outline

go forward, I went up the mountain

The road trip experience and thoughts.  On a time limit to meet xiffy but still a relaxed pace.  I learned to really love the road life with the various rest stops, taking showers at truckstops, eating at every waffle house along the way and there are a ton of them!  Betty was a rockstar the whole way.  Only stayed in one hotel for one night the entire way. More interested in making time than sight seeing, especially knowing there is a leisurly return trip.  Franklins bbq?  Absolutely.

hardest part of the whole drive was getting to the 15 in C

Arizona getting stuck p

New Orleans, down burbon street and then google maps went insane taking me back to the freeway into the poorest part of the city and it was SCARY.  So may cars on blocks...... Longest train ever right in the middle of the worst part of town.  It reminded me of working in south central after the riots and always giving yourself a way out at a stop light.

Texas. It's hard to live in a degenerating society full of gang bangers, crimimals, drugs, no moral compass, everybody out for themselves......turn on youtube and get a depressing view of our society.  Some people, and the population is growing, are just the scurge of the earth and should not be entitled to share normal society with people trying hard to live a good life and contribute.  I could not help but think of australia when I was driving through tx and the history of shipping prisioners and convicts.  Texas has all of the open land we need to send the worst of society there.  Want to build a wall Trump?

Alabama, the guy that recognized the sticker and told me stories of his time there with the thickest southern accent.  Reminded me of when I came to newport after bakersfied and how I stuck out like a sore thumb with my cool and totally fashionable wrangler jeans, la tigre collard shirt and while leather nike tennis shoues with the red stripe (all of the rage in bakersfield!)

Kemah tx was my favorite

Louisiana probably the friendliest.

Drivers all along the 10 east.  speed yes, lane discipline like the autoband, yes.  tailgating at 85 miles and hour?  Where are you going??????

Honking in florida, blinkers, cutting off, tail gating.  Silver alerts?  still looking for all of the old people who worked their whole life to retire in florida.

Food along the way.

Waffle hosue
Kema frog legs,.....
Texas BBQ
Acme Oyster House was a no go




Florida is not what I thought it would be

lessons learned

icw, dredging, backwoods unmarked, very narrow, celebrated open water only to run aground twice and now I am anxous to get out of the icw with all of the hazards for a sailboat.  It's not by chance this is a power boat communtiy where they don't face the same hazards

Gulf stream, just don't want to get corkswrewed for miles.  Xiffy can take whatever is thrown at her but I can't and neither can the dogs.

Winds.  North, no go, south east is prevailing so the further south, the easier the sail.  Westerlys are rare but that would be the easiest sail for the crossing and probably get an eastery coming back so it would be downwind as well.



Bottome line, I can zip through all of these places just because its new but it get's old in a hurry.  Newport is my home and the only place on earth that moves me inside.  however, i do miss squirrl runs to oceanside, moro bay, rincon, ventura harbor, channel islands harbor,  I'm pretty much a local at those places now too.  What I am done with and have it out of my system

"hope you look for what you are looking for?????"  LOL  Not running, not seeking, just enjoying.  I have a history of doing big things in my career and to just stop that is very hard so to not have a big project or a big adventure with a big moutain to climb, and the feeling of accomplishment that comes with it, I miss.  Not at all bragging, in fact it took me moments of clarity and examination to realize not how blessed I am but how blessed i have been.  Still things I can't figure out or understand why but I realized it is, and always will be, beyond my understanding, I just move forward.  Sometimes I just have to stop at the base of the mountain and await further instruction and not climb it.