A Rainy Night In Georgia

Athens GA 05-14-2014My Road Warriorettes, Anne and Curator Jessica, don’t understand that a man has strong biological needs: the primary one being lots of sleep. Against my better judgement, I was convinced to set my alarm for 8:27 a.m. and not the usual 9:37.

I have other photos of our Beckley, West Virginia, to Athens, Georgia, leg of our trip, but they expect me to get up early again tomorrow, so the rest of the pix will have to wait.

The sky opened up

We’ve had good weather up until the last 35 miles, when the sky just opened up. Traffic wasn’t too heavy, and Rain-X kept the windshield clear (Anne is a great window washer, but Curator Jessica is going to require some training), so I didn’t mind the deluge.

The first place we checked out in a line-up-the-animals-two-by-two downpour was full, but we heard of another one on the other side of town that was even cheaper (and perfectly acceptable).

On the way to it, we spotted what would have been a really nice shot of lights on a glistening street, but I couldn’t grab the camera before we were past it. In the confusion, we missed 0ur turnoff and had to make a U-turn. Since we had to go back anyway, I decided to check out our rainy night in Georgia.

I don’t know if it’s as good as what we saw on the first pass, but it’s good enough to let me go to bed early. You can click on it to make it larger.

What Is the Green Stuff?

Green fields near Allenville 05-04-2014Mother and I were cruising around Allenville for a followup on an old story when we started passing field after field of green stuff. She thought it might be wheat, but she wasn’t sure.

I divide the world into two classes: food and feed. Food has feet or fins. If it doesn’t have feet or fins, then it must be feed for food.

So, what were we looking at? You can click on the picture to make it larger.

Travel update

Got a late start leaving Cape Monday, so I didn’t make it east of Louisville as planned. I stopped at a rest area with a decision to make: do I take a 22-minute nap and push on, or do I search to see if there is any lodging nearby. I selected Door Number 2.

There was a motel five minutes away in Ferdinand, IN. It was sometime around midnight-thirty (more about that in a minute), so I decided to stop.

I earned one discount because of the alphabet soup of travel organizations I threw out (I didn’t actually SAY I was a member of them; I just asked if they cut prices for them. I got another reduction by pointing out that I was the last person they were probably going to see that night, and I got another cut by being a member of their chain’s organization.

Time is a little confusing

Just before I headed to the room, the desk clerk said, “Time is a little confusing here. The motel is the the Eastern Time Zone; your cell phone is going to show Central time because the dividing line is the Interstate.”

He wasn’t kidding. My cell phone alarm went off at 9:32 a.m., but the motel’s alarm clock said 10:30. Must be tough to live around there.

I got into Athens in time to have dinner with Curator Jessica. She says I have to put on my shoes and pants tomorrow for a 3-hour oral history interview with the Ohio University School of Media Arts and Studies. Jessica is supposed to be asking me questions about what it was like to have gone to college shortly after the earth’s crust cooled. They told her that we don’t have to fill the whole three hours, but Jessica said, “I don’t think he’ll have any problem talking that long.”

Is Winter Over?

Jonathan Creek 04-01-2014_6676I rolled into Cape Girardeau not long after dark-thirty, got the van unloaded and the computer gear set up.

On the way up, I stopped for a 17-minute nap in the first Kentucky rest area on I-24. When I got out to stretch my legs, I noticed that the trees were blooming and some flowers were popping out. Birds were chirping and some bees were making their rounds. Does that mean I dodged winter?

Kentucky photo gallery

Boaters and fisherfolks were taking advantage of the super weather in the Land Between the Lakes area. All of us who hold our breath going over this bridge will be happy to see this construction projection finished. And, finally, I just had to pull off the road near Wickliffe to capture the sun setting over the Mississippi River bridge near Cairo. Click on any photo to make it larger, then use your arrow keys to move through the gallery.

 

Odds and Ends Day

KLS van 03-30-2014I forgot I had taken this shot of my loaded van just before I pulled out of the driveway. Not everything in there is mine: two-thirds of it is taken up with some old computer equipment I’m donating to the museums in Altenburg and Athens.

Morning started off great

Lake City MotelI mentioned how I had gotten a good rate on a small, but clean room in Lake City. When I checked out, I had a nice chat with the desk clerk. I asked if he knew of anyplace close where they could replace a nosepiece on my eyeglasses. He suggested Eyeglass Express, just up the road.

Kristina (“With a ‘K'”) McFarland replaced both nosepieces at no charge. They even grind their own lenses there. I’m tempted to get my next set of glasses in Lake City just so I can watch them being made.

Even cheaper rooms

Alabama Motel - 231 -03-312-2014I might have been able to get even cheaper rooms here on 231 outside Troy, Alabama, but I think the sign may have been all that was left.

It reminds me of the place Friend Shari and I ran across last year.

A squirrely encounter

Rest stop 03-31-2014_6627Yesterday’s rest stop photo involved horsin’ around. Today’s photo was a little squirrely. I couldn’t figure out what a young couple was doing. They were running around trying to take low-angle photos with their cell phones and tablets.

Finally, I saw what intrigued them: there was a squirrel running around on the sidewalk. The woman got some potato chips out of her car and tried to entice the little rodent into eating from her hand, but it wasn’t biting, so to speak.

I should have checked out their car tag to see where they had come from that didn’t have squirrels. (Like yesterday, I didn’t even have to get out of the car to shoot the rest stop photo.

Where’s my peanut brittle?

Oaks Restaurant 03-31-2014The Oaks Restaurant in Marianna, Florida, has the best peanut brittle I’ve ever eaten. I picked my route specifically so I could snag some for family and friends who also love it. I even called ahead of Friday to have them set aside seven slabs of it for pickup on Monday or Tuesday.

When I got to the place, I was sure glad I had called ahead because the basket where the crunchy nectar lives was empty. The cashier called the owner – Eddie, I think his name was.

Eddie said, “I thought you were coming Tuesday.”

“I said Monday or Tuesday. I’m usually late, but I’m actually either on time or early, depending on how you look at it.”

Eddie broke the news to me: he hadn’t been able to get the word to the woman who makes the brittle. He’s leaving her a voicemail message in the photo. “Could you not smile so much?” I asked him. “I need a sad photo to show all the people I’m going to disappoint.”

No tailgating this guy

Trusk 03-31-2014As soon as I saw the “Explosives” placard on the back of this 18-wheeler, I decided to pass him and put some distance between us. Maybe I should stop at a truck stop to buy one of those signs to put on the back of my bike.

I should roll into Cape late Tuesday afternoon.