The Big Trip South 2013
Robbie and I had been looking forward to a trip to Florida for a long time. For his part, he was wiped out from his schoolwork, his job and he needed some time off. For my part I just needed to see the sun and feel the warmth of it for a while.
We had planned to leave on Monday, March 11, 2013, but a problem with the car delayed our departure.
I had taken the car in to Steve's here in Woodstock to be cleaned up, get the oil changed, the tires rotated, etc. in preparation for the trip. They did a very nice job of cleaning up the car and I was looking forward to working on it Saturday to get my radio equipment installed and some of the packing for the trip. While I was doing this I decided I needed to drive out to the store to pick up something or other, but to my amazement I discovered that there were no working indicators on the instrument panel. The speedometer, odometer, fuel gauge, nothing was working on the instrument cluster except for the engine light and the other system lights that flash when starting the vehicle. The car seem to work fine as I drove it down the street, but I had no Indication of how fast I was going, what rpm's I was turning or anything else about the health of the system.
I realized we could not make the trip to Florida in such a vehicle, so I called the local dealership about having them take a look at it. This was Saturday around noon. They would not be able to look at it until Monday morning, so I made a an appointment for 8 AM. Our friend, Bob, suggested I try the dealership in London. At first I was reluctant to do so because of the long drive, But eventually I called and they said to bring the car in immediately.
I arrived at 2 o'clock and they spent the next two hours troubleshooting. The computer was unable to tell them anything definite other than there might be a problem with the fuel sensor. I suggested that the problem really was with the instrument cluster and that it probably needed to be repaired or replaced. They agreed and said that they would look into it; but I was warned that the new instrument cluster would cost around $500 and could brought only by Tuesday at the earliest!
Having just spent $1700 on having the car detailed and prepared for the trip, I had a bad feeling about this new repair. But I turned it over to the London Hyundai dealership and hoped for the best. The shop customer service was really sympathetic to our situation and understood that we were anxious to get on the road. He said he would do the best he could, but that it was unlikely that we could get the new part before Tuesday. He promised to call me on Monday around noon noon with an update.
I was amazed to hear from him Monday afternoon that the car was repaired and ready to go. Apparently he is found a used instrument cluster for less than half the cost of the new one and they had installed it and everything was working perfectly. I was very happy and grateful to this gentleman and his crew. I picked up the car at about 4 o'clock and brought it home.
As it turned out, we were able to leave Woodstock on Tuesday morning, March 12. We crossed the border at Niagara Falls without difficulty and headed for our first stop, my sisters place in southeastern Pennsylvania. This was a brief visit since we are anxious to make up for the lost day and get to sunny Florida!
The whole way down the East Coast to the south was a shocking reminder of how cold and miserable a winter this has been. We did not see green growing things until we got to southern Georgia. Last year- in February no less! - things were turning green already in New York and Pennsylvania. This is a huge difference, and one I like to understand. Even now as I write this, buds are just starting to come out on the trees here in Woodstock and it's the end of April!
We made another short visit with our friends in Durham, Paul and Dell. These are great people, and it's always fun to spend some time with them. I was hoping that we could stay longer, but the drive to get down to the warmth was just too great! After spending one night we made the long haul down to Cape Coral and arrived around 10 o'clock on Thursday night.
We spent a pleasant few weeks with Mike and Mary, not really doing much. We did visit with Robbie's parents up near St. Petersburg for a day. We took Robbie's father, Bob, down to Santa Maria Island to check out other rental options for their next trip to Florida. The place they stayed in was very nice, but in the middle of nowhere. They had a long walk to the swimming pool and the beaches were quite far away. Not my idea of an ideal Florida vacation. Maybe it's theirs. But we thought we would give Bob other options, or a show him that there are other options.
Mike P seemed very glad to have us and was anxious for us to arrive, and was concerned when we were delayed getting there. It's very generous of him and Mary to put up with us like that. We try to contribute as we can, pay for meals and groceries, but it really is nice of them to do what they do for us while not allowing us to contribute to the rent expense. In fact, it makes a vacation to Florida of that length of time possible for us and we really appreciate it.
When it was time for Mike and Mary to leave, we headed east to visit our friends Ron and Dave in Lauderhill on the East Coast of the state. We had very nice weather the whole trip, and enjoyed hanging out with our friends. Robbie made it to the beach twice, although I managed to weasel out. The beach just isn't my thing for the most part. Exposing my body to the sun is not one of the priorities in my life. My mother would not understand this. She worshiped the sun like that. But I only think of the bad things that it's doing to me as it roasts my carcass under it's unrelenting rays! Besides I take meds that are interfered with by exposure to sunlight.
