Martha retires

my wife Martha officially retired in June of 2017 after 32 years as a teacher, initially in the Los Angeles Unified School District then later in the Montebello Unified School District. Initially our plan wa for her to wait until I reached the age when I could receive Medicare (65). Throughout I had expressed my desire to travel to Europe in order to see the sights and drink coffee on the Champ de Elysee. Meanwhile I had also been encouraging her to take an early retirement. Usually teachers retire after 30 years of service and around age 60. She was a few years away from that.
"To go to Europe I cannot retire yet" she told me.
Well and if I give up the thought of going to Europe will you retire?
I'll seriously consider it.
I told her let's forget about Europe. you need to retire now. And so she did. her last day of work was in June of 2017.
Since then we took a 4 day cruise to Ensenada, our first such voyage. it was a great first trip. In the summer we drove to the city of Chihuahua in northern Mexico where Martha has extensive family.We took the long route traveling first through Arizona and into New Mexico through the cities of Gallup, Albuquerque and Mesilla. we crossed the border in El Paso, Texas and stayed a couple of nights at her cousins house there.Chihuahua is about six hours from there. we stopped at towns along the way, wherever things look interesting. One amazing stop was at Paquimé, Casas Grandes which is an archeological site  the place means big houses because of the 2 and 3 story dwellings built by the Mogollon culture there hundreds of years ago. for me it was a spiritual experience as my grandmother is part Native American from northern Mexico. For us family is the most important thing. We got to be with Martha's elderly aunt and many of her dear cousins. It was a most enjoyable and fulfilling trip. One that will stay in our memories as long as we have life.
Next we are embarking on a one week cruise of the Mexican Riviera. We leave this Saturday the 13th of January 2018 and return on the 20th. I have always wanted to see Cabo San Lucas and now we shall.