Road thought

The journey to and from Biloxi was uneventful. No screeching of tires followed by loud scrunching of metal, no screaming by Faye as I leave her behind at some gas station. Just a peaceful and pleasant ride along the Interstates. Some of you (quite possibly most) may not recall a time before freeways... or why they are called "freeways." If I may digress just a little... There was once a time when roadways which had exits and no traffic lights were commercial enterprises. Not private enterprise (though there were a few of those) but "pay as you go" on a state built highway. They were not all that popular. Especially with my father. My father was, as they say, frugal. To a fault.

I must have inherited some of that frugality, along with my mother's profligate ways. Yeah, I spend money too freely and fret about it equally.

The trip to and from Biloxi takes us over a mixture of highways. Sebring is one of the few cities that does not have a freeway, not even nearby. The nearest one is 60 or 70 miles away. Our main highway is US 27, a traditional road full of traffic lights and lost tourists and seasonal residents. We take that north to I-4 then I-4 east to SR 429 (toll) on which we head north until we reach the last stretch of the Florida Turnpike (toll) before it connects/merges into I-75. And then north until we reach I-10. After that, it's an easy ride west.

We stop overnight on the way up to Biloxi because Faye doesn't want to waste a gambling day getting there. If we drive straight through (about 10 hours), we (meaning Faye) arrive tired late in the evening. This cuts into gambling time because, as we all know, one should be refreshed and eager before sitting down to be mesmerized by the gaily blinking lights and symbols on the various slot machines. Apparently, being tired and eager doesn't work as well.

There is another reason for stopping one night along the way. A Mexican restaurant in Marianna, FL. We arrive in Marianna just a shy of dinner time. We find a room, settle in, and then head for dinner. It has become a ritual. A tasty one. Therefore, I do not complain.

Every trip we vow that the next time we will visit the Florida Caverns (yes, we have some) or the Naval Aviation Museum which are on the way. So far... we have failed to honor those vows. This is not unusual. I went past the USS Alabama a dozen or more times before I finally stopped to see it. I expect that we will visit one of these sometime in the next couple of years.

I get to do some observing along the way, mostly of the poor driving habits of those around me. This time, I observed something else. My left knee is getting worse. Lack of movement of that knee while driving for hours leads to great pain when unbending it and trying to walk when we stop for a cup of coffee or a meal... or gas.

That last makes me wonder if I could still ride a motorcycle across the country. Which, some of you know, is a life long dream of mine.