SARASOTA FLORIDA TO MOSS POINT MISSISSIPPI…..A LONG DAY BUT A NICE RELAXING DRIVE

We were awake and up at 4 a.m.  Okay, let me start that again.  Because of the time change Saturday night we were actually awake and up at 3 a.m.  Oh well, up is up and that’s the way it was for November 6th 2016.  It was 5:40 a.m. when we quietly tippy toed out JoAnn and David’s darkened driveway.  A few minutes later we stopped in a trucking company’s large parking lot and hooked up the Jeep.  And just minutes after that we were northbound on I-75.  Because it was Sunday the traffic was lite with very few trucks.  A soft orange sunrise to the east and with a slight high cloud cover it made for a great driving morning.

HERE’S PHEEBS CRASHED OUT WITH THE ROAD CREW TONIGHT

It is 2,284 miles from Sarasota Florida to Congress Arizona which is roughly the same distance it is from Bayfield Ontario to Congress.  Mileage wise we kinda officially started our trip for the Southwest this morning.  We generally do our 2300 mile trips in about 6 days so I expect to make Congress next Saturday or Sunday maybe.  We may travel some new roads as well as some familiar old roads all the way keeping a wary eye on the weather ahead.

BECAUSE IT WAS SUNDAY TRAFFIC WAS LITE ON I-75

At precisely 10:10 a.m. we swung ourselves off I-75 onto the ramp for I-10.  Quite a feeling to see Libby’s nose swinging around to point due west at last.

WE’LL BE HEADING WEST TO TALLAHASSEE ALRIGHT

MERGING ONTO 1-10

AT SOME POINTS WE ALMOST HAD I-10 ALL TO OURSELVES

We put the hammer down, sat back and and just let all the beautiful Florida panhandle scenery roll by.  Reminded us a lot of Ontario and we both had a good feeling about the area we drove through.  The Florida panhandle is definitely on our list of places to scout out for future travels south when the Southwest becomes too far or too expensive for us to reach anymore.  Friends of ours Gerry and Chuck live on the Gulf Coast south of Tallahassee and we will definitely be having a look at that area possibly in the Spring.  But not today.  Today our destination was to get ourselves somewhere west of Pensacola Florida. 

ONE OF 4 NICE REST AREAS WE STOPPED AT TODAY AND HERE KELLY SPOTS SOMETHING

HOLY SMOKES IT LOOKS LIKE A WHOLE MESS OF HOUNDS

NOW THAT IS ONE HECK OF A LOT OF HOUNDS EH STEVE

THAT’S TOO MANY HOUNDS ALL IN ONE PLACE FOR ME PHEEBS

Our Triple AAA TripTik warned of construction and rough roads east of Pensacola and no way did we want to have to do that section of I-10 in the early morning rush in the dark through an active construction zone so we pushed it today not only to Pensacola but beyond through Alabama into Mississippi.  Weather was good, no head winds, traffic was lite all day so I figured why not take advantage of the weeks best driving day and keep on rolling.  Sure felt great to finally have my good old driving legs strapped on again. 

AND WE EVEN SAW A CAMEL TODAY TOO

CROSSED SOME LONG BRIDGES EAST OF PENSACOLA FLORIDA

OKAY SO MAYBE IF I TAKE A SELFIE WITH ME MAKING A FACE I WILL FEEL BETTER

We rolled into a Cracker Barrel in Moss Point Mississippi about 7 o’clock Florida time tonight so that made for a 13+ hour day which scenically put slightly over 600 miles behind us.  Aside from being a bit tired tonight we are both feeling fine.  We’ll slow things down a tad over the next few days.

YES WE SURE DO LOVE OUR CRACKER BARRELS WE DO EH:))

I’M NOT ONE MUCH FOR GIFT SHOPS BUT THESE CRACKER BARREL PLACES REALLY DO A BANG UP JOB ON THEM MAKING THEM KINDA LIKE A LITTLE MAGICAL FAIRYLAND

 

POURING SOME SERIOUS THOUGHT INTO THE MENU

I’m still waffling on which route we will chose from here to Congress but I’m still leaning towards a Northwest heading.  Could stay right on I-10 which would be shorter but then we have to deal with cities like Dallas, El Paso and Tucson.  We’ve actually done all 3 before so know what to expect should we decide to go that way.

PENSACOLA HAS SOME NICE TRIBUTES TO AMERICA’S AEROCRABATIC TEAM ‘THE BLUE ANGELS’

LEAVING FLORIDA AND ENTERING ALABAMA

Thought of Aunt Jean many times today as we cruised along.  Wondered how she was doing and how her Sunday was going. 

