Our Wander Years

TN_11 Hop 2: Tallahassee FL to Beaumont TX

Posted on July 19, 2025 by Sparky

619 miles via I-10 and I-110 in Lake Charles LA. Auto miles: 619. Cumulative route miles: 1032. Cumulative auto miles: 1032.

This was another LONG day of driving – over 9 hours. And on 3 hours sleep. Not pleasant. But we got there.

We did have some stops along the way. First, we got gas and coffee at a Flying J truck stop near our rest area overnight home. Then we stopped for gas a second time, at a Buc-ees in Mississippi. Buc-ees is always fun. Cheap gas, wonderful rest rooms and lots of tempting things to eat. But we only got ice (16 lbs for $1.99) and a souvenir for a friend. We also stopped at a Sam’s Club in Lake Charles LA to get some potato salad (Marlene loves that Sam’s potato salad) and a nearby liquor store to purchase a gift bottle of whiskey. Then on to our friends John and Deb in Beaumont TX.

Categories: AL, FL, LA, Routes, TN_11, TX | Leave a comment

TN_11 Hop 1: Lehigh Acres FL to Tallahassee FL

Posted on July 19, 2025 by Sparky

413 miles via FL 864, FL 82, I-75 and I-10 with a short detour at the intersection of I-75 and I-10. Auto miles: 413. Cumulative route mile: 413. Cumulative auto miles: 413.

We made a last-minute decision to take Marlene’s Toyota Camry rather than my Hyundai Tucson. That was because the Camry gets better mileage and because we are planning on using the Tucson next summer for an even longer road trip.

We didn’t depart Lehigh Acres until 7pm. I did my volunteer gig in the afternoon, but got off at 3pm. But there was preparation to be completed – most notably packing for the trip. And readying Marlene’s house for a month of absence. Because we left so late our destination was… a rest area. That was a first for us. Yes, we slept in a rest area. We arrived at 1am and departed at 6am. Marlene got maybe 4 hours of sleep; I got maybe 3. A hotel would have been more comfortable, but a waste of money for a short night.

This was a straight shot, a long 6 solid hours of driving. We made a brief stop at Aldi on our way out of Lehigh Acres to get some snacks (can’t do a long road trip without snacks) and a detour at the intersection of I-75 northbound and I-10 westbound due to construction.

Categories: FL, Routes, TN_11 | Leave a comment

“Rainbow Six” by Tom Clancy

Posted on July 1, 2025 by Sparky

I thought I had read all of the Clancy novels, but I somehow missed this one. It is #2 in the series of 2 novels featuring John Clark. #1 in this series is “Without Remorse” and I don’t believe I have read that one either. So I guess I will try to find it.

But I won’t try very hard.

I am generally a fan of Clancy’s books. They are well-written and have always kept my attention. But I had a hard time finishing this one. It is 900 pages. I started it while on the NCL2 cruise back in April. It is now July. More than 2 months to slog through it. It has plenty of action – and death – but not many real surprises. Clark was in charge of an elite anti-terrorist squad which, in the first half of the book, is tasked with resolving three terrorist plots. They were interesting, but it came as no surprise that they resolved each swiftly and with almost no civilian or squad casualties (except for one young girl who was dying anyway). The fourth terrorist attack was on the “Rainbow” squad itself. This, too, was repelled, but with several squad casualties.

Throughout these incidents ran a narrative of activities going on at the Horizon Corp, a huge pharmaceutical company headed by John Brightling, a brilliant billionaire who was funding most of these early attacks, for reasons not obvious to anyone – including the ex-KGB agent that he hired to arrange them. After the failed Rainbow attack the agent decided to get out of the game. Brightling moved him to a Horizon Corp facility in Kansas. He then learns the reason behind the attacks and it turns out to be a monstrous plot to kill millions.

So Rainbow was called upon to save the world.

Interesting, but hardly surprising. I won’t spoil anything if I tell you that the world still exists.

I would have enjoyed this book more if these interesting-but-not-surprising adventures of Rainbow could have been told in 600 pages rather than 900.

5 out of 10.

Categories: Books | Leave a comment

More floor repairs

Posted on June 29, 2025 by Sparky

I don’t know why, but a large section of my RV floor along the port side (see how comfortable I am with using nautical terms – the result of my many cruises) had become soft over the past year, obviously the result of severe wood rot. It has been bothering me a lot, so this past week I decided to repair it. I knew it would be difficult, but probably not as difficult as my first floor repair which was in the other slide. That was very difficult because the repair had to slide over the central floor. And it was a true patch – I didn’t replace the entire sheet of plywood, so I had to figure out a way to join the patch with the non-rotted wood.

