Author Archives: Sparky
A COVID surprise
See the previous post for my comment about how “I came down with a cold the next day but that didn’t spoil the fun.” To be cautious – mostly because Ooma has had COVID twice and is still suffering some of the effects of “long COVID” – I took a home antigen COVID test on … Continue reading
Fireworks!
The COVID-19 pandemic killed a lot of fun activities over the past 2 years. One of the victims was 4rh of July fireworks. Most fireworks displays in 2020 and 2021 were simply canceled. And the July weather in southwest Florida is usually not conducive to fireworks – or so I have heard, as I have … Continue reading
Eighth trip north (TN8) preview
I previously stated my intention to go north this summer, but would spend only a month in MA then would head to WI for my 55th high school reunion. That remains my plan. But it has been modified in one major respect: rather than traveling with only Rusty I will now be accompanied by both … Continue reading
Rot
If you have been reading this blog for more than 4 years you might recall that way back in October 2018 some rotted wood was discovered on the floor of one of the large slides in the RV. I dealt with that problem then by installing a metal plate that covered the rotted plywood – … Continue reading
TX1 wrapup
Well, it is a few days late but here is the wrapup for TX1. By the numbers… 10 days, 9 nights, 2,551 miles of travel over 7 hops (about 365 miles per hop). I didn’t track expenses as this was mostly on Ooma’s dime. Highlights: The wedding of Peter and Ashley in Austin. This was … Continue reading
TX1 Hop 7: Lake City FL to Ft Myers FL
292 miles, almost entirely on I-75. Cumulative miles: 2551. We stopped for groceries and gas in Sarasota. The only time we needed a GPS on this hop was when we decided to look for a Publix. The only difficulty was that we were trying to beat the arrival of Tropical Storm Alex. We did, but … Continue reading
TX1 Hop 6: Fairhope AL to Lake City FL
347 miles via US 98, I-10 and I-75 with a stop for fuel and lunch at Ruby Tuesday. Cumulative miles: 2259. Another easy trip to navigate, but another long day in the car. Ooma drove the first half but I took over after lunch as she was very tired. Our one-night stay in Fairhope AL … Continue reading
TX1 Hop 5: Lafayette LA to Fairhope AL
277 miles via I-10, I-12 (north of New Orleans) and US 98. We took a bit of a roundabout way getting from our hotel in Lafayette to I-10 and stopped for lunch in Port Allen LA. Cumulative miles: 1912. This was an easy trip to navigate, but, like most of the other hops on TX1, … Continue reading
TX1 Hop 4: Austin TX to Lafayette LA
386 miles via TX 183, TX 71 and I-10 with two rest and refueling stops. Cumulative miles: 1635. About 10 miles were due to a wrong turn at the start of the TX 71 segment and a navigational error by yours truly that took us to the wrong hotel. Oops. This was an easy hop … Continue reading
TX1: 4 days in Austin TX
Attending the wedding of Ooma’s close friends Peter and Ashley was the raison d’etre for the trip to Texas. Ooma had the honor of accompanying Peter down the aisle and joining him for the mother/son dance – his mother was unable to attend as she was caring for her mother in PA. They were married … Continue reading