New Alaskan Boat with Wildman Charlie

So, the first picture I receive from Mr. Bill as a test email was this one. It is of the newest boat in the fleet up there in Alaska. It's in the water and his friend Wildman Charlie, who is in the picture, is probably fishing on it right now. He and Mr. Bill called me while they were out fishing a few days ago - there is a fishing spot with good cellphone reception - they were doing great. A whale came by while we talked and spouted water right next to them!

Now that Mr. Bill has finally figured out how to send an email, I'm sure more pictures will come!

The Deathly Hallows

I spent part of this weekend reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I'll say this for JK Rowling, she isn't afraid to kill off popular characters.

Parts of the book were quite touching. It is very different from the previous six books, without being unfamiliar. We learn a lot about Dumbledore, Snape, the Malfoys, the Weasleys, and of course, a few things about the main players as well. One character I have always hoped would have a heroic moment, when doubt has seized everyone else, has that moment. Another proves to be fierce when it counts most. All in all, I'd say it is a satisfying end to the series and wrapped up very close to how I imagined it would finish.

One thing: if it has been a while since you read books five and especially six, you might want to revisit them before reading this book. If you remember what a Horcrux is, you'll get the gist of things. I'm going to go back and reread The Half-Blood Prince because there are references to things that happened in that book that have quite slipped my memory. I re-read The Goblet of Fire and read The Order of the Phoenix in one day and The Half-Blood Prince the following day, one rainy weekend just over two years ago, so it isn't entirely surprising that some details didn't take hold, but it won't be a bother to go back and do a quick re-read.

For the nay-sayers out there, nobody is saying this series is Great Literature. But if you are embarrassed to say you've read Harry Potter, if you can't enjoy these books for what they are, then you've lost what it was like to be a child, when you had no perspective and everything that happened was big and important. Too bad.

Cleaning the Floors

I admit it.... I live in the land of OZ. Call my house Villa Villekulla, The Maniac Mansion or what have you, when I find something that works in a helpful way, you're gonna hear about it. One of my many bring-backs from New England this summer was a little vacuum called "Shark" Euro-Pro - 1000 watts, quiet, efficient, most excellent. Please note: I have no central air-conditioning, open doors 365 days a year...so yes, cleaning is a constant. What the breeze doesn't blow in AND out, I must clean.

Living in the Florida Keys is wonderful - an easy breezy, wonderful kind of life. When it comes to keeping the wood floors clean, due to that wonderful breeze, sweeping it out the doorway just blows it back into the room! I usually sweep it into a pile, wet a papertowel and wipe it up, then into the trash. Not very efficient but it works. Then came the swifter - okay, it was good while it lasted but honestly, I would take an old wash cloth, wet it, wring it out, then use it to collect dirt better than those store bought wipes. Another note: I still love that little hand duster! Back to my point........

I brought back the "Shark" thinking... Okay, it's good for the space bags I use for storage. Now I've used it twice on the floors prior to mopping them. WOW is the only thing I can think of to say about it. This thing is lightweight, super quiet, easy to carry left or right, pick-up power is excellent and geez, whatever else you can think of! Makes quick work of everything on the floor. I can do a rug without it actually lifting and getting stuck and having to bend over to remove the rug from the vachead. It moves easily under furniture, tables, chairs, and swivels around to every corner! This thing makes quick work of cleaning the floor. With two levels... I use the upper one since it sucks everything great and no need to use the lower level to do it. I did my entire familyroom floor in no time flat, much faster than sweeping it. And folks, I didn't break a sweat or have to bend over ten times to fix the intake part. Went over a bedroom carpet quick and easy, and sure I'll admit, it doesn't deep clean, but what the hell, who gives a shit when you're doing a quick clean??? I'm talking about the daily grind here, not the thorough job you do weekly or monthly. I had to pass this along for anyone like me wanting the lazy days of summer/winter/fall or spring for that matter. Takes up no space in the closet, easily emptied, this is the KIND! Thanks to my NE family for sending it down with me. I've never loved a shark more!!!!

Our furry friends

A couple stories about furpeople in the news this week caught my eye. I thought I'd post about them here in case anyone who might be interested missed them.

The first is a rat's tale. I like rats, I think they make better pets than gerbils or hamsters, but the tail is a big turn-off for a lot of people. I hand-reared pinkies many years ago after being told I was wasting my time, that they would die no matter what I did. Three out of five survived and I had them for many years. They each answered to only their own names and were playful and friendly. I can't remember the male's name right now (something about Balls, I think - he was a horny thing until we neutered him), but the two females were "Fattus Rattus" and "The Gentle Four". That last name was partly a result of writing numbers on them as pinkies so I'd know who had been fed.

