Bruce's Travels

Tuesday April 3 I awake about 7 a.m., and again remove the dry kitty food. This motel serves a hot breakfast, so after a shower and shave, I head off to the lobby for a heapin' helpin' of egg rounds (staple of the motel "free breakfast"), sausage rounds, and biscuit rounds. All of which are perfectly proportioned so as to create a breakfast sandwich of such uniform dimension that they could be stacked in a Pringles can. I load up the car, crating the kitties last and putting them in their positions -- Abby in back of me and to my right, and Phoebe next to me in the right front passenger seat. Today is a long drive -- about 540 miles -- and I am anxious to tear up the road and get home. We are a curious and paradoxical breed -- most of us anyway -- in that we crave variety and new experiences, but at the same time eventually tire of it and seek to return to the comfort and predictability of familiar surroundings. Rare is the person who craves the open road all th...

Monday April 2 I awake about 6:30, and the first thing I do is remove the dry kitty food in an attempt to "fast" Phoebe so she doesn't throw up the contents of her stomach while on the road. I shower and shave. There is no breakfast here, other than coffee, so I head over to a nearby Cracker Barrel. I know this is unimaginative and that there are plenty of Cracker Barrels back home. But I love their pancakes (which are served with real maple syrup) and their turkey sausage (which is not as greasy as pork sausage). I return to the room, pack up the kitties and their gear, and head out on the road again. I am bound today for Clarksville, TN, where I stopped the first night on my way to Florida four months ago. I have reservations at the same Econo-Lodge. The first hurdle is getting through Atlanta, and I make it fine with no major delays. I must say that Gretchen (my GPS unit) is doing a good job on the way back keeping me on the Interstate and off the state highways. ...

Sunday April 1 The alarm woke me at 5 a.m. I put the bedding in the washing machine, cooked and ate some breakfast, and finished loading the car. By the time Phoebe and Abby were ready to load, the bedding went into the dryer. I loaded the kitties, put the door key under the mat, and bid farewell to 8913 Somerset Boulevard. To pass the time, I listen to "How to Build a House," a book on CD, the bane of many a reader, but welcome relief to those who spend many a long hour on the road. The book, though not what I expected, was nevertheless interesting. The kitties made it OK, though Phoebe pitched a fit for about the first hour, and both barfed and pooped in her travel case. So I had to pull off the Interstate to a gas station, removing the offending effluents, and wash the fleece liner as best I could in the men's room and dry it as best as possible using the wall-mounted hand dryer. But after that, she settled down and both kitties slept for most of the remainder...

Saturday March 31 I awake, have some breakfast, and immediately clean the rest of the condo, for Heather is coming over at 10 a.m. to do the walkthrough. The vacuuming is done (as best I can), so I concentrate on the two crappers, the kitchen, and washing the hard floors with the "Swifter," which as I've mentioned before I think is a pretty worthless device, or at the very least poorly designed (unless I'm using it wrong). Heather arrives about 10:15, and we talk for a while about possible plans for next winter. She urges me to contact her if I believe I will be returning to Ft. Myers. At the very least, she can tell me areas that are "good" and areas to avoid. She does her walk-thru and says she is satisfied, but something tells me the cat hair is an issue (and it turns out that I do pay a cleaning fee that is deducted from my $500 security deposit). I thank Heather for the extra day, and tell her I hope to be on the road by 7 a.m. tomorrow (Sunday) and...

Friday March 30 I have the rather sad task of returning my rental bike today to "Randy," the bike dealer at the Fleamasters flea market. My vintage 1980s Murray "Westport" has been my trusted steed throughout my stay here, and has never let me down. I've missed having "gears" for a little faster transport on the more lengthy uninterrupted stretches of flat terrain.  However, the simplicity and durability of a coaster bike cannot be denied. I remove the custom seat I installed on the bike, and re-install the seat that came with it. Then I drive it over to the flea market, where Randy happily returns half my money -- $50 -- and says he will have no trouble reselling it. I have no use for the basket I bought to go with the bike -- $15 -- so I throw that in for free, along with the cushion handle bar grips that I bought. I return to the condo, and start packing a few things, although tomorrow will be the major packing day. I also start  cleaning the ...

(Note: I am composing these closing entries to my blog from Wisconsin, where I have been for the last couple of months. I need to get these events down on paper before they escape my ever increasing feeble mind. Details might be a little sketchy at this point, but the main events are there, and will provide closure for this winter journey.) Thursday March 29. Today is shopping day, and I have two places I want to visit: The Miromar Outlet Mall, in nearby Estero (just south of Fort Myers); and Dixie Liquidation Groceries, just a bit further south in Bonita Springs. Miromar Outlet -- This is a very nice outlet mall, done in the newest sytle of "indoor/outdoor" style of architecture, with plazas and fountains scattered every so often to provide places to pause and rest or chat or whatever. Most of the restaurants (at least the sit-down venues) are conveniently clustered together in a central part of the mall. I buy a pair of jeans at the Eddie Bauer outlet store. And to my d...