fayetteville, north carolina, to crystal city, virginia.
FROM SCOTT
he's asleep.......
FROM OLIVIA
well... today marked the last day of me in the car watching(to some extent) my dad drive...I must say.. im happy and sad at the same time.. not much to see on the road today except trees.. and gasp! hills! it was pretty amazin.g the hotel is nice.. (wait till u hear my dad rant....) and the view is amazing... 16th floor. ive been reading alot.. ask my dad.. he'd agreee. haha sooooo DC tomorrow, then the next day,... then i fly home.. yes if your my friend and actually reading this.. i am coming home a day early.. so that means party a day early...... get ready and dont mind me if i fall asleep.. im gonna be jet lagged.. :) YAY! ttyl
TOMORROW: enjoy the sights of washington, d.c., and not being on the road.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Friday, July 11, 2008
day 18
brunswick, georgia, to fayetteville, north carolina, via south carolina, 372 miles.
FROM SCOTT
savannah, georgia, might be nice to spend more time in. interesting old southern architecture, a nice old-timey downtown, big shade trees, and a barnes and noble with a starbucks. they seem to have preserved a great deal of the city's old downtown and old neighborhoods; the malls and other goodies are on the fringes of the city. went through savannah on our way out to fort pulaski, a civil war fort near the atlantic ocean that was at times in union hands and at times in confederate hands. when captain quincy gilmore of the union army got the confederates at the fort to surrender, one of his first acts reportedly was to free the slaves there. that was overruled by lincoln. folks who now oversee the fort -- a national monument -- believe lincoln wanted to do all of the slave-freeing in his emancipation proclamation. that was the highlight of today's drive, which otherwise was spent on interstate 95 pushing north. not much to say about south carolina; not much to see from the freeway.
FROM OLIVIA
well. today was..... exciting? at least the fort was. got to see many of the things that i learndedededed about last year.. when i was a ...8th grader,....not muh else happened.. i read. then i talked to jeff.. . then i read some more.. ate... talked ... read.. typed this yeah ive had an exciting day.. cant wait to get to DC tomorrow.. should be fun YAY!
TOMORROW: fayetteville, north carolina, to washington, d.c., where we'll spend a few days seeing the sights. no word yet on whether we've been invited to stay at the white house.
FROM SCOTT
savannah, georgia, might be nice to spend more time in. interesting old southern architecture, a nice old-timey downtown, big shade trees, and a barnes and noble with a starbucks. they seem to have preserved a great deal of the city's old downtown and old neighborhoods; the malls and other goodies are on the fringes of the city. went through savannah on our way out to fort pulaski, a civil war fort near the atlantic ocean that was at times in union hands and at times in confederate hands. when captain quincy gilmore of the union army got the confederates at the fort to surrender, one of his first acts reportedly was to free the slaves there. that was overruled by lincoln. folks who now oversee the fort -- a national monument -- believe lincoln wanted to do all of the slave-freeing in his emancipation proclamation. that was the highlight of today's drive, which otherwise was spent on interstate 95 pushing north. not much to say about south carolina; not much to see from the freeway.
FROM OLIVIA
well. today was..... exciting? at least the fort was. got to see many of the things that i learndedededed about last year.. when i was a ...8th grader,....not muh else happened.. i read. then i talked to jeff.. . then i read some more.. ate... talked ... read.. typed this yeah ive had an exciting day.. cant wait to get to DC tomorrow.. should be fun YAY!
TOMORROW: fayetteville, north carolina, to washington, d.c., where we'll spend a few days seeing the sights. no word yet on whether we've been invited to stay at the white house.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
day 17
cocoa beach, florida, to brunswick, georgia, 254 miles.
