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.

Austin/San Marcos, TX (August 17-19)

On Tuesday (August 17), I departed Pulaski Tech for Austin, TX. I decided to play Jimmy Buffett tunes the entire way (I have almost 400 tracks on the iPod). The trip was uneventful, which is always good news. Thanks to Garmin, I passed through many small towns in northeast Texas along a state highway, avoiding Dallas traffic at rush hour. I did stop for soft serve at a Dairy Queen on the way, which was a wonderful break. I arrived at Janice and David's house around 9pm, and Janice treated me to that evening's dinner: pad thai noodles--yum! We enjoyed some conversation for the evening and chatted about possible activities for the next day (with no real decision). I also met the dogs, Lucky and Heidi.

Lucky, the dog

On Wednesday morning, after David went to work, Janice and I developed a plan for the day. We put together a loose plan, including Mt. Bonnell, eating from a street vendor cart, and floating the San Marcos River. We started with Mt. Bonnell, overlooking Lake Austin and the Colorado River valley. This is another stop on the "time is now" tour since it was a first for Janice. Reaching the summit involved a car ride to a parking area, and a short but steep trek up a stone staircase. The view of the valley (and the ridiculously extravagant homes) was spectacular, and the various outcrops along the rock ledge provided exhilarating points for photography.

Staircase to Mount Bonnell

Summit of Mt. Bonnell

View from Mt. Bonnell

View from Mt. Bonnell

Me & Janice at Mt. Bonnell

Crazy-ass drop into crazy-wealthy homesteads

Next stop was David's office in San Marcos, and then lunch. We did not have time for the street vendor, so we ate at the River Pub and Grill on the San Marcos River (it turns out this was a second time for me--I ate there several years ago). After lunch, we stopped at the grocery for beer and went on to Jennifer's house (Janice's sister). We geared up for an afternoon on the river and then headed to Don's Fish Camp in Martindale. This was another new experience for both Janice and me. I'll save the details for some more…creative?…writing, but suffice it to say we had a fabulous 3-hour float on the San Marcos River. The river is spring fed, maintaining an average temperature of 72F degrees year-round. Sorry--no pictures--too difficult while floating on tubes.

After the float, we changed back into our clothes at Jennifer's, and then Janice and I headed back to the house to meet David and head out to dinner. We went to Trudy's Tex-Mex Restaurant and Bar, where I enjoyed scrumptious (and spicy) beef fajitas and absolutely amazing cheesecake flan!

That was pretty much the Austin/San Marcos leg of the tour. I went to bed that night falling into a food-induced coma. Right before I went to sleep, though, I did book a hotel room in De Funiak Springs, FL for Thursday night.

On Thursday morning, I packed up, said my goodbyes, and hit the road for Florida with my good friends, Garmin and Jimmy Buffett.