjoyed, and close enough for a few visits to Wilmington.

A bit of a change, we spent a few months near one daughter just east of Baltimore. It was so nice to see her and her fiancé, great to spend time with them! We explored the city, the Chesapeake area of Maryland and Middle River.

Then a short stay back in Western Pennsylvania at Seven Springs in a condo; tennis courts and pool within a few hundred yards.

—>Today, we take off west again.

First, we will visit a good friend in Lexington, Kentucky, then to Nashville, and continue out west, stopping at multiple national parks.

Eventually, we will wind up living near our other daughter, formally of Maui and Spokane, now in the Tacoma, Washington area.

We will spend a few months there, take a cruise out of Vancouver with other couples, again good friends, and tour Alaska. We are excited.

In September, we will drive back across the country from the state of Washington to Pennsylvania for our other daughter‘s (Baltimore) wedding at the end of September.

We will visit a few more parks on the way home to make the trip worthwhile and enjoyable.

Then it’s back to living in Western Pennsylvania for the fall festivities, Ligonier Days, Thanksgiving, and Christmas with family and friends.

Stay tuned for More.

I will be posting new posts going forward, and slowly I will backfill posts covering the above visits and events using photos and videos, and we will provide more details where we’ve been.

Safe travels to you, good health and enjoy your life !

Jim and Jill

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