FROM SCOTT
much of today was spent at the kennedy space center. even if you're not a spaceaholic, there's a lot to see and do. the two-hour bus tour was a little long, but we learned a lot and saw a bunch of things fairly close. one of the most interesting things to me is how spread out everything is. they say the space center is 140,000 acres, and it takes a long time to get from place to place. the visitor center is chock full of goodies from past space missions. not surprisingly, the gift shop is huge. one of the cool things is the "rocket garden," where a bunch of old rockets are located. but by far the coolest was the space shuttle blast-off simulator. you get in, buckle yourself in and experience a launch without being launched. felt kinda like the car does when the state patrolman tailing me pulls off the road and we rocket ahead. we were kind of sad to say goodbye to florida. we arrived in florida on july 4 and didn't leave until this afternoon. lots of good memories. one of mine is how colorful everything is. day-glo cars, pastel houses, color everywhere. good night birgitta and hanna, good night linda and george, good night heather.
FROM OLIVIA
I'm gonna be an astronaut when i grow up! haha it'll be amazing.. just you wait. so basically im wearing a sweatshirt right now.... yes. thats right. a sweatshirt haha the A/C is cold!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! so pretty much my dad just about summed it up.. all i did today was.. read, go to the space center, talked to dad, talked to jeff, read some more, ate, left florida.. :'( GOOD BYE FLORIDA!!!! I'LL SEE YOU SOON!!!!! barnes and nobles are fairly har to find around here. haha i cant wait to see everyone soon! haha byeeeeeeee
TOMORROW: brunswick, georgia, to wilmington, north carolina, or thereabouts. looks like thunderstorms and rain are headed our way. oh, boy.
FROM SCOTT
much of today was spent at the kennedy space center. even if you're not a spaceaholic, there's a lot to see and do. the two-hour bus tour was a little long, but we learned a lot and saw a bunch of things fairly close. one of the most interesting things to me is how spread out everything is. they say the space center is 140,000 acres, and it takes a long time to get from place to place. the visitor center is chock full of goodies from past space missions. not surprisingly, the gift shop is huge. one of the cool things is the "rocket garden," where a bunch of old rockets are located. but by far the coolest was the space shuttle blast-off simulator. you get in, buckle yourself in and experience a launch without being launched. felt kinda like the car does when the state patrolman tailing me pulls off the road and we rocket ahead. we were kind of sad to say goodbye to florida. we arrived in florida on july 4 and didn't leave until this afternoon. lots of good memories. one of mine is how colorful everything is. day-glo cars, pastel houses, color everywhere. good night birgitta and hanna, good night linda and george, good night heather.
FROM OLIVIA
I'm gonna be an astronaut when i grow up! haha it'll be amazing.. just you wait. so basically im wearing a sweatshirt right now.... yes. thats right. a sweatshirt haha the A/C is cold!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! so pretty much my dad just about summed it up.. all i did today was.. read, go to the space center, talked to dad, talked to jeff, read some more, ate, left florida.. :'( GOOD BYE FLORIDA!!!! I'LL SEE YOU SOON!!!!! barnes and nobles are fairly har to find around here. haha i cant wait to see everyone soon! haha byeeeeeeee
TOMORROW: brunswick, georgia, to wilmington, north carolina, or thereabouts. looks like thunderstorms and rain are headed our way. oh, boy.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
day 16
key west to cocoa beach, florida, 371 miles.
FROM SCOTT
today marked the start of the return trip, so to speak. from now on, i get closer in miles to seattle. somewhere between today and tomorrow also marks the halfway point of the trip in terms of days on the road, if the projected return date of july 25 holds up. i'm starting to think it might be nice to get home earlier. the road is nice, but home is looking nicer every day as well.
today we started driving north along the atlantic to washingon, d.c., where we'll see some sights before olivia boards a plane back to seattle on july 16.
it was tough to leave key west today. nice place. nice feel to it. plus the valet comes to your room, takes your luggage, gets your car out of the garage, packs the luggage in the car and puts the top down; all you have to do is get in and drive away. why can't i get olivia to do that?
not much to talk about from the standpoints of sights seen today. saw a couple of big lizards ambling across the highway. going through miami, it seemed the highrises stretched forever north to south. few people in florida use their turn signals to let anyone know they're changing lanes. at the restaurant here, all of the menu items had cape canaveral type names: blast-off burger, space salad, etc. we're about two miles north of the cape.
olivia and i have been dealing with an interesting phone situation. there are times when we're both on the phone, so we've been alternating who gets to be in the main part of our room, who has to be in the bathroom, or who gets to be on the deck. the past couple of nights, she decided to create a nest in the bathtub using towels. she'll set her iced tea and cheese and crackers on the edge of the tub and climb in and talk. i think she's 14.