It seems that rats are not only intelligent, but also compassionate.

Rats may be more caring and selfless than their reputation suggests. Or at least they can be very kind to each other, even to rats they have never met before...

The scientific study is here, if anyone wants to read it.

The other animal story is about Oscar. He is a two-year-old furball living and working at the Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Providence, RI (Providence, that can't be coincidence, can it?). The staff has come to rely on him to predict the imminent death of their patients.

Oscar the cat seems to have an uncanny knack for predicting when nursing home patients are going to die, by curling up next to them during their final hours. His accuracy, observed in 25 cases, has led the staff to call family members once he has chosen someone. It usually means they have less than four hours to live.

"He doesn't make too many mistakes. He seems to understand when patients are about to die," said Dr. David Dosa in an interview. He describes the phenomenon in a poignant essay in Thursday's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine...

I know Key Dear has seen this story, she sent me an email about it. Oscar has been in the news all week - how many cats get written up in the New England Journal of Medicine? The AP story and a short video are available at Yahoo News. Oscar is also a psychic LOLcat posted on the cheezburger site - you know you're famous when you become an LOLcat!

Sometimes you just need hot water

Nine days without hot water is now getting to me. I thought I could handle it but I'm finding one thing that is driving me nuts. Finding a shower soap/gel that will completely wash off with cold water. I know that hot water is just around the corner but rinsing and drying off feels like I have wax on my skin. Glycerin soaps? Forget about them, perfumed ones, forget about it, deodorant ones - nope. Everything leaves that left over film on you. I'm about to use Joy dishwashing soap just to get that squeaky clean no film feeling. I can compare this feeling to telling you this - dry off after a shower and then apply 50 sunscreen all over. How does that feel? oh yeah, like every pore in your body is clogged! Sticky and unbreathable. I've tried witch hazel rinse at the end, same thing. It is starting to remind me of hurricane days when your told don't even use your regular water and you just rinse off quickly. You're so miserable anyway then you don't even notice your body just can't breathe and you think it's your mind!!!! Hah. I'll remember this week for sure! On one note, since I can't use my dishwasher (hooked to hot water line), dishes have to be hand washed. NO, not for me! I have a new dishwasher called Mr. R.. If he wasn't here, I'd be throwing glasses, plates, pans and all into the canal, yup yup, and letting Mr. L dive down and retrieve them after the fish clean them!!

Okay, so what's new with you??

"We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life, when all that we need to make us happy is something to be enthusiastic about." -- Albert Einstein

Polly's excellent 10 Day Tour

My Goodness... I've gone through the hundreds of pictures she took in just a short few days and sorted out some I thought everyone may be interested in. They start in Boston at her friend's place in the city with a rooftop party and evening walking party. Then some from an evening out with Queenee, time spent at her friend's in DC, the Aquarium, the Science Museum, the house, etc. If anyone is offended by one of themselves, let me know and I'll remove it from Photobucket.

She and Logito had such a wonderful time, and a good drive home. The car was unloaded in 5 minutes flat - doesn't PopPop wish it loaded that fast! Oh, yum, I ate a sandwich with Cains Mayo... OH MAN I missed that!

It's hard to believe that all these pictures came from just a few days. I know the queen has some film in a camera up there to be developed, and hopefully she can finish that up soon so wabbit can scan and upload them to the Bucket.

So many pictures, so many memories........ what a wonderful time they had! Thanks everyone - I'll share some stories after we catch up today!

Mothzilla

Walking in an old graveyard the other day, I stumbled upon this baby on a tombstone. I don't actually know what it's called (I'm sure Wabbit will be able to find out in .2 seconds ;]) but the thing was HUGE! I mean that thing was the size of my pointer finger! Damcat got really scared when i brought "Alice" in the house, so did the Old WP, but she got over it and helped take pictures, which actually came out rather well on Deacon's camera. It's actually a shame that she wasn't dead, could have put her in the bug collection. Oh well, enjoy.

PS Old WP took these groundhog pics about 3 months ago but didn't know how to post, so here you go!

