Author Archives: Sparky
“Flesh and Blood” by Jonathan Kellerman
Copyright 2001 by Jonathan Kellerman. Published by Ballantine Publishing Group. Normally when I finish a book in 4 days it means that I really like the book. In this case it means less than that because the 4 days were days without electricity following Hurricane Ian. Still, not a bad book. This is #15 in … Continue reading
Hurricane Ian
Unless you have been living under a rock, you know by know that southwest Florida – including Ft Myers – was devastated last Wednesday by Hurricane Ian. I said in my previous post that I would have to wait for better bandwidth to document my experience. Well, my power is still out 4 days later … Continue reading
I survived Ian, thanks for asking
Long story and I don’t have enough bandwidth to tell it now. Will post when I get power restored.
“Tripwire” by Lee Child
Copyright 1999 by Lee Child. Published by Penguin Random House, LLC, New York. Chronologically, this is the third of the (many) Jack Reacher novels by Lee Child. I like them all, as I have mentioned before. This one isn’t my favorite as it is long on suspense and air travel, but with relatively litte (for … Continue reading
TS8 wrapup
The 8th trip south (TS8) is in the books, so it is time to do the wrapup. By the numbers: 10 hops, 2,919 route miles (292 miles per hop). 22 nights, all in hotels, $3,023 in hotel charges ($137.41 per night). 1,844 total driving miles, 93.6 gallons of gas (34.8 miles per gallon). $312.24 in … Continue reading
TS8 Hop 10: Lake City FL to Ft Myers FL
295 miles almost entirely on I-75 (just 2 miles on FL 80 at the end) with a lunch stop near Ellenton FL. Cumulative TS8 route miles: 2919. Cumlative car miles: 3258. Miles since the end of Hop 9: 297. The extra miles were due to getting takeout dinner. This was an easy trip, one that … Continue reading
TS8 Hop 9: Daphne AL to Lake City FL
338 miles almost entirely on I-10, with fewer than 10 miles at the end on I-75. Cumulative TS8 route miles: 2624. Cumulative car miles: 2961. Miles since the end of Hop 8: 338. Yes, we went nowhere while in Daphne. This was a straight shot east and replicated, almost identically, a hop on the trip … Continue reading
TS8 Hop 8: Tupelo MS to Daphne AL
289 miles via US 45, AL 158, I-65, I-165 (northeast of Mobile), Alt US 90 and US 98 with a lunch and refueling stop in Meridian MS. Cumulative TS8 route miles: 2286. Cumulative car miles: 2624. Miles since the end of Hop 7: 307. The extra miles were due to some errands and a trip … Continue reading
TS8 Hop 7: St Louis MO to Tupelo MS
376 miles via I-55, TN 175, US 78, I-22, Natchez Trace Parkway and MS 178, with lunch and refueling stops. Cumulative TS8 route miles: 1997. Cumulative car miles: 2316. Miles since the end of Hop 6: 418. Most of the 52 extra car miles were due to the trip to the St Louis Zoo. This … Continue reading
The St Louis Zoo
A few of you may be old enough to remember Marlin Perkins, host of the Wild Kingdom TV show that ran from 1963 to 1988. He was director of the St Louis Zoo, one of the preeminent zoos in the US. I like a good zoo and have always wanted to visit it. I got … Continue reading