FROM OLIVIA
as a matter of faCT.. I AM 14!!! haha im pretty excited for tomorrow.. get to go through Georgia... i probably know everything you need to know about georgia because i had to do my 5th grade state report/project on it. pretty fun! soo im pretty distracted right now.. because i got a new book.. 3 ish hours ago.. and im proud to say that i am already on page 307 out of498.. im gonna be sad to see it end. oh well! my dad pretty much summed it up.. so yeah. see you all in like 7 days!
TOMORROW: cocoa beach to maybe charleston, south carolina, via cape canaveral and st. augustine,l florida.
FROM SCOTT
today marked the start of the return trip, so to speak. from now on, i get closer in miles to seattle. somewhere between today and tomorrow also marks the halfway point of the trip in terms of days on the road, if the projected return date of july 25 holds up. i'm starting to think it might be nice to get home earlier. the road is nice, but home is looking nicer every day as well.
today we started driving north along the atlantic to washingon, d.c., where we'll see some sights before olivia boards a plane back to seattle on july 16.
it was tough to leave key west today. nice place. nice feel to it. plus the valet comes to your room, takes your luggage, gets your car out of the garage, packs the luggage in the car and puts the top down; all you have to do is get in and drive away. why can't i get olivia to do that?
not much to talk about from the standpoints of sights seen today. saw a couple of big lizards ambling across the highway. going through miami, it seemed the highrises stretched forever north to south. few people in florida use their turn signals to let anyone know they're changing lanes. at the restaurant here, all of the menu items had cape canaveral type names: blast-off burger, space salad, etc. we're about two miles north of the cape.
olivia and i have been dealing with an interesting phone situation. there are times when we're both on the phone, so we've been alternating who gets to be in the main part of our room, who has to be in the bathroom, or who gets to be on the deck. the past couple of nights, she decided to create a nest in the bathtub using towels. she'll set her iced tea and cheese and crackers on the edge of the tub and climb in and talk. i think she's 14.
FROM OLIVIA
as a matter of faCT.. I AM 14!!! haha im pretty excited for tomorrow.. get to go through Georgia... i probably know everything you need to know about georgia because i had to do my 5th grade state report/project on it. pretty fun! soo im pretty distracted right now.. because i got a new book.. 3 ish hours ago.. and im proud to say that i am already on page 307 out of498.. im gonna be sad to see it end. oh well! my dad pretty much summed it up.. so yeah. see you all in like 7 days!
TOMORROW: cocoa beach to maybe charleston, south carolina, via cape canaveral and st. augustine,l florida.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
another sunset in paradise
day two in key west.
FROM SCOTT:
before dawn, there was a tremendous light show out over the ocean. lightning strikes every 5-10 seconds. huge thunderclouds illuminated by the lightning. beautiful. the day dawned with a cruise ship parked in our front yard and another one just down the road. they're even bigger close up. it was interesting watching them leave in the late morning, casting off their lines, then turning sharply to get out of this smallish area between islands. don't know where they were headed. today we learned a lot about the island's history (lots of cigar rolling) and some of the folks who have enjoyed it (hemingway, jose marti, frost, calvin klein (?) jimmy buffet, mother teresa (ok, maybe not her). spent some time in the morning at one of the beaches, then touring the island, then shopping (it's an olivia thing; she shopped while i sweated. it was really humid today, even though the thunderstorm off in the distance overnight was gone), refreshmenting (we found the starbucks), then dinner at the hard rock. liv still has a smile on her face. liv found an island she wants us to buy. it has a beautiful beach. holler if you want to contribute to the island fund. i think the asking price was only about $7 million.