Florida Sea Base

I wanted to put up this above link to the homepage of the Boy Scout Sea Base on Summerland Key. Cat has been asked if she would like to work there next summer. If you are employed at Sea Base you receive housing, pay, training, meals, fun and adventure. As well as having relatives the next island over. A few of the people she has met from there were paying customers while others were workers. Once you are employed you may stay 3 months then have the opportunity to choose your next destination. Many go place to place, depending on their interests. If you go to work there you have the opportunity to get scuba certified or maybe another interest you may have. You learn by doing. Everyone there has CPR and first aid training. Nothing wrong in getting that under your belt! Anyhoo.... check it out and pass it along, it's a wonderful place, for boys or girls.

On their way back home

I called Miss P and Logito at 11:30pm and they were just crossing the Delaware Bridge, so they were making good time. From that point they probably had another two hours to go to get to Washington DC. Miss P sounded good, awake, and she's a good driver, so I'm sure they'll be fine.

Keep us posted on their progress, Key Dear!

New England Aquarium

We spent the day at the New England Aquarium. I haven't been there in ages and it was just as cool as it was in my memory. There were a lot of people there, so it was hard to see some of the tanks along the ramps going up the outside walls. The big central tank was a bit easier; there were crowds, but it was possible to get a window to yourself. Logito and I went upstairs to look down into the big tank, then made our way down and around. Cleverly, I had forgotten to bring my camera, but I managed to take a few snaps with my phone. Not good at all, mostly blurry and unrecognizable, but a few came out ok. I know Miss P has photos, I can't wait to see them.

We saw a 3D movie about sharks. Pretty good, and the 3D effects were, well, effective! There were a couple scenes of schools of jelly fish floating by, and it was all you could do to keep from reaching up to wipe them off your face.

As luck would have it, the Alamo car rental office is in the same building as the parking garage for the aquarium, and Miss P picked up her car, a nice Toyota Highlander, one floor up from where I was parked. She even got me a free parking pass, which was much appreciated. The gang rode home with her and got home before I did (I had to make a pitstop at WalMart). The packing of the car commenced immediately and was finished quickly, and before we knew it, it was 6pm and Miss P and Logito were off.

The final Harry Potter book

Logito and I did our midnight run to WalMart last night, thinking that since the advertisement said they'd be selling Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows at 12:01am, we might snag a copy. When we got there, the parking lot was amazingly empty, and we were congratulating ourselves on going to WalMart, where it seemed there would be no line. When we got to the door, we found out why there was no line - they had decided not to start selling the book until 7am. Sigh.

No biggie. We got in the car and headed for Waldenbooks. The parking lot was packed all the way back to Pier 1, and the little bookstore itself had papered over all the windows so nobody could see in. I don't know whether they were doing a sleepover there, but it was too crowded for us. We saw one little kid dressed up like Harry Potter, but that was all.

Harvard Square had an estimated 10,000 people there last night, and I'd guess half were in costume. Pretty cool.

One twelve am

Yeah,,, 1:12 am... I admit I'm a bit nervous about my child driving my child home tomorrow. I know all will be well, but I just can't tell that inner self it is so.... So I worry. Mr. L called tonite with many suggestions... the major one being that he get a good night sleep tomorrow and then leave at 3am Sunday morning... he begs his sistah to listen to him... I will call to follow up and support him. The other begging was that Cat 'n Miss H come down with them.. Ya think? I'm thinking it's AOK... I love having them... They are my little girls... and I'd be stoked to bring them on down@@@!!! Mom (deb) and dad (deac) say no.... I don't understand it... HELLO.... one month... they would have jobs... help me out with my mosaic bathroom project.... enjoy their cousins before they all go on with their lives and have other things to do.... What more can I say?

Are their bags packed? I'll find out in a few days when Miss P brings it on home.
Missing the Logito... and the Miss P.. can they be bringing my other wild childs? Hope so... boredom comes in various ways... why not here? Anyway, I look forward to the home-coming cuz, I'm sick without them! Be safe my children... Be Safe....

I was 19 when I took my first road trip with the Mr. B.. No details............... so I know they will be just fine... Ms. P is so much better than I was... TRUTH!!! Please surpirse me with some extra girl childs.. it would make my summer great. and how 'bout a mommacita???? mmmmmmmmmm

Missing everyone..

What next

Well, it finally happened.... the water heater rusted out and poured it's heart out all over the laundry room floor. We knew it was a matter of time post Wilma. Today we'll go buy another and make sure this one is put up on cement blocks to save it from the tiny storms that surge sea water onto it. Mr. Bill and I discussed that this is possibly the last thing that Wilma ruined? nah........ we didn't say that did we? It is just one more thing.