I thought I would have to patch this time too, but I discovered that the main floor has, under the OSB sheathing, some very solid foam insulation. So while I was careful to put the edges of the patches (three separate wood patches) on joists, I didn’t have to figure out how to join the patch with the remaining wood. Much simpler.

But the covering – vinyl planks instead of carpet – turned out to be much more difficult. It took me, I estimate, nearly 3 full days to complete the repair.

The most difficult part of the job was laying the new flooring. One needs to be VERY careful with this stuff. Any damage to the locking channels prevents the pieces from fitting together properly. Even with great care some pieces didn’t fit right. And they didn’t stay put. I had to get some flooring cement to keep them in place. And there were still a couple of joints where I had to use super glue.

The new planking matches the old planking pretty well, but there were some places where I had to be creative in finding ways to make them fit together.

All in all, a successful job. And a floor that no longer feels “squishy.”

But did I figure out how it got wet in the first place? Not entirely. I am pretty sure that the water came in through the seal on the slide and/or the seal on the window next to the slide. But we had several severe thunderstorms while I had the subfloor exposed and I watched very carefully for any water. None. Maybe it was latent damage from one or several hurricanes. I just don’t know.

Categories: RV Living | Leave a comment

The ATW is taking shape

Posted on June 1, 2025 by Sparky

Until a few days ago the only parts of the upcoming 10-week around-the-world trip (starting mid-September) that we had booked were the two cruises – the 23-night transpacific and the 14-night transatlantic. But this week we booked a lot more. Many of the transportation details are now set. This is how it will go:

A flight from Ft Myers to Seattle-Tacoma and one night in Seattle.
The 23-night transpacific cruise on the Carnival Luminosa, Seattle-to-Sydney via Hawaii and Tahiti.
3 nights in a hotel in Sydney near the Opera House.
A flight from Sydney to Rome via Chengdu China (with a 20-hour layover in Chengdu).
2 nights in a hotel in Rome near Vatican City.
14 or 15 days touring Europe by car (the car is booked but the hotels are not booked). The city sequence will possibly be: Venice, Munich, Paris, Blois (and the Loire Valley), Grenoble and Pisa.
2 or 3 nights in a hotel in Rome.
The 14-night transatlantic cruise on the Carnival Miracle, Rome-to-Tampa.
A car or bus ride from Tampa home.

The only significant portions not booked are the hotels in Europe, the hotel in Rome after the car tour and the trip from Tampa home. We also have to arrange a number of transfers (e.g., home to the Ft Myers airport at the start, from SEATAC to Seattle, from the cruise terminal to the hotel in Sydney, etc.) but those are easy and relatively inexpensive.

The choice of the flight from Sydney to Rome via Chengdu was driven by price: the total package price for airfare for both of us and 2 nights in Rome was under $1,200! That is amazingly cheap, cheap, cheap! The flight is over 21 hours in the air. It means we have to forego Mumbai or Istanbul, but we will see China (from inside an airport terminal) instead.

The use of a car instead of trains (via Eurail pass) was driven by my concern over how difficult it would be to haul our large suitcases on and off trains and to/from hotels. Plus we have more freedom to see what we want when we want. I also discovered that the cost of renting a car was surprisingly low: the cost for a 2-week car rental is about the same as one Eurail pass, so with gas it will probably be about the same cost. We will also have more freedom to find cheap food.

Anyway, it looks almost certain that this epic trip will really happen. We just have to stay healthy.

Categories: ATW, Preparation/Planning | Leave a comment

Eleventh trip north (TN_11) preview

Posted on May 30, 2025 by Sparky

Marlene and I have decided that we will, once again, go north for a few weeks this summer. This trip, my eleventh, will be designated TN_11. It will likely begin Thursday, July 17, and will span 10 nights and over 3,000 miles. The stops along the way are as follows:

Tallahassee FL. This will be an overnight stop, just because Ft Myers to Beaumont is too long for one hop.
Beaumont TX. We will stop for 3 days to see our good friends John and Debbie who moved to Beaumont from Lehigh Acres FL last year.
Hot Springs AR. I love this town and Marlene has never seen it. We will spend two nights here just so we have a full day in the city.
Pigeon Forge TN. There are a million things to do here but I would love to get back to Dollywood.
Cuyahoga Valley National Park. This must be the most obscure national park. I have no idea what is here but we will spend two nights in the area so that we will have a full day to explore.