FROM OLIVIA:
I WANT AN ISLAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! please? if each and everyone of you contribut like a dollar or two or 5 or 100 each time you look at this. i could do it in like a year maybe! o gosh.. thts an exciting thought! im gonna be really sad to leave here today but oh well.. i might be the only 14 year old to go from neah bay to hawaii to key west in 2 weeks. :) yay! haha i feel spencial.. i really need to pack my suitcases.. oh im officially starting a "lets get Olivia more suitcases so she can actually safely transport her items(clothes.. you souvineers) home!" fund. haha im just kidding. it was soo much fun shoppping! i have no idea why my dad was sweating.. it really wast that hot.. only like 90.:) see you all soon! like in.... 8 days and one hour not that anyone's counting haha buh bye!
TOMORROW: key west north along florida's atlantic coast as we begin the journey to washington, d.c. we'll probably try to stay at the white house for a few days.(YES!)
FROM SCOTT:
before dawn, there was a tremendous light show out over the ocean. lightning strikes every 5-10 seconds. huge thunderclouds illuminated by the lightning. beautiful. the day dawned with a cruise ship parked in our front yard and another one just down the road. they're even bigger close up. it was interesting watching them leave in the late morning, casting off their lines, then turning sharply to get out of this smallish area between islands. don't know where they were headed. today we learned a lot about the island's history (lots of cigar rolling) and some of the folks who have enjoyed it (hemingway, jose marti, frost, calvin klein (?) jimmy buffet, mother teresa (ok, maybe not her). spent some time in the morning at one of the beaches, then touring the island, then shopping (it's an olivia thing; she shopped while i sweated. it was really humid today, even though the thunderstorm off in the distance overnight was gone), refreshmenting (we found the starbucks), then dinner at the hard rock. liv still has a smile on her face. liv found an island she wants us to buy. it has a beautiful beach. holler if you want to contribute to the island fund. i think the asking price was only about $7 million.
FROM OLIVIA:
I WANT AN ISLAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! please? if each and everyone of you contribut like a dollar or two or 5 or 100 each time you look at this. i could do it in like a year maybe! o gosh.. thts an exciting thought! im gonna be really sad to leave here today but oh well.. i might be the only 14 year old to go from neah bay to hawaii to key west in 2 weeks. :) yay! haha i feel spencial.. i really need to pack my suitcases.. oh im officially starting a "lets get Olivia more suitcases so she can actually safely transport her items(clothes.. you souvineers) home!" fund. haha im just kidding. it was soo much fun shoppping! i have no idea why my dad was sweating.. it really wast that hot.. only like 90.:) see you all soon! like in.... 8 days and one hour not that anyone's counting haha buh bye!
TOMORROW: key west north along florida's atlantic coast as we begin the journey to washington, d.c. we'll probably try to stay at the white house for a few days.(YES!)
Monday, July 7, 2008
tan, shopping, water, sun.. but no friends
its amazing here... and i mean amazing. our view out of our room is to the sparkling aqua blue water.. the sun sets infront of our room... right next to the big shopping street.. I LOVE IT HERE! im thinking we should sell the houseand buy one here.. anyone wanna buy a house in seattle area... let me know.. also anyone selling/giving away a house here... let me know also.. haha it has to hae enough room for... 1...2.....3.....4...5...6...7.8.9.10.11.12.13.14.15.20.25.30.40. some people to be in when i have my crazy parties.. plus my friends that move down.. yes! JEFF, EMI, ANDI, JULIA, LAUREN, CONNER, MAX, JAKE, BEN, SIERRA, BRIAN, BECCA, ALI, ANDREW, ALY, HANNA, AND EVERYONE ELSE WHO I MISS! HAHA let me know if i forgot your name :) i'lll add it. so basically....... i love the sun. i aloha the sun. i live for the sun. i am the sun. prettttttttttty M-AZING! haha dont worry! i'll see you all in 8ish days i think at my "surprise" party! i love you all! buh byeeeee oh.. text me about what present you want... Olivia will take care of it.. if you dont have a phone... *cough*jeff*cough* just call me then... <3's 4-eva summer 08!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Olive the Other Reindeer~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Olive the Other Reindeer~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
day 14, part two
ahh, key west. and i do mean ahh. nice place. they celebrate sunset here every day. everything stops, and everyone watches the sunset. when i left cape flattery just west of neah bay, a road trip from the northwesternmost point in the contiguous states to the southeasternmost point seemed a little daunting in some ways. still does in some respects. but it was a great trip. and i discovered that the country is both bigger and smaller than i thought, if that makes sense. big country and too many vast expanses to keep track of, but also so many connections among everyone, so many things that tie us all together. it's pretty cool.
