Settling In

Getting to know an area has its challenges and its rewards.  I ventured out early (at least by our recent standards) yesterday at 8:30 am to a nearby Walmart for breakfast items and something to make meals for the day so we could eat at home.  Days of meals on the road at mostly fast-food places hold no more appeal.  But I wanted to clean our new home's refrigerator before really starting meal preparation, so I opted for microwave meals for breakfast and dinner.  A couple of cans of tuna fish, a jar of mayonnaise, and some sweet pickles would do for lunch.  Bottled water and shelf liner completed the list.

As it works out, early morning shopping at Walmart is so easy here.  Merely a mile away, it is less than a five-minute drive.  At this early hour, it is not crowded.  For the most part, only elders like me were shopping.  Others, many older, were either tending to the cash registers or filling pickup orders with those wretched blue carts that take up half an aisle.  I'm not complaining, though, as the otherwise open aisles made my errand quick and pleasant.  A small order was all I intended until I could wipe down the refrigerator and cabinets in my new kitchen.

Conveniently, as I was finishing up at Walmart, I received a text saying my prescription at CVS was ready.  Another half mile's drive down Kings Highway to the west, passing under I-75, and I was there.  No lines, no wait, just a quick pickup, and I was on my way home, already able to maneuver through the entire route by memory back to our condominium.  It is a bit scary at our age to learn a whole new maze of existence, but the memory neurons seem to be holding on still, and for that I am grateful.

Jim was waiting for me to return, and opened the front door as I pulled a little shopping cart (left at the condo by the previous owners) from the elevator down the walkway toward our place.  We're on the third floor.  It's great for the view, but requires some planning for what you'll carry up four flights of stairs, totaling twenty-eight steps.  The steps are good for the leg muscles, but at least for me, the stairs will require free hands.  Luckily, the elevator works beautifully.

Another convenience is the trash dumpster.  It's a short walk from our building, and each building has one.  There are seven three-story buildings here, and two more buildings to the east of us, beyond a clubhouse and pool area, for a total of 192 units.  We haven't explored the pool area yet, nor the clubhouse with its adjacent bocce court and tennis court.  We're told that during the winter season, they have occasional dinners and breakfasts at the clubhouse, as well as bingo, dominoes, and a library.  We'll have to check on those activities after we get settled in.

Later in the morning, after breakfast, Jim drove to Port Charlotte and finalized our internet account before stopping at Home Depot for a couple of small items.  I have to admit at this point that each of us is anxious when the other ventures out alone.  It's a subtle kind of anxiety over whether they'll find their way home in this unfamiliar place to us.  I am sure that anxiety will pass, but for now, I prefer going together with help from WAZE.

We wish nothing was coming via the U-Pack pods.  The house is furnished so nicely and so uncluttered, we would like not to add anything else to it.  But in just a week, on the 28th of April, the pods will arrive.  I suspect we will have lots more to donate to Goodwill before this is over.

It was hard to sleep this morning with the to-do list for completion before next Tuesday rolling around in my mind.  It's 6:30 a.m. and still dark here in Florida as I write.  I can hear a seagull or some other bird calling outside our lanai.  I know it's the same for Jim.  But the coffee is ready, so I'll say adieu for now...

April 19 - The Journey to Home

Anticipating Sunday to be the last day on the road, we were on Interstate-10 eastbound by 8:21 a.m., having skipped breakfast and a shower just to get started.  An hour later, after crossing the Suwannee River, we reached Interstate-75 southbound, the road that would ultimately yield an exit a short drive from our condominium in Punta Gorda.  The weather was sunny, clear, and 73 degrees.  

We passed a large section of solar panel installations along the west side of the road shortly after joining I-75.  The Interstate was wide here, with large emergency lanes and relatively clear, with fewer cars than we'd been experiencing, probably due to it being a Sunday.  Even so, the highway department was mowing the median and along the sides of the road.  No litter and no graffiti to be seen anywhere!

