Florida: Part 2 (August 23-25)

The clubhouse at King & Bear

On Monday (8/23), I woke up for 6:15 breakfast with Rob and Amy. Shortly after Amy went to work, Rob & I headed out to King & Bear, designed by Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer as one of two golf courses at the World Golf Village. It was my 2nd time to play the course (the first time was this past spring), and Rob's first. We played an all-you-can-play special, so we ended up playing 45 holes over 10 hours. I think we would have played longer, but we had already avoided some really bad weather, so we happily bid the course adieu (and we were the last players to leave that day). Overall, we both played OK for the first two rounds (36 holes), then Rob showed some improvement on the final nine while I pretty much gave up and just enjoyed the ride. This was both a "time is now" activity for Rob and a birthday/graduation gift for me--great times. We both went home well worn and quite content, and kept our golf stories to ourselves while we learned about Amy's first day with her new students. We also enjoyed a home cooked meal of grilled fish and lentils.

"Anguish at #2" featuring Rob Sievert-Wagner

#7: Dramatic Draw

Rob "bobbing" for apples on the course

Daytona Beach

On Tuesday (8/24), I slept in while Rob and Amy went about their routines and headed out to work. I started the morning with some internet stuff and e-mail, solidified plans for the evening, and then went downtown to meet Rob for lunch. After lunch, I drove to Daytona Beach where I was to meet up with Dolley, a friend from Arkansas (students together in Faulkner County Leadership Institute) who now lives in central Florida. I had some time to walk along the beach before Dolley arrived, then we strolled down to the Ocean Deck beach club for drinks and wings. Later, we strolled up and down the beach sharing stories and laughs. At some point, I mentioned the "time is now" tour, which prompted a completely unplanned ride on the Sling Shot (see picture at right and video below). It was a fantastic thrill ride! Although I would probably vomit or pass out staring at it from the ground, the ride itself was very fun, especially over the beach at sunset.

Sling Shot view from the ground

Ocean Deck Beach Club

On my way back to Jacksonville, I realized I had worked up a small appetite, so I stopped off for a southern treat of Krystal burgers and Krystal Mini-chiks! About 20 minutes into that night's drive, I finally completed the 395 track listening spree of Jimmy Buffett songs that began one week earlier. It seemed rather fitting since my drive from Daytona Beach north to Jacksonville marked a transition as my journey took a north-bound turn. It was a fantastic day, and I was very ready for sleep when I arrived back at the house.

On Wednesday morning, I arose at 6:00am to join Rob & Amy for breakfast and say "goodbye" to Amy as she left for work, and then slept awhile longer before starting my own day. When I did finally start my day, I got myself ready for more road travel, packed up my freshly cleaned clothes, sad my "goodbyes" to the kittens, and set out for Richmond, VA.

Alive and well

I'm alive and well in NY tonight. This will *not* be the night to catch up on the blog--sorry. I need sleep. I will say that today was both exciting and draining. I visited Gettysburg, PA, a stop that only recently hit my itinerary. It was truly an overwhelming experience, and I'm pretty sure I'll need some "digestion" time before I can write about it.

I will comment now, however, that it is very weird knowing that my most recent travels have taken me through all of the confederate states. It was even more strange touring Richmond, the capitol of the Confederacy, on Thursday and then touring Gettysburg today as I exited that region. For some readers, this may not seem like a big deal considering that it has been nearly 150 years since the Civil War ended; for me, however, I feel a significance even if I cannot yet quite explain it. I suppose the exposure and learning is even more challenging since I've spent much of my life ignoring--even avoiding--Civil War history.

Off to bed. I will return to the accounts of Florida soon, as well as Richmond, West Virginia, Gettysburg, and points yet to come.

Holding On!

Hey blog readers,
This is a very quick update of potentially critical information. First, my "trusted" Palm Pre is trying to fall apart--literally. I think it is going to last for the remaining week of travel. I need to put in an "insurance claim" to have a replacement sent, and "sent" is the critical word. Since I'm on the road, I'm hoping to have that happen when I return to Ohio. In the meantime, I'll treat it nicely and hope for the best.

Second, my MacBook hard drive starting making some bad sounds last night. I confirmed the diagnosis with my current host, and will be visiting a Mac Store later today. Ugh. If the computer and phone both die, this is going to become a 20th century road trip real quick (except for Garmin)!

