Our March trip was a visit to Evansville Indiana to celebrate Art's (Jan's dad) 97th birthday.
But before our trip north we headed south. For one of my varied aliments I see Dr. Castro at the Cleveland Clinic in Weston Florida. I can't say enough good things about the Doctors and staff of the Cleveland Clinic. Every time I visit I am made to feel that my care is their first thought. Also there is some great artwork on display through out the clinic. I really enjoy seeing all the art on the walls. And I got a good review by the Doctor!
After visiting Weston we headed north via the Florida Turnpike. Jan and I traveled the entire length of the Turnpike. All 312 miles of it. Along the way we passed several Turnpike Travel Centers. These advertised gas and food as well as restrooms. We decided to stop and give it a try. These are really big rest stops. They are in between the north and south roads so if you don't pay attention or get a little confused when leaving you could end up going the wrong way. We almost did.
On the turnpike there was offered 5 or more different restaurants but when we got there only 3 were open. These three were also very lightly staffed. So we had a very long wait for a simple order of burgers and fries.
Needless to say if we travel the turnpike again we will find other places for lunch.
Heading north to Evansville we had to travel through Atlanta. This trip was surprisingly easy through that traffic hub in Georgia. Usually there is some traffic hold-up. Last time we drove through Atlanta it added about 4 hours to our trip. This time we hardly had to slow down. Not sure why but I'll take it.
During our time in Evansville we celebrated two birthdays. My brother-in-law Tim and my Father-in-law. The main event was Art's 97 birthday. Yea Tim turned 62 but the big show was 97th birthday. Art is getting closer to getting his picture on a jar of jam!
For his birthday we had lots of cards and gifts as well as pineapple upside-down cake. We also zoomed in with family who couldn't make the party to sing "Happy Birthday" I ate a little extra cake for them!
Art had 4 of his 7 kids present to celebrate his birthday. During covid that is a good showing. We did practice covid safety and wore masks except while eating or taking pictures and tried to sit at a safe distance from each other. Most of us have had one or more of the vaccine shots.
While we were there Jan was in charge of checking out the new power scooter that Art got through the VA. It is really a very nice "electric chair" as Art calls it. As you can see Jan gives it her stamp of approval.
On Thursday we celebrated Tim's birthday with a chocolate cake with white icing. We had a lot of birthdays this trip.
The trip home was fairly uneventful till we got to Adel Georgia. There we decided to stop for gas and a bite to eat. From the interstate exit 39 looked hopeful. Several gas stations and fast food spots. So we pulled in and went to the side that had the most offerings.
We got to the gas station and filled up and looked down from there and saw three different restaurants.
Jan thought she wanted some vegetables so we parked and went to the Zoku Hibachi restaurant. When we went in and waited in line. And waited. During this wait time I had a chance to look around. Hummm? Not the cleanest I've seen and ooh the floor is kinda sticky. And there is a family with young kids running around playing in the drink machine.
Ok there are two other options and life is short, maybe shorter if we stay here.
So we moved on to the next option. Captain D. Seafood is a healthy choice! We went in and got in line. And waited. And waited. There was much action behind the counter. People talking quietly to each other and messing with the registers. But no food coming out and the line getting longer. Apparently the cash registers had crashed and were not coming back...
Ok on to the third spot. Burger King. I could tell Jan was hungry because she never chooses Burger King, something about the creepy king on their commercials. So in we go and just like Goldilocks the third time was a charm.
While we were waiting Jan struck up a conversation with the girl in line before us and she recommended the Jalapeño Cheddar Bites. I ordered those along with my burger and they were not bad. Even shaped like little jalapeño poppers.
So exit 39 will now be on my list of spots to pass on by.
It's here again, the 2023 Great Cycle Challenge ! I have challenged myself to ride 300 miles in the month of September and I have challenged myself and you to raise $2500 to find a cure for childhood cancer. We are off to a good start, to date I have raised $1226 from friends and family. I have a team with 7 members so far. As a team we hope to raise $5000 and ride 1000 miles. I think we can exceed both of those challenges. I did my first ride this morning and hoped to ride 15 miles. When I was done the app said I had ridden 214 miles in about 2 and a half hours. Quite impressive but incorrect. I contacted GCC tech support and they assured me the glitch would be corrected. i'm going to try and ride as many days as possible this month and document them on this blog. I may have to do a few days on stationary bikes in hotel workout rooms or borrow bikes from friends but somehow I'll get the miles in. If you would like to donate to this wonderful cause follow this link htt
The weather was a little nicer today. Mid 80s and for Florida low humidity, about 75%. I rode almost 12 miles today. The Great Cycle Challenge app is still not recording my rides correctly and giving me many extra miles. Technology, Sigh! Below is my actual route and distance. In the picture I posted today shows how far the bay came up during Hurricane Idalia. That high water mark I can see all during my ride. Here the shore rises up to the road so the water did not come up as far. Other places I could see the high water mark on the other side of the street. Along the Causeway the water came up over the trail in many places but as far as I ride I did not see any places it went over the highway. One of the interesting things I found in all this detritus washed up by the storm was thousands of red mangrove seeds. you can see them in the picture above, they are the long green and brown sticks. I noticed that many of them had already begun to sprout leaves and roots. I guess this is a
When I ride I get plenty of time to think about things. I think about how fast I am going, what I had for breakfast and what I'll have for dinner. I think about the other riders I pass on my ride and how this month I'm helping some kids. Often at this spot I think about otters. According to the sign they cross the road here. I've been riding this route for 6 years. At all times of the day, I have yet to see an otter. I've seen all sorts of other animals but nary an otter. Maybe someday. There is a little more than a week left in the Great Cycle Challenge and I'm still a little short of my goal of $2500 for the kids. It is more that I've ever attempted to raise for this challenge but I think we can get there. Any amount helps. Just go to my Great Cycle Challenge page and click donate .
So many adventures on your trip!! Can’t believe Art is 97, he makes it look easy, right??! 🥳 Glad y’all made it back home safely! 🏝😄
ReplyDeleteEvansville (or as Art calls it "Heavensville") is always an adventure.
Delete