MORE LONG BRIDGES OVER MORE BIG BODIES OF WATER AND WAY OUT THERE IS THE GULF OF MEXICO SOMEWHERE

APPROACHING THE MOBILE ALABAMA SKY LINE

Tallahassee Florida was a breeze to get around but Mobile Alabama was a little tougher slogging and we were sure glad to get it behind us on a reasonably quiet Sunday afternoon.  Going through in morning traffic would not have been good.  And boy oh boy when the signs said ‘Tunnel Ahead’ they sure meant it and before we knew it we rocketed into a long tunnel heading down and under some kind of large body of water.  Out the other end we could see a large ocean going ship off to our left.  Yep, we were on the Gulf coast alright.

OH NO SO WHAT’S THAT UP AHEAD????

AND HOLY SMOKES HERE WE GO BLASTING DOWN INTO A LONG UNDERGROUND TUNNEL

THE RED LIGHTS YOU SEE ARE CARS BRAKE LIGHTS COMING ON

A-HA IT JUST GOES TO SHOW THERE CAN BE LIGHT AT THE END OF EACH LONG DARK TUNNEL IN ONES LIFE

Kelly found us Cracker Barrel ahead and how nice to finally wrap up our long driving day with a nice parking spot with lots of grass and trees for Pheebs.  We were in time for supper of course so had their Sunday $9.99 special.  I think I’ve had more mashed potatoes and gravy in one week than I’ve had for the past 10 years.  As a kid I pretty much grew up those kinds of meals and I still love them to this day.

I have no idea where we’ll end up tomorrow night until we actually get there.  Because it’s a week day the traffic will be much heavier and tiring so I don’t expect we will go nearly as far as today.  So pleased at how well the Motorhome has been running and it’s always sooooooo nice at the end of the day to have a nice big spacious interior to stretch out and relax in.  We’ve never had it so good.  Oh and by the way, because of the time zone changes we are going through my posts will publish later at night than they normally do.

GROANER’S CORNER:(( A blonde and a lawyer are seated next to each other on a flight from LA to NY. The lawyer asks if she would like to play a fun game?  The blonde, tired, just wants to take a nap, politely declines and rolls over to the window to catch a few winks. The lawyer persists and explains that the game is easy and a lot of fun. He explains, I ask you a question, and if you don't know the answer, you pay me $5.00, and vise versa.  Again, she declines and tries to get some sleep. The lawyer, now agitated, says, "Okay, if you don't know the answer you pay me $5.00, and, if I don't know the answer, I will pay you $500.00."  This catches the blonde's attention and, figuring there will be no end to this torment unless she plays, agrees to the game. The lawyer asks the first question. "What's the distance from the earth to the moon?" The blonde doesn't say a word, reaches into her purse, pulls out a $5.00 bill and hands it to the lawyer.  Okay says the lawyer, your turn. She asks the lawyer, "What goes up a hill with three legs and comes down with four legs?" The lawyer, puzzled, takes out his laptop computer and searches all his references, no answer. He taps into the air phone with his modem and searches the net and the library of congress, no answer. Frustrated, he sends e-mails to all his friends and coworkers, to no avail.  After an hour, he wakes the blonde, and hands her $500.00. The blonde says, "Thank you," and turns back to get some more sleep.  The lawyer, who is more than a little miffed, wakes the blonde and asks, "Well, what's the answer? "Without a word, the blonde reaches into her purse, hands the lawyer $5.00, and goes back to sleep.

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You might be a Redneck if::
- You've ever been stuck in your own driveway.
- You refer to your dog as the dishwasher.
- Your car is made out of 17 others and each part is a different color.
- You repair your car in the auto parts store parking lot.
- You can name all the characters from the "Dukes of Hazzard".
- You keep track of all the belt holders in all the wrestling leagues.
- You got married in the family car, in a drive-thru chapel.
- You search your computer monitor for the dial that changes channels.

ALWAYS SO SAD TO HAVE TO SAY GOOD-BYE

THE VERY MUCH MOST BESTEST OF PALS:))

Being our last full day here we had ourselves a busy morning.  Coach was needing a good clean-up and Kelly busied herself with that.  I dumped our gray and black tanks, cleaned some windows, topped up our fresh water tank, checked the tires and took care of half a dozen other little things.  JoAnn and Dave gave us a tour of the new house they just had built after designing it themselves.  Can’t even begin to describe how beautiful their house is inside with it’s high ceilings and open concept living.  Beautiful furnishings and paintings as well.  ‘WOW’ is all I can say.