In brief, the rest of Florida was fantastic--a very very full day of golf at King & Bear on Monday, and a trip to Daytona Beach on Tuesday. Wednesday was mostly travel to Richmond, VA, but I also went to a baseball game and had a splendid late-night dinner. I'll post more detailed accounts later, but I need to get out into Richmond right now.

In case I don't get back on line soon, I'm heading to WV on Friday evening, then upstate NY on Saturday afternoon. Still on track to hit western PA on Monday & Tuesday, returning to OH on Wednesday.

Tour Map: 8/25

As of today, approximately 4625 miles.

Reflection

Today is Day 13 of the current tour leg (since leaving Elyria), and Day 23 of my overall travels. The trip is absolutely fabulous, but I must also admit there is "wear and tear." At this particular moment, I am actually quite at peace and relaxed on the couch in Jacksonville, FL. I think I might relax a little in the pool, too, before heading out for more adventures. Still, despite the balance of excitement and serenity, there is a general "drain" for me that comes with living out of a bag and on the road. I think part of the drain is from segmentation--each place is something new and disconnected from the previous place, with only me (and perhaps this blog) for continuity. It makes me wonder how different--good or bad--this kind of adventure would be shared with someone else. The newness of each place is very exciting, but there is no denying the disconnect along the way. I suppose this is probably a road trip side effect for someone like me who puts a great deal of mental energy into relational concepts.

I'll be returning to Ohio in 8 days, and I'm looking forward to staying there for a bit. However, I don't plan on succumbing to inertia--it's a powerful draining force, and I intend to fight it. Life moves on, and I intend to move right along with it! As Jimmy Buffett put it, "I'd rather die while I'm living than live while I'm dead" (and also, in the same song, "I'm growing older but not up" which should be my post topic about a week from now). Also, as Jennifer Daniels put it, "It's a good day to live," so I best be on my way to more living today!

Florida: Part 1 (August 20-22)

After a good night's hotel rest in De Funiak Springs, I finished the drive to Jacksonville, arriving just before 1:00pm. I let myself into the house and "settled" a bit until Rob came home from work. Then it was quickly out the door for a 2:00 tee time with Brian (and Rob, of course) at Panther Creek. This continues to be one of my favorite golf courses, even though GPS is gone and the greens were a little shaggy this time. It is a challenging course that provides a true love-hate relationship. My happiest moments were both on Par 3 holes (#6 and #17) over water--greened both drives and made pars.

Rob and I enjoyed a beer and "knots" at Perard's Pizza while awaiting our take-out order. We then went back to the house for some swimming until Amy arrived home from work. We ate dinner together and relaxed for the evening.

Saturday was a golf day at Fleming Island in Orange Park. We teed off around 10:15 a.m and started really slow because of the teens in front of us. However, we played through and the rest of the round was only moderately slow from course backups. Many people were trying to beat the heat, but it was no use--it was way too hot way too early. When we stopped for lunch after 18 holes, paramedics were treating a golfer for dehydration in the clubhouse. However, we nourished ourselves with food and beverage then braved the heat for more golf. We played 9 more holes, and that was more than sufficient for a day's workout!

We went back to the house and enjoyed a wonderful grilled steak dinner (I'm pretty sure there was swimming, too). However, a storm rolled in as we were eating that knocked out the power for 2-3 hours, so we very casually chatted into near sleep until the power was restored, just in time to turn off the lights and go to bed.

Jax Beach w/ Amy in foreground

Sunday was filled with glorious plans of riffle ranges and other assorted adventures, beginning with Jacksonville Beach. However, as will happen with beach life, we found ourselves quite content at the beach and stayed there until an early dinner at Bukkets on the beach. Dining in the ocean breeze while wearing your bathing suit still damp with ocean memories is so nice!

Dave's hat blowing in the breeze

We watched more clouds roll in as we drove back to the house. As the next storm rolled through, we watched Clash of the Titans while Rob and Amy worked on classroom preparations for Amy's first class day with her new students at her new school. That was pretty much Sunday--it was time to get some sleep for a BIG day on the golf course at the World Golf Village.

Tour Map: 8/22

Approximately 3800 miles so far.

If you would be interested in accessing an online version of this map to see the actual stops, please let me know. I can make that happen real easily with Mapquest, but I will need to take out exact addresses as a courtesy to my hosts. Just post here or sent e-mail if you are interested and I will post a link.