Author Archives: Sparky
TX1 Hop 3: Port Allen LA to Austin TX
428 miles via I-10, US 69, TX 105 and US 290. Cumulative miles: 1249. This was a miserable trip that involved nearly 9 hours of travel time. Some of that time was due to the planned breaks, including lunch at McDonald’s, but 6 miles were due to missing the Texas Welcome Center which Ooma wanted … Continue reading
TX1 Hop 2: Tallahassee FL to Port Allen LA
443 miles, almost entirely on I-10, except for I-12 north of New Orleans. Cumulative miles: 821. This was a simple hop in terms of navigation: get on I-10 west, go until I-12 split off, go to the end of I-12 and rejoin I-10 then take the exit for the hotel in Port Allen. But the … Continue reading
TX1 Hop 1: Ft Myers FL to Tallahassee FL
378 miles via I-75, I-275 (around Tampa), FL 589, US 44, US 19/US 98 and I-10. Cumulative miles: 378. We took one bio break, one lunch break and one refueling stop. This is a trip by car, sans RV, so there is no need to keep track of truck miles. In case you were wondering, … Continue reading
Memphis Lightning
Last weekend Ooma and I attended the Memphis Lightning concert at the Buckingham Blues Bar “back yard” – an outdoor venue that I had not seen before. This is a venue with a capacity in excess of 1,000 and so is used when there they have a high-profile featured artist. Memphis Lightning, a 3-piece “rocking … Continue reading
Drag queen bingo
Yes, “drag queen bingo” is a real thing, at least in Ft Myers. It is a popular dinner show option. Ooma and I went to Drag Queen Bingo night at The Standard restaurant, had a good meal and an evening of bingo and raunchy fun. I was the big winner, too, winning both the first … Continue reading
Nighttime hibiscus
I didn’t plant my hibiscus bushes – they were already on the lot when I purchased it. I did, however, install nighttime lighting to illuminate my flag and address. By a happy coincidence, the lighting sometimes makes a hibiscus blossom glow at night. It is almost enough to make me wander around at midnight, photographing … Continue reading
The first Texas trip (TX1) preview
I agonized for about 6 seconds over what label I should give to this trip. It certainly isn’t my first trip to Texas – I flew to Austin at Christmas – nor is it the first time I have traveled to Texas by car or RV. It is, however, the first road trip where Texas … Continue reading
“ZOO” by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge
Copyright 2014 by James Patterson. Published by Grand Central Publishing, New York. Yes, another book where James Patterson slapped his name on someone else’s work. This time the actual writer is Michael Ledwidge. You can tell that Patterson didn’t write this one because it is science fiction and Patterson doesn’t do science fiction. I won’t … Continue reading
The Morse Museum
Ooma and I had a free day in Orlando last weekend and we chose to visit, at Ooma’s suggestion, the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art in Winter Park FL. It was a good choice. It has works by other American artists, but the thing that makes this museum unique is the collection of … Continue reading
The IBPA Ben Franklin Awards
Ooma and I traveled to Orlando this past weekend. It was partly just a weekend getaway, but the raison d’etre for the trip was the IBPA Ben Franklin Awards. I was, in effect, a “proxy finalist” as I was representing David Benjamin and Last Kid Books. Fat Vinny’s Forbidden Love was nominated in the “best … Continue reading