Today we wait for the Glass Guy to return again from Miami to switch out the truck window he hastily put in wrong. The window has leaked from rain for over a week now and he'll replace it with one that fits?? geez, it sticks out 1/4 an inch... how could he not see that? hmmmmm and he had tape on it with a note to leave the tape for a day then take it off. Well, I have left the tape and await what he'll do next. BTW for anyone not knowing why the truck back window needed replacing: Mr. R was doing the much needed yard work when we returned from our trip, and one of the tree trunks zipped along the bedliner and smashed the glass in the back window... "POOF" these things happen. Hopefully it gets done correctly today and we can go get a new water heater. We actually could live without it till November, hmmm now that's a thought.. LOL

Cheezburgers

I don't know if anyone but me ever looks at "I Can Has Cheezburger?", but there are some great LOLcats there. This one is one the YoungerPea will appreciate.

Hemingway Cats

End of the blog

As I am the only one with any real interest in this blog, and that has become a joke within the family, it's time to shut it down. I'll leave it up until the end of the week so any comments or nasty remarks can be made for posterity.

Thanks for playing. It's been a real learning experience for me.

Back on Island Time

I have to tell you things are calm and quiet here.... how are things with ya'll?? LOL

I've recovered from my usual week of depression after leaving family up north and missing them and coming home to get everything back to normal. Was I gone that long? wow! I just put in the CD "Time Life Soft Rock" that wabbit made for me and I'm now back in the 70's again!

You've heard about our drive down, so enough of that! Our week with Cat wasn't that event filled, but we did do a couple things while she was here. We went to the new Eco Discovery Center in Key West. Really nice place, in Sept. they will open the growing live coral exibit which will be ongoing. The beaches had turtle nests marked off and this week some are hatching. We are lights out for turtles near the beaches throughout the summer as usual. We stopped in at Hemingways house and visited there. Miss P took Cat out one night, we did a sunset swim another, a night out at the restaurant where we laughed with the folks from the Boy Scout camp. Watched the Red Sox under the stars another, and AllStar game with my honey Mike Lowell doing his best as usual! It was hot and sticky that week. Off they went to Boston again.

I went out with two friends last night to Key West for a marvelous dinner and strolling the streets and it is packed downtown right now. Hemingway days start next week and the crowds will be here as usual but it has been steady every weekend for some reason. The annual fruit festival was while I was gone and heard it was delicious as always. Saturday was the underwater music festival which I didn't get out to Looe Key to participate. We've done it in the past and it is lots of fun snorkeling to music. I had an opportunity to night fish last night on the new moon but had dinner plans and so glad to catch up with two great girlfriends. One just spent a month here working and returns today to her 5 acres on a river that runs to the ocean about 8 miles in from Guatemala City just above Belize. She and her guy love it there, they are in the process of building their home ... the plans are fantastic! Huge thatch roof with open air living area, yes NO WALLS ... the master bedroom is up in the roof area and closed in as will be the closet/pantry/bath and a small guest room on the main floor. It is built right over the water on piling's which they have in place now. They have a sailboat and a couple other boats and it is their only means of transportation because no roads exist to their property or neighbors the local Guatemalans. She is teaching the school children and enjoying the kind and polite locals. Wonderful humans she said. Spirit airlines flies for under 200 out of Ft Lauderdale round trip and hopefully we'll get to visit her within the year. I just love the tropics. I've started my many projects and will be busy this month with my helper Mr. R.

What a great time in Hanover... I miss everyone! So great that all my kids got to get up there and visit with the family, been a long time. They look forward to spending time with Auntie's and Uncles and the all so precious Nan and Pop Pop. Believe me I remember summers of staying up late, sleeping late, no cares or worries ... lazy days of summer. Was it so long ago? Wahhhhhhhhh here comes another song "Cool Change"...

Got my reservation for Alaska.. August 6th to the 13th ... it will be WONDERFUL! Can I afford to leave? Hell no. But I'm going! Everyone light candles for great weather in the Keys while Mr. B and I are gone.. anyone got a good pair of sturdy walking shoes/boots size 8 and half I can borrow?

No pictures, sorry folks!

They're here, pt. 2!

Miss P and the ElderPea arrived last night. We picked them up at Logan at 9:30pm and then slogged our way through traffic to get home around 11pm. I can't even imagine what the traffic is like on a Friday night.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Logito and I saw Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix this afternoon. We both thought it was very good, perhaps as good as The Prisoner of Azkaban. I've read several critical reviews, and frankly don't know why these people bother.