THESE TWO WERE HAVING A GREAT TIME THIS AFTERNOON

Sally1340 left a 4 word note with a link in our Shout Box this morning saying “I am so sorry”.  And ‘so sorry’ it was alright.  They tore down Corner Gas Friday.  Long time readers know of my love for this Canadian made half hour TV sit-com which ran from 2004 to 2009.  One of the ‘must see’ stops for me on our journey to the Southwest back in early October of 2014 was Rouleau Saskatchewan where the episodes and final full length movie were filmed.  A sad day for Dog River indeed.  Click this link for the day Kelly and I stopped by the set of Corner Gas.  Even that day was a sad day for me.  I have watched all the re-runs of Corner Gas now for years never seeming to tire of the zany humor so cleverly written.  Unlike so many other TV sit-coms Corner Gas never used a phony ‘laugh track machine’ and that alone in my opinion set the half hour comedy well above most other TV sit-coms.  Peter has a good write-up about Corner Gas and the demise of the Dog River set. 

ALL WORRIED THAT WE WERE GOING TO LEAVE HER BEHIND AGAIN WHILE WE WENT FOR SUPPER BUT WE DIDN’T LEAVE HER THIS TIME

Under a clear blue sky temperatures rose quickly so we didn’t waste any time firing up our front A/C unit to keep the rig cool.  Headed off over to Aunt Jean’s about 1:30 and spent another enjoyably relaxing afternoon together. 

 

It was our last day together so around 3 Pheebs and I hopped into the Jeep and with Jean and Kelly following in the Speedy Gonzales mobile we convoyed up I-75 to our spot off Fruitville Road at JoAnn and Daves.  A tour of the Motorhome then it was outside for photos with JoAnn taking some really nice pics with her Samsung Smart Phone and Kelly’s Blackberry.

JEAN LIKED OUR MOTORHOME

AUNT JEAN AND JOANN, BEST OF FRIENDS FOR YEARS NOW

AS WE LEFT FOR KACEY’S SEAFOOD WE NOTICED PHEEBS ON THE RIG’S DASH WATCHING US LEAVE

Said our good-byes to JoAnn and leaving Pheebs in the rig Kelly, Jean and I headed off to Kacey's Seafood on Fruitville Road.  A real busy little place and we were lucky to get a table.  Aunt Jean had the Shrimp "Scargot" which consisted of ‘shrimp baked in garlic & herb butter and melted Swiss’.  Kelly had the ‘Captains Platter’ consisting of Cod, Clam and Shrimp.  Not having any part of that stuff I had me a big mess of ‘Fish n Chips’.  Food was excellent.

KACEY’S SEAFOOD

THE GAL’S HAD QUITE A TIME DECIDING WHAT TO ORDER

COMING OUT OF KACEY’S I THINK KELLY DID THE ‘TURKEY TROT’ ALL THE WAY ACROSS THE PARKING LOT BACK TO THE CAR

It was around 6 when we made it back to our rig where we spent some time talking before the inevitable sad time to say good-bye finally couldn’t be avoided any longer.  I have never been good at saying good-byes and tonight was no exception.  With Aunt Jean’s health slowly fading and being 89 years old we all understand the realities of aging and it’s inevitable consequences.  The great distances between us make visiting back and forth difficult so the time spent with Jean this past week has been very precious for us all.  If we sell our Congress house that will free us up to expand our travels in the future and another visit to see Aunt Jean will be possible.  We’ll see what this winter brings.  I watched Jean slowly drive out the winding driveway and saw her tail lights turn left and disappear on down the road.  I was overcome with a great sense of sadness.

No idea where my next blog post will be coming from except to say somewhere along I-10 possibly in the Florida panhandle somewhere.  Haven’t decided on an exact route yet but at some point we will be exiting I-10 and working our way northwest.  The avoidance of large cities is always a priority for us plus alternate routes have always taken us through a lot of backroads scenery we would otherwise have never seen.  Would you believe we once got lost in the Ozarks.  Yep we did.

GROANER’S CORNER:((  One day at a busy airport, the passengers on a commercial airliner are seated waiting for the pilot to show up so they can get under way. The pilot and copilot finally appear in the rear of the plane and begin walking up to the cockpit through the center aisle. Both appear to be blind; the pilot is using a white cane, bumping into passengers right and left as he stumbles down the aisle. The copilot is using a guide dog. Both have their eyes covered with sunglasses. At first, the passengers do not react thinking that it must be some sort of practical joke. After a few minutes though, the engines start revving, and the airplane begins moving down the runway. The passengers look at each other with some uneasiness. They start whispering among themselves and look desperately to the stewardesses for reassurance.
Yet, the plane starts accelerating rapidly, and people begin panicking. Some passengers are praying, and as the plane gets closer and closer to the end of the runway, the voices are becoming more and more hysterical.  When the plane has less than twenty feet of runway left, there is a sudden change in the pitch of the shouts as everyone screams at once. At the very last moment, the plane lifts off and is airborne.
Up in the cockpit, the copilot breathes a sigh of relief and tells the pilot: "You know, one of these days the passengers aren't going to scream, and we aren't going to know when to take off!"