Three Years and Counting!

                             We are going to pretend that this Post was written a week ago when I briefly thought about it. That way I can claim that it has been exactly three years since we transitioned from Stationary Stewards of Land and metamorphized into The Wandering Gypsies of the Highway. At that time this Blog was born and one thing that I promised you was that I would not post the mundane, everyday happenings of Paula and Don just because we could. Hence the length of time since our last Post.

                             I am happy to report that we are on the road again, sans our usual modus operandi of Travel. Yes, we have left Miss Biggie behind in Texas as we venture out, down, and south of us and head into the wilds of Florida. We are traveling in the Lifeboat which is (as Hondas tend to be) quite a bit smaller than Winnebago Motor Homes. That means that we cannot get up and move around, make lunch, use the facilities, or just sit in large comfortable Captain’s Chairs watching the pavement unfurl beneath us.

                             Nope.

                             We’re now just like the rest of Traveling Public, consigned to Rest Stop bathrooms and hastily consumed passenger side ­­­lap-snacks as our lunch on the go. The reason that we left our home behind was that our destination had all of the amenities that we would need over the next two or so, weeks .

                             It’s time to throw back the curtains and reveal our Destination for this time period……… Fort Myers, Florida!

                             Heh?

                             Yay! Fort Myers! You know, southwest coast of Florida! Home to a bunch of alligators and our Errant Jumbo-Sized Suitcase of World Cruise fame that made its way there, courtesy of Harold and Sherry of the same fame.

                             (Flashback!)

                             When we went on the World Cruise, we had our luggage shipped to Fort Lauderdale ahead of embarkation. This resulted in a rather smashed-up imitation of a large garment container being delivered to our stateroom. This previously usable piece of luggage was given a ceremonial Burial at Sea and arrangements were made for me to visit a Big Box Store in Los Angeles when we arrived there two weeks hence. Procurement of an even larger Traveling Tote was accomplished with the end game still uncertain as I thought that I had purchased the same size suitcase as the now deceased one.

                             Wrong!

                             I had in my possession a container that rivaled the old Titanic-Sized Steamer Trunks of yesteryear’s travel.

                             Oops!

                             When the calculations were made at the end of the cruise it was determined that this over-sized and over-weight item would cost an additional $400.00 to make its way back with us on the airplane to Houston.

Ouch!

                             Enter our new besties, Harold and Sherry who drove to the ship as they live only a peninsula’s width away from Fort Lauderdale, in Fort Myers. By now I’m sure that this picture has focused itself and you can see that there were several reasons to travel to Fort Myers sometime in the future to retrieve our suitcase filled with Tuxedo’s and Gowns and visit with Sherry and Harold!

                             Back to the Present.

                             Since the World Cruise, Harlod and Sherry have been to Alberta, Canada where they went to Banff and Lake Louise, the Adirondacks for an annual family gathering vacation, and Kenya and Tanzania for a three-week Safari.  So, as you can imagine, fitting in a trip South , coordinated with our travels, was a logistical quandary of sorts. No worries, the Garments of Distinction were not needed any time soon as we were not invited to King Charle’s Coronation.

                             It is a good thing that Paula is the more stalwart of the drivers of this set as I, at times, am useless. The maladies that make traveling with me a relative nightmare, RLS (Restless Leg Syndrome) and AIMPA (Ants-In-My-pants Affliction) coupled with UIAP (Uncomfortable In Any Position) makes traveling with me a challenge. Throw in the fact that I can narcolepsy with the best of them at any time, keeps Paula behind then wheel a full two-thirds of the time, leaving me to squirm and/or saw the zzzzz’s  in the passenger’s seat. These attributes (?) make driving the Honda instead of the motorhome an even worse situation. Plus there is absolutely no place to put the motorhome down here by Harold and Sherry. They live in a wonderfully manicured and gated community that has zero space to park something of that size and besides, we were staying in their home with them.

                             A visit to Harold and Sherry’s home is like a visit to a museum. Artifacts and treasures from their travels are abundantly and tastefully displayed everywhere you look. Vaulted ceilings supported by lofty walls are the perfect venues for showcasing these pieces collected on their travels. One of their favorite things to collect are masks, and with their affinity for Africa you can just imagine the wonderful examples of these items that have made their way into their collection.

                             I can’t forget the elephants! Lots and lots of different elephant renditions adorn the shelves around their home. And what would elephants be without some other wildlife to engage with? From time to time you can spy an occasional giraffe or lion peeking out from a shelf, looking for a meal. Couple all of this with a collective of eclectic artworks both from Harold and around the world and you come up with a sensory-overloading visual experience.

                             For a sensory overload of slightly different proportions, we went to dinner last night at Doc Ford’s Rum Bar and Grille over by Fort Myers Beach. This area was Ground Zero for Hurricane Ian just one year ago. Ian came ashore as a Cat 5 and quickly delivered an enormous blow to this area. 161 lost souls and $113,000,000 dollars later, Ian departed leaving the area quaking in his wake. Doc’s was no exception but press on they did, and the newly re-built facility is now thriving again along with a few of its neighbors. Sherry’s daughter Rachael worked there before Ian and still works here now. We visited her last night for a dining experience that was quite perfect. Just the right amount of culinary skill, topped off with some sincerely friendly service in a waterfront venue made for a memorable evening. We did tour the area before we sat down, and the devastation is still quite apparent and will take some time before things can be considered “normal” again.

                             Today we travel across the state for a weekend on the beach in Fort Lauderdale. No, it’s not Spring Break, just a few days at a condo owned by Sherry’s daughter. With any amount of luck there will be boats galore!

Report to follow 😊