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.
Day 6 , October 15, Hot Springs. Here we stayed at an AirBnB on Lake Hamilton. It was very nice but before we got to our new residence (If you are keeping track this is the 5th place we've stayed so far on this trip) we stopped by downtown Hot Springs for a tour. We started at the Fordyce Bathhouse Visitor Center. This is the park headquarters and has been beautifully restored. We were able to tour the bathhouse and see how it looked in its prime. The sculpture of the Spanish Conquistador and the Tiffany stained glass ceiling were in the men's tub and steam room. The ladies section was not quite as well appointed. Here is the women's dressing room . While nice and functional it was not quite up to the standards of the men's room. Down the hall from this room was the third floor sun deck where the ladies could catch some sun without any prying eyes. I'm not sure how much sun they got because the outfits displayed there were long sleeved, ankle length dresses...
The first week of February Jan and I took a trip down to Everglades. Other than driving through the Everglades on Alligator Alley Jan an I have never visited the Everglades. For this trip we rented a class "B"rv. We had been wanting to try one and this fit the bill. This one is made by Winnebago. It is like driving a really big van. Inside there is room for two to sleep, shower and cook dinner. On top are several solar panels that keep the batteries charged. I was also surprised to find the mileage acceptable, 16 to 17 MPG. We camped at the Everglades Flamingo which is the southernmost tip of the Florida peninsula. This is semi-primitive camping, no hot water in the showers. But other than that is is a very nice campground. the sites are very large and spread out. We never felt that the other camper were too close. At night the lighting at the campground is very subdued and we could see lots of stars. The first full day in the Everglades we had planned a boat t...
Now that I'm retired I can devote more time to being a Papa At this time I only have one grandchild, Noah . So he gets all my attention. I'm hoping that next week he will be coming for a visit. That will all depend on how things are going with the VIRUS. His mother, my daughter Jessica is a nurse and as of right now she has the week off but that may change. Jarred my son-in-law works for the state in emergency preparedness/mitigation and may or may not be called to be on duty for the VIRUS. In preparing for Noahs visit I was thinking of things to do with him. Noah is now riding a bike so I thought we might ride down to Safety Harbor where there are several places he might like. I got him a gift card for Snow Beach . I figured he would like to have the option of buying a treat himself. There is also a candy store and ice-cream shop there too. I'm sure he will want to try that also. When Noah was little he called all lizards "Joey". Not sure why but that was th...
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.
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