    

By 10 a.m., we had reached Gainesville, Florida, home to the University of Florida.  Just south of Gainesville, we crossed a large, flat dried-up lake called Paynes Prairie.  Heavy rains in September 2017 temporarily restored the lake when Hurricane Irma dropped several inches of rain and damaged a levee, flooding the Paynes Prairie basin for months.

Thereafter, we passed through Micanope.  This town always makes me smile because, as kids living in Florida, we always pronounced it "my-can-o-pee."  

The town of Ocala followed, known for its horse farms.  This is an area of rolling hills partitioned by white-fenced pastures and gated driveways leading up to large homes.  The horse farms are evident all the way south toward Orlando.  Of course, everyone knows of Disney World's location near Orlando.

Next followed Tampa, Venice, Port Charlotte, and finally our exit.  Though our mailing address is Punta Gorda, we are physically closer to Port Charlotte.  It seemed surreal turning into our condominium parking lot.  We'd purchased the home sight-unseen.  We were pleasantly surprised when we walked in to have everything we'd imagined surpassed.  The day ended with a beautiful sunset from our lanai.

I think it will be a great place to live.  Writing this at the end of today, after driving over to Punta Gorda across the Peace River to start our mail, and then exploring Port Charlotte to get our internet service set up at Xfinity, was a pleasant experience.  We've already met several friendly neighbors who have told us we have one of the nicest condos in this building!  Snoopy has given his new home a vote of approval as well.

 

That's it for our journey of 3,438 miles across the country.  Thanks for sharing our adventure with us.

As we settle in, we'll share some stories from time to time about anything interesting we discover here along the west coast of Florida.  If you are curious, check in from time to time and see what we've been up to.  It's an amazing journey for two elders still seeking moments of adventure in life...

Arrived Safe and Sound

We have arrived at our condominium today safe and sound.  We won’t have internet until tomorrow so I will post the story of our last day of travel then.  

Working this from my phone is not really practical. We emptied the car, and introduced Snoopy to his new home.  After dinner out at Applebees nearby, and a quick stop at Walmart for breakfast items, we are back home with our feet up and probably won’t stay up for more than another hour!

The sunset is pretty from our lanai tonight.  The condo is everything and more than we envisioned.  So we bid you good night, wish you sweet dreams, and back to you tomorrow.  

How Do You Spell Relief? "Last Night On The Road"

I meant to show you photos of last night's restaurant, "Jim N Nick's BBQ", and the massive baked potatoes they called "loaded" potatoes overflowing with sour cream, butter, cheese, scallions, BBQ sauce, and pulled pork.  Served with cheese biscuits, honey butter, and sweet tea, it was a meal one could hardly finish.  But we tried!  The accents are southern here, and sweet tea is the drink of choice.  The service is superb.

It must have been prom night last night, as we saw several young women dressed in beautiful, long gowns with their dates in suits at the BBQ restaurant.  Following dinner, after purchasing gas, we drove through a lovely residential area of homes, many of brick construction, situated amid rolling hills with beautiful yards and tall trees.  

 

 

Today, we took a more leisurely pace, getting on the road at 9:50 am from Jasper.  We are now happily devoid of sweaters and coats at a comfortable 76 degrees under somewhat cloudy skies.  Leaving Jasper, we noticed a strong, sweet smell.  Searching for its source, it seemed to be some bushes blooming along the road with small, white flowers.  Checking for what it could be, I believe it was Chinese Privet.  It is an invasive, semi-evergreen shrub from Asia, introduced to the U.S. as an ornamental plant.  Its fragrant white flowers appear in spring, and later it produces dark purple to black berries in winter.  Birds spread the plant by eating the berries, making it difficult to control.  The plant displaces native species in forests, fencerows, and along waterways.  But to me, it smells lovely.

We had lunch at Chick-fil-A, and it was an amazing establishment with a double drive-through lane system.  In-person order takers were outside at both lines and provided quicker service than anywhere else we've been in recent memory.  Plus, the "original chicken sandwich" was delicious!  Beverage, of course, was sweet tea.

We are definitely in the south, as evidenced by the sight of a Confederate flag, with a sign below it stating "Alabama Contingency - Sons of the Confederacy" near Prattville, Alabama.  Later, near Montgomery, we saw a sign for the "1st White House of the Confederacy", and it might have been interesting to see if we weren't more interested in getting to the end of our journey in Florida.