today we started on the west coast of florida, drove across to the east side and then down through the keys. alligator alley, one of the roads crossing the everglades, wasn't much to talk about, so we cut south a ways and took another road east. "panther crossing" signs were one of the highlights, along with circling vultures and a gecko that wanted no part of us. but no gators to be seen. the road through the keys was quite interesting. some of the keys are so small the road takes up most of the key. others are big enough to have home depots. and one bridge is seven miles long. it's an interesting feeling being this far out here as a hurricane is developing in the atlantic. we may be closer to cuba than the u.s. mainland. but we're watching the weather channel, googling weather stories and watching the hurricane's progress. if it turns west, we head north. more lightning off in the distance tonight, meaning more thunderstorms out there somewhere. tuesday we plan to spend enough time on the beach to reignite our sunburns, explore the island a bit, check out some of the touristy stuff and swim in the ocean and the pool. in other words, just relax and enjoy being here -- finally.
good night mel and judy in lynden (unless you're hiding somewhere in key west), good night olivia, good night jean...
today we started on the west coast of florida, drove across to the east side and then down through the keys. alligator alley, one of the roads crossing the everglades, wasn't much to talk about, so we cut south a ways and took another road east. "panther crossing" signs were one of the highlights, along with circling vultures and a gecko that wanted no part of us. but no gators to be seen. the road through the keys was quite interesting. some of the keys are so small the road takes up most of the key. others are big enough to have home depots. and one bridge is seven miles long. it's an interesting feeling being this far out here as a hurricane is developing in the atlantic. we may be closer to cuba than the u.s. mainland. but we're watching the weather channel, googling weather stories and watching the hurricane's progress. if it turns west, we head north. more lightning off in the distance tonight, meaning more thunderstorms out there somewhere. tuesday we plan to spend enough time on the beach to reignite our sunburns, explore the island a bit, check out some of the touristy stuff and swim in the ocean and the pool. in other words, just relax and enjoy being here -- finally.
good night mel and judy in lynden (unless you're hiding somewhere in key west), good night olivia, good night jean...
day 14
naples, florida, to key west, 256 miles.
arrived in key west at approximately 3 p.m. east coast time.
more later...
tomorrow: relax in key west...
arrived in key west at approximately 3 p.m. east coast time.
more later...
tomorrow: relax in key west...
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Day 13
day 13, alchua, florida, to naples, florida, 374 miles.
FROM OLIVIA:
I'm gonna be first today since i set the computer up. and i'm just all-around better.. haha well the day started out shaky.. very very shaky. THERE WAS NO STARBUCKS! ANYWHERE! i was about to like die i was so tired.. all i needed was a chai or latte to make it better.. but no. it was not meant to be.. dad even called jean in lake forest park and had her google starbucks in the area we were in.. nothing. so it was hot it was sunny it was nice.. but not for long. we got in the worst storm i have EVER SEEN! i'm sure that dad will go into full detail about everything.. so i'm not worried. :) YAY! haha i'm gonna go see if my friends have decided to talk to me again...BYE!
FROM SCOTT:
it was a big day. big sun, big rain, big beach resorts, big bridge, big boat party. wow.