One complaint I've seen is that the script is disjointed. Maybe that reviewer fell asleep partway through and lost the storyline, but it didn't seem at all difficult to follow to me. Perhaps he was expecting it to follow the book more closely, like the first film did. Anyway, the original scriptwriter, who was not involved in this film, will be back for the final two.

Another complaint is that there is too much emphasis on the students in this film and not enough of the adult roles. Well, this series is primarily about the students, isn't it? The adults are key, but not the central characters. This book in particular is almost all about Harry. I also read one person griping about how, by the time the series is complete, the actors playing students in their late teens would look like thirty-year-olds. Clearly this is a person who needs to get out more. If Glenn Close and Robert Redford playing teenagers in The Natural wasn't a problem, why should a twenty-year-old playing an eighteen-year-old be any kind of issue at all?

Finally, the biggest gripe is that so much from the book has been left out. This book was some 850 pages long, what would you expect? If you want details, read the book. Did anyone read The Godfather? That was 450 pages (paperback) and TWO movies didn't include nearly all the detail of the book. So, for those crybabies whining about everything that was left out - shut up already.

Of the five movies, this one is definitely the darkest. Harry and Dumbledore know that Voldemort has returned, but few believe them, including those in charge of the Ministry of Magic. There is isolation and betrayal, but also friendship and love. The scenes between Harry and Sirius are particularly touching. Gary Oldman is wonderful as Sirius. We learn a little about Snape's background and gain a bit of understanding about why he resents Harry so much. I wish another ten minutes had been added to explain the prophecy in more detail, and how Neville and Professor Trelawney are tied into it, but perhaps they'll get to that in the next film. It would have been fun to see Ron's first foray into Quidditch, too, but that would have added at least 15-20 minutes to the movie.

Is it a masterpiece? No. Is it worth seeing. Yes. I may see it in a theater again. But that's just me.

White Dove

Today's paper had this message in it and I wondered if the White Dove was still hanging around in Hanover.
"To the person with the lostpigeon or dove, please call Jim at 305-923-4970. I do worldwide pigeon and dove rescue."

New Seven Wonders

Some things are just plain wrong.

A vote was taken to rewrite the list of the Seven Wonders of the World. Had the vast majority of voters not been Portuguese, would the Statue of Christ Redeemer really be considered more of a wonder than Easter Island or Stonehenge? It should never have been among the candidates to begin with, in my opinion. The only remaining extant wonder on the original list, Egypt's pyramids, had to be given a special place when they didn't make the top seven. Unbelievable. I could accept this list if Giza was swapped for the Christ Redeemer statue, although I'd also trade the Taj Mahal for Stonehenge. And why not the Statue of Liberty, some 50 years older than the Christ Redeemer, you ask? Purely political reasons - voters don't like US Foreign policy, so the Statue of Liberty gets the heave-ho. What an incredibly unbiased and reasonable way to pick Seven Wonders, eh?

Maybe there needs to be two lists: wonders dated before 1000 AD and one for post-1000 AD. Here are my picks for those two lists:

Pre-1000 AD Wonders of the World

• Pyramids of Giza
• Stonehenge
• Acropolis
• Great Wall of China
• Petra, Jordan
• Chichén Itzá
• Roman Colosseum

Post-1000 AD Wonders of the World

• Easter Island
• Macchu Pichu
• Angkor Wat
• Taj Mahal
• Timbuktu
• Mount Rushmore, since the marvelous Buddhas of Bamiyan are gone
• Suez and Panama canals

When we get around to making a 21st century list, I'd be sure to include the construction project currently ongoing at Dubai.

The good news is, since people were able to vote as often as they liked, this list will never catch on.

PopPop and Logito

Gulf of Mexico Flats

Good luck day

I don't have a thing to say, but I wanted to make a post today, since this kind of symmetrical date doesn't come around all that often.

Museum of Science

And I thought my life was boring! Evidently I'm the only member of this blog doing anything worth posting about. Key Dear, I hope your computer is fixable, I know you have some stories to share!

Queenee took the YoungerPea and Logito to the Museum of Science today. I went along as chauffeur. We saw an interesting IMAX movie about paleontology and learned a few new things about dinosaurs, like velociraptors had feathers! The Jane Goodall chimpanzee exhibit was also interesting, and the cotton-top tamarins are cute as could be. The electricity show is still fun, and still very loud. What a great museum.