Our destination is Worcester MA where we expect to stay with Jett’s brother and sister-in-law. While up there we will make an overnight trip to Maine to see if I can find my younger brother who has, once again, stopped communicating with everyone.

We will be taking Marlene’s pup, Becky, and that has, to some extent, influenced the route. Both Hot Springs and Cuyahoga Valley National Park are dog-friendly and Dollywood has Doggywood, a really fine dog daycare facility. We will have to find a hotel in Tallahassee that is dog-friendly.

Categories: Preparation/Planning, Routes, TN_11 | Leave a comment

Back to The Buck

Posted on May 30, 2025 by Sparky

Now that Ooma is gone, she can no longer lay claim to the Buckingham Blues Bar as “her” space. And, I assume, the ban imposed by the owner is no longer going to be enforced. So on Wednesday night this week, I (with Marlene on my arm) went back to The Buck.

It felt a bit like dancing on Ooma’s grave. But the fact that I could be there and she couldn’t felt damn good.

The music there is always great but the drinks are relatively expensive. We will go back occasionally, but there are many other bands and better venues, so it won’t be a regular thing. But it is great to have the option once again.

Categories: FL, Music | Leave a comment

The absolute last of Ooma

Posted on May 27, 2025 by Sparky

Ooma died May 21. I can’t post her obituary here and maintain her anonymity but if anyone wants a link to her obituary, send me a message.

UPDATE: I was told that she died in New Hampshire, of complications from some kind of simple, low-risk surgery.

Categories: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Out with the old(er), in with the new(er)

Posted on May 26, 2025 by Sparky

I guess this is the month for vehicles. Got the truck back (see previous post) and gave some thought to upgrading my other ride – my 2017 Toyota Corolla. It was running just fine, but was getting a bit “long in the tooth” – almost 130,000 miles. My plan was to exchange it for a small SUV in the fall or spring, in anticipation of a long road trip next summer.

So I started browsing, mostly on cars.com. I found a handful of nearby vehicles that were interesting. I was looking for a used SUV that was 2020 vintage or newer, had low mileage and was under $20,000. I saw one 2020 Hyundai Tucson that had just 26,000 miles and was selling for $18,000. Thought it might be worth a look. I marked it “saved” – for future consideration, I guess.

About 10 minutes later I got a call from the dealership. Cars.com notifies the dealer, it seems, when someone takes note of a vehicle in their inventory. Ah, computers – ain’t they great?

Anyway, Marlene and I were headed into Ft Myers to do some dancing so why not stop by and take a look?

Long story short, I now am driving a 2020 Hyundai Tucson. Marlene was my negotiator. With taxes, title transfer and everything else, plus trade-in, I got it for $13,325. Didn’t test drive it, which was probably stupid, but it seems to run great.

We drove it to the dance. Just a little detour to swap vehicles en route.

Categories: Car | Leave a comment

Back from the dead

Posted on May 26, 2025 by Sparky

I got my truck back this week. It had been in the shop for nearly 2 months. Before my last cruise I had been unable to get it to start. It turned over but didn’t fire. I figured it was a computer issue. Probably an EXPENSIVE computer issue.

So I had it towed to the garage. It wasn’t a priority with me and it certainly wasn’t a priority with them, so they did little or nothing before we left on the cruise. I called to make sure it was okay with them to just leave it there until I returned. It was.

I thought the chances of it ever running again were low. I gave it up for dead and went on the cruise.

When I returned I gave them a call, expecting the worst. But, much to my surprise, they said it was running! But the guy who had the details was out and would call me back. He didn’t.

I was in the neighborhood of the shop the next day so I dropped in. Yes, they said, it was running fine. Great, I said. What was the problem?

“No problem that we could find. It started right up and ran fine when you brought it in.”

I think I gave them my best “WTF?” look. I try everything for 10 days and can’t get it to fire and the moment I bring it into the shop it fixes itself? I was dumfounded.

Anyway, I paid $168 for their diagnostic time (mostly driving around using my fuel) and took the truck home.

I am pretty sure that it will, sooner or later, just stop working again. Probably when it is least convenient. But for now I have a usable truck.

Categories: TS_10 | Leave a comment