definitely a day of contrasts. first the weather. started out normal, then a little rain, then lots of sun. sunny in particular on the beach north of sarasota on the gulf coast. that's quite a place. liv and i came close to deciding to sell the car, buy a little boat and just stay. white sand beaches, and she waded in the surf. warm water, blue sky. nice. we spent so much time on the beach roads that at some point in the sarasota area we headed back to the freeway to make up some time. that's when we hit one of the heaviest thundershowers i've ever experienced. we just pulled in behind someone and hoped they stayed on the road. it was raining so hard everyone was going about 10 mph. huge rain. and it lasted a long time. we stopped at a rest area and ran from the car to the covered area and still got drenched. we also got to see the bridge over the bay at st. petersburg -- beautiful. and there were people at stoplights on the highway hawking copies of the sunday st. petersburg paper. oh, back to the beach. in one area, it was like lake washington for the seafair hydro races. boats all tied up together, everyone partying. at another place, a little island, folks had put the noses of their boats on the beach and were picnicing and partying. wow. quite a place. lots of old money, too. really ritzy (enough to make medina on lake washington look cheap) condo developments and houses that went on for miles. a high point came about mid-morning. liv was suffering from sleep deprivation, and there was no starbucks nearby, no specialty coffee spots of any kind. she finally googled starbucks on her phone and found one that turned to be a couple of miles ahead on the road we were on. turned out it was in a mall, which satisfied another of her deprivations, and next to the mall was a boston market. when she was little, she enjoyed food at the boston market in woodinville. but it went away years ago. so today she had a boston market lunch, something from starbucks, a little mall time. when we arrived at the mall, she was kinda grouchy, grumpy, listless, barely awake. when we left, the was definitely ready to party.
TOMORROW: naples, florida, to key west. ahh...
FROM OLIVIA:
I'm gonna be first today since i set the computer up. and i'm just all-around better.. haha well the day started out shaky.. very very shaky. THERE WAS NO STARBUCKS! ANYWHERE! i was about to like die i was so tired.. all i needed was a chai or latte to make it better.. but no. it was not meant to be.. dad even called jean in lake forest park and had her google starbucks in the area we were in.. nothing. so it was hot it was sunny it was nice.. but not for long. we got in the worst storm i have EVER SEEN! i'm sure that dad will go into full detail about everything.. so i'm not worried. :) YAY! haha i'm gonna go see if my friends have decided to talk to me again...BYE!
FROM SCOTT:
it was a big day. big sun, big rain, big beach resorts, big bridge, big boat party. wow.
definitely a day of contrasts. first the weather. started out normal, then a little rain, then lots of sun. sunny in particular on the beach north of sarasota on the gulf coast. that's quite a place. liv and i came close to deciding to sell the car, buy a little boat and just stay. white sand beaches, and she waded in the surf. warm water, blue sky. nice. we spent so much time on the beach roads that at some point in the sarasota area we headed back to the freeway to make up some time. that's when we hit one of the heaviest thundershowers i've ever experienced. we just pulled in behind someone and hoped they stayed on the road. it was raining so hard everyone was going about 10 mph. huge rain. and it lasted a long time. we stopped at a rest area and ran from the car to the covered area and still got drenched. we also got to see the bridge over the bay at st. petersburg -- beautiful. and there were people at stoplights on the highway hawking copies of the sunday st. petersburg paper. oh, back to the beach. in one area, it was like lake washington for the seafair hydro races. boats all tied up together, everyone partying. at another place, a little island, folks had put the noses of their boats on the beach and were picnicing and partying. wow. quite a place. lots of old money, too. really ritzy (enough to make medina on lake washington look cheap) condo developments and houses that went on for miles. a high point came about mid-morning. liv was suffering from sleep deprivation, and there was no starbucks nearby, no specialty coffee spots of any kind. she finally googled starbucks on her phone and found one that turned to be a couple of miles ahead on the road we were on. turned out it was in a mall, which satisfied another of her deprivations, and next to the mall was a boston market. when she was little, she enjoyed food at the boston market in woodinville. but it went away years ago. so today she had a boston market lunch, something from starbucks, a little mall time. when we arrived at the mall, she was kinda grouchy, grumpy, listless, barely awake. when we left, the was definitely ready to party.
TOMORROW: naples, florida, to key west. ahh...
Day 12
Pensacola, florida, to atachua, florida, 384 miles.