Driving through Georgia

Okay, you've waited and here it is!

Good drive back except for the *&)@!!#* white hatted cowboy in a monster pick-up truck with deer pusher-rack on the front grill. A driver/maniac that tried for 5 miles in Georgia on 95 to kill us on the highway!!! he was trying to draft us at 70 miles an hour - 6 inches from my back bumper!!! in heavy traffic with his white trash girlfriend beside him.... I put my hand out the window and waved him back because the traffic was all moving same speed, a tractor trailer was beside me, I had a truck load and my neice onboard... and he was pulling at my truck and I had to hold tight to the steering wheel, well that set him off... he got so close I think he actually pushed my truck going 80!!! I couldn't pull over with the tractor trailer was beside me!! finally he braked and by cutting off some 5 cars and around the trailer and got in front of it and braked the trailer who slammed his breaks, I saw this and slowed way down which gave him opportunity to jump in front of me, and when in front of me gave me a brake job!!! holy shit!!! I finally was able to pull out of the lane cuz all the cars were afraid of him!!! and then he pulled over and braked me again!!! and then braked and got beside me and tried to run me off the road by trying to hit the side of my truck.... I was alone on the road now cuz all cars were way back or far ahead... I was going 45 mph now.... and couldn't shake this asshole!! I had to move sideways in to other lanes because he was trying to sideswipe me and yelling and waving for us to pull over so he could fight us! I rolled down Rory's window and gave him the peace sign, said - geez, sorry for whatever!!! and that jerk got wilder!! he was yelling at us and not looking at the road and was driving straight for the side and went off the road almost down into the ditch and recovered at about 90 mph. Meanwhile I'm slowed down to like 35mph on the highway and everyone afraid to get near us!! so then he finally sped up and cut off all the cars he caught up to back and forth (they appeared to keep ahead but watch in their rearview mirrors) and we thought he was gone finally. Then cars finally came past us (those that passed the ones behind me and that hadn't known what was going on) and we resumed speed and on our way, except for me going about 50 in a 70mph zone. That friggin jerk hid on side of road and attacked us again, some woman got his plate number and waved me that she made a call. He kept waving his hands to get us to take the exit so we could fight. We were like what the hell is this kid on???? Some 25 yr old with girlfriend laughing, huge pick up truck... we just avoided him best we could. Finally he got off on an exit, cutting off more cars, and a tracktor trailer again, everyone breaking, my heart was pounding!!! if I slowed almost to a stop he slammed on his brakes and on the highway!!! throw it in reverse!! we were stuck in a bad movie!!!

Anyway ... that was the only problem, and what a nightmare it was. We got off 4 exits away to get a cold drink and ask each other what just happened. Was he a redneck Braves fan? didn't like our RedSox sign? Should we have let him draft us going the speed limit in traffic? DUH. I pride myself as a great defensive driver, but he really put me to the test. Anger management and jail time is what he needed! We were so busy watching traffic and such we had no time to just simply look at his license plate and call ourselves... hopefully they got him. Now hows that for a highway story? GEEEEZ!!!

We got into rain after that and were thankful all this didn't happen during the rain. All and all the drivers on the road were excellent, giving space between cars, keeping up to speed, staying in lanes etc. so easy and unstressful even in the rain. When we finally stopped for the day after a full 12 hours I needed a shluck of something. Catey and I went to the hot tub, relaxed and chatted while Mr R stayed in the room showering, ordering food etc. We got off to a great start the next day and home we came with smooth roads and traffic.

Stay tuned, there's more to come...

Heading home

July 1 - After a nice 3-week visit, Key Dear, Mr. R and the ElderPea left a bit late this morning and got to ... Hanover, VA! That's just above Richmond, so they made good time. Key Dear said the traffic was great, no problems at all, and they are past the worst of the big cities for traffic. They're having dinner at Taco Bell and will try to head out early in the morning. Logito is with the YoungerPea for a couple days, giving the PS3 some time off.

July 2 - The travelers did get an early start today and made it all the way to Titusville, FL. I was thinking they'd do well to make it to Jacksonville, but they got further. Key Dear says the weather was lousy, rainy and dark, for a good part of the drive, and it looks like rain ahead of them, so they're calling it a day. I'll leave the adventure part of today's trip for Key Dear to tell later. Trust me, it's worth waiting for. They'll have a shorter day tomorrow and should be home by mid-afternoon.