In Ozark, Alabama, we spotted a helicopter and tank displayed at the town's welcome sign.  The town is closely tied to Army aviation and armored-vehicle history.  Adjacent to Fort Novosel, the center of U.S. Army helicopter training, Ozark is also connected to the 131st Armored Tank Battalion. 

Beyond Montgomery, we viewed a particularly impressive horse farm.  This area of the state appears to have many horse farms and abundant churches.  As we traveled near Troy, Alabama, more dead pine trees were visible along the road, and several were down on the ground, victims of the fungus we learned of yesterday.

  

Tonight we are staying in Madison, Florida, after entering Florida at 2:23 pm Central Daylight Time.  We'd traveled 2,970 miles on our trip at that point.  Tomorrow we will reach our new home at about 1 pm if we get going by 9 am.  Looking forward very much to getting off the road and exploring our new neighborhood.  

Crossing Four States from Arkansas to Alabama

We started the day in Fayetteville, Arkansas, home of the "Razorbacks," pictured here in our Great Western motel pool area.  They can also be seen on many Arkansas license plates.

As we started out, it was 72 degrees at an elevation of 1,268 feet, and sunny with a few clouds.  Today's journey began through the Boston Mountains on Interstate 40 toward Memphis, where we saw bright pink waves of "Showy Evening Primrose" in large drifts along the highway.  These flowers are a major part of Arkansas's "Operation Wildflower" plantings.  Traveling along with us through the mountains for a bit was a group of Harley-Davidson motorcyclists who quickly moved on ahead of us.

The Boston Mountains have a light green tone as the new leaves are well developed at this date.  We saw a sign for an exit to "Devil's Den State Park" along the highway.  Known for caves, crevices, waterfalls, and its Civil Conservation Corps-built stone structures dating from 1933 to 1944.  Too far of a detour for us on this journey, but it sounded interesting.  

The road feels like a tunnel in long stretches along Highway 40, with trees lining both sides consistently.  Luckily, we get fuel and food stops at "Love's Truck Stops" as we travel the interstate, which is a welcome relief from the mesmerizing highway.  The price of unleaded gas ranges from $3.19 to $3.50 per gallon, which is also very welcome.

We passed Lake Dardanelle and the Arkansas River on I-40, but I was never able to get a good photo of either due to the trees along the road.  We did spy a swampy area along the highway and our first roadkill armadillo.  I didn't realize they were this far north, but we have always seen them along Florida roads.

Reaching Little Rock, the temperature had risen to 82 degrees, and our elevation was down to 278 feet above sea level.  Here, we captured a glimpse of a L'Oréal factory or distribution warehouse, a branch of the Lancôme corporation.  In 2012, I was a counter manager for Lancôme at Dillard's in Casa Grande, Arizona.  Of interest to Jim, we saw a Remington Sporting Ammunition factory here.  A huge First Pentecostal Church was situated on the interstate in North Little Rock.

In Memphis, Tennessee, there's a large facility for transferring shipping containers from truck to truck.  It is called "Memphis Intermodal Facility," and it has multiple cranes to lift and shift these heavy containers.  It was amazing!

Snoopy has really turned into a good traveler.  He's gotten used to the car and hotel rooms.  The only thing he hates is the transition between them in the carrier.  He didn't realize he crossed the Mississippi River today in the photo below!

As we traveled today through Arkansas and Tennessee, we noticed the pine trees were dying or falling down along the road in numbers too numerous to ignore.  What was happening?  Some research informed us that they are browning, thinning, or dying from "brown spot needle blight", a fast-spreading fungal disease that has surged in the region over the past few years.  It is affecting mature loblolly pines, not just longleaf seedlings, according to AI Copilot.  One photo can't show the magnitude of this issue for mile after mile of travel today.

We made it to Alabama today and stopped in Jasper.  This was the longest we've traveled in a day, and we're both tired.  We ate at "Jim 'N Nick's Community BBQ" tonight, and it was absolutely delicious!  Put this in your "someday to visit" memos.  We expect to reach Florida tomorrow.  Jim and Snoopy have figured out the route already this evening.