FROM SCOTT:
The day started out great. We found a starbucks, then found my cousin dan, his wife tabby and their kids just north of Pensacola. Had a great time catching up with them. And there was some catching up to do. Dan and I figured we hadn’t seen each other in decades, and I had never met tabby or the kids. I’ll see dan’s parents, hank and ruth, when I’m in ohio later on the trip. Hank helped get me interested in baseball when I was a little kid. Then I visited the family in northeast Australia when hank and ruth were living there as linguistic missionaries. Even though that visit was more than 35 years ago, much of it remains vivid. After our visit with dan and tabby and their family, the day had its twists and turns. We planned to go back to the gulf coast and follow it for quite a few hours, figuring we’d stop once in a while to play on the beach or in the water. But as soon as we got to the beach road, we also encountered unbelievably heavy traffic. After spending about an hour in traffic that was at best going about two mph – and with the top down in 90 degree weather BECAUSE WE WERE AT THE BEACH – and not knowing how many more days the traffic might be like that, we decided to go back to the freeway and put some miles behind us. Did that for a while, then headed onto some back roads to take a straighter line to Gainesville, florida. Saw a lot of cows. A lot of cows. Mostly dairy cows. Smelled a lot of cows as well. So now Olivia has been on the road for two days, and neither – with the exception of the time we had with dan and his family – has gone as we’d hoped. But we have reservations at key west, and we’ll be there in a couple of days. Good night danny and tabby and family. Good night, danny’s sister carol and her husband john in Africa. Good night steve, danny’s brother in ohio. Good night, Jeff, olivia’s friend who’s playing in a baseball tournament in Yakima this weekend.
FROM OLIVIA: (tan still better)
HAYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So basically today was ubber amounts of fun… well at least the first 3 hours of the morning were... so we went and visited some people.. had lots of fun.. learned that it’s ok to take your jacket off if your playing a game of basketball outside, and it’s like 90-100 degree weather outside. But I also learned how much I really appreciate the A/C, and how hot black leather seats get going top down on the florida coast… hahahahahahahan I’m still a little jet lagged, so basically it’s only 2 in the afternoon for me instead of 10 at night.. eek! So yep.. I think I’m gonna call people now.. buhbye!
TOMORROW: atachua, florida, to the area of fort myers, florida.
FROM SCOTT:
The day started out great. We found a starbucks, then found my cousin dan, his wife tabby and their kids just north of Pensacola. Had a great time catching up with them. And there was some catching up to do. Dan and I figured we hadn’t seen each other in decades, and I had never met tabby or the kids. I’ll see dan’s parents, hank and ruth, when I’m in ohio later on the trip. Hank helped get me interested in baseball when I was a little kid. Then I visited the family in northeast Australia when hank and ruth were living there as linguistic missionaries. Even though that visit was more than 35 years ago, much of it remains vivid. After our visit with dan and tabby and their family, the day had its twists and turns. We planned to go back to the gulf coast and follow it for quite a few hours, figuring we’d stop once in a while to play on the beach or in the water. But as soon as we got to the beach road, we also encountered unbelievably heavy traffic. After spending about an hour in traffic that was at best going about two mph – and with the top down in 90 degree weather BECAUSE WE WERE AT THE BEACH – and not knowing how many more days the traffic might be like that, we decided to go back to the freeway and put some miles behind us. Did that for a while, then headed onto some back roads to take a straighter line to Gainesville, florida. Saw a lot of cows. A lot of cows. Mostly dairy cows. Smelled a lot of cows as well. So now Olivia has been on the road for two days, and neither – with the exception of the time we had with dan and his family – has gone as we’d hoped. But we have reservations at key west, and we’ll be there in a couple of days. Good night danny and tabby and family. Good night, danny’s sister carol and her husband john in Africa. Good night steve, danny’s brother in ohio. Good night, Jeff, olivia’s friend who’s playing in a baseball tournament in Yakima this weekend.
FROM OLIVIA: (tan still better)
HAYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So basically today was ubber amounts of fun… well at least the first 3 hours of the morning were... so we went and visited some people.. had lots of fun.. learned that it’s ok to take your jacket off if your playing a game of basketball outside, and it’s like 90-100 degree weather outside. But I also learned how much I really appreciate the A/C, and how hot black leather seats get going top down on the florida coast… hahahahahahahan I’m still a little jet lagged, so basically it’s only 2 in the afternoon for me instead of 10 at night.. eek! So yep.. I think I’m gonna call people now.. buhbye!
TOMORROW: atachua, florida, to the area of fort myers, florida.
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