  

April 16 Moving South - Kansas to Arkansas

Starting the day early at 8:30 am in Hays, Kansas, gave us 56-degree weather and clear skies for the beginning of our drive and the goal of reaching Arkansas tonight.  The landscape before us fully met our imagination of Kansas topography, flat and a view for miles!  The cultivated fields are already bringing forth green shoots and look like a luxurious green carpet leading out from the road to the horizon. 

  

Oil drilling rigs, wind generators, and Eastern cottonwood trees share the view with farm homes and fields.  

The Eastern cottonwood trees are sprouting their leaves more and more as we drive east.  They were landmarks for pioneers traveling west, indicating water along creeks and rivers, shade, and a place to rest.  Prefering moist soils, these trees, however, tolerate heat, drought, and harsh winters, all conditions Kansas regularly delivers.  Evidence of wildfires was also visible with strikingly green fields covering wide areas where the fires had spread, in contrast to other nearby fields still covered with dry, brown grass.

We spied five horses standing in the shade of an R.V. park's billboard early on.  Later, there was antique farm machinery sporting a sign that read "BANKERY" meaning it was a cottage or home-based business selling homemade baked goods directly to consumers.

Kansas has an abundance of both modern-day wind generators and the older windmills across the fields we passed.  The newer one is for electricity, and the older one is for pumping water.  Often, we saw the windmills providing water for livestock. Here I captured a photo of both the old and the new together.  

In Park City, Kansas, we passed "Thyssenkrupp Aerospace" which focuses on metals distribution, processing, and logistics for aerospace manufacturers within the U.S. distribution network.  Near Wichita, Kansas, we passed an unusual, white geodesic home.  Finally, in Fredonia, Kansas, I got a photo of one of the many grain storage facilities we saw along our route today.

  

We passed through Missouri briefly on today's route, where it is easy to see the layers of stratified rock exposed by highway cuts through the rolling Ozark Mountains.  Hundreds of millions of years of sediment piling up in ancient seas here were followed by a slow uplift.  Exposed by road construction and through natural, deep erosion, it is an interesting introduction to geology.

  

We ended our day in Fayetteville, Arkansas, at what appeared to be rush hour.  Grateful to arrive at our reserved Great Western Inn lodging for the night, we ordered in from Pizza Hut and called it a day.

From Winter to Summer in One Day

Yesterday's snowstorm left plenty of reminders of winter along I-80 this morning, alongside the clear road surfaces we traveled under a sunny, blue sky.  We left early at 8:30 am, wearing winter coats in 39-degree weather.  

 

Along the way, we saw a herd of pronghorn.  Often called antelope, they are common in Wyoming, which holds their largest population in North America, about 320,000 animals.  I was amazed I was able to capture a quick photo of them while we traveled at 75 miles per hour!

Another quick photo early today was of a buffalo.  Not a real one, but a metal sculpture of one.

Before leaving Wyoming, we spotted more evidence of natural gas production, electric transfer stations for wind generators, and oil pumping machinery near Cheyenne.  Energy production is well underway from Laramie to Cheyenne and beyond.

 

In Fort Collins, Colorado, we passed a large Anheuser-Busch Budweiser plant, and then in Loveland, Colorado, we spotted a huge Amazon facility while traveling on I-87.

Taking a bypass route to avoid going into Denver, we passed by the Denver International Airport with its white-roof terminal.  Also, nearby is the Colorado Air and Space Port, one of the FAA-licensed commercial spaceports in the U.S.  It supports horizontal launch concepts for future suborbital travel with two long runways about 8,000 feet in length.

We subsequently connected to I-70, and after lunch at McDonald's, I drove on the straight and level interstate highway, continuing easterly into Kansas.  The views all around us converted to flat farmland as far as the eye could see beneath a blue sky and white cumulus clouds, as the temperature rose to 79 degrees by the time we stopped in Hays, Kansas.  Today, we passed the halfway point of our journey.