When it was time to head north, both Robbie and I were a little sad to be leaving. This had nothing to do with the fact that winter was going full bore back home in Ontario; no, we just like it in Florida. Every time we go there we seriously discuss how we might end up living there someday. While we're there, we look at houses for sale and discuss how life might be living there. Of course, we don't take into consideration the heat and humidity that dominates throughout the summer months. But on the other hand, they don't have to deal with snow and cold like we do.
Of course, once we've left the narcotic embrace of the sunshine State, we begin to realize how difficult it would be for us to actually live there. It would take a special alignment of the stars for that to happen, and even then we would only want to be there six months out of the year For one thing, I'm not willing to give up my Canadian healthcare!
Our next stop as we headed north was Lauren, South Carolina where we visited my friend, Daniel Lauer, and his family. It has been years since I've seen Daniel and I had never met his wife or child, so I felt it was long overdue. We had a lovely visit, a fantastic meal at one of the local eateries, and a tour of Daniel's workplace the next morning, the local newspaper.
Daniel is the oldest son of one of my closest friends from high school and college, Rich Lauer. I've known Daniel since he was a baby and have followed his career with interest. He is a typical Lauer child, well-traveled, experienced in the weird ways of the world, and generally a very well-grounded young man. His wife is from Lauren and that is how they ended up there after their wedding. Daniel seems very happy in his job and where they live. But they are discussing moving someday to a larger town with more culture and more diversity. Daniel will thrive in any environment I'm sure! I have to mention that their son who is not yet three, is demonstrating typical Lauer intelligence and precociousness. On top of that, he is very cute!
From Lauren we decided to take the Blue Ridge Mountain Parkway up to Monticello where I hoped to visit Thomas Jefferson's home. It was an overcast and cool day on the parkway, but with the lack of greenery we got to see a lot more of the countryside. Robbie and I both enjoyed this part of the trip very much even though he was constantly reminding me to slow down as we wended our way through the curvy ups and downs of the Parkway. This is a trip to be enjoyed at many different times of the year - although I think they close it in the winter. We actually had some snow and sleet while we are on the Parkway. This was exciting and we were expecting the gates to be closed on us at any point, but we made it to Charlottesville without incident.
Unfortunately, I was unprepared for the popularity of Monticello and we were unable to get tickets to see it when we wanted to. Another time! From there we went to meet up with my sister, Judye, and her husband, Joe, as well as my oldest half-brother, Dan, and his wife, Sharon. We all had lunch at Dover Downs Casino and Racetrack in Dover, Delaware. It was a smorgasbord, all you can eat kind of place, and while the food was very good, these kinds of restaurants are very bad for the likes of Robbie and me!
It was very nice to see Dan again after all this time. Dan was my mother's first child, whom she gave up for adoption. We had known about him for a long time but it wasn't until the late 90s that we were able to meet with him. It's a long, complicated story and somewhat miraculous too. Perhaps i can tell that story another time. The first and last time we ever met was 13 years ago at his stepdaughter's wedding! I like him and Sharon a lot, and I hope we can see them more often than every 13 years going forward!
Judye talked us into spending the night in Landenberg at their house rather than trying to drive on through to Long Island, which was ostensibly our next destination. Robbie was a little disappointed, because he's anxious to visit his friend, AJ. But I was kind of worn out from all the driving and appreciated a quiet evening at home with my sister. I think ultimately Robbie did too!
The next day we drove to Long Island. Driving through New York is never my idea of a good time, but we managed to do it without getting ourselves killed - although there was at least one close call! It was windy, and of course the roads were very crowded. I don't think there's ever a time in greater New York when the roads are not crowded! But we made it finally to AJ's boyfriend's house on the north side of the island (or is it considered the west side?). We were somewhat surprised that AJ had entered into a new relationship with Brian without us knowing it. But such is the nature of modern relationships, I guess! Sometimes they're fast and sometimes they last!
Brian is a nice guy and works in the movie industry providing old automobiles for film shoots and playing stand-in and bit parts when he is able to get a job doing that. We didn't actually see much of him except during AJ's birthday party. We hadn't realized that AJ was having a party, but it was very nice because we got to meet his family and friends.
Later on I was importuned strongly to entertain on the guitar and sing. I don't mind singing, but my guitar skills have deteriorated greatly in my old age, and I struggled to remember chords and play the instrument they initially gave me. Then they gave me a very expensive guitar to play, and all I can say is, it was like butter! If I have started playing on that guitar, my fingers would not have been turned into hamburger and I could STILL be playing it, I think. What a difference quality makes! Of course it still did nothing for my memory and ability to play cords or strum! But it was all fun.
After two nights with Brian and AJ, we headed home taking the scenic route across New York State. This was Tuesday, April 9 almost a month to the day since we had left left. Crossing the border at Niagara Falls is always a gamble, but I was shocked at how easily we got through. We weren't asked any questions about purchases or items brought back with us by the young lady in the booth. She just agreed that spending a month in Florida had to be a wonderful thing, then sent us on our way to the 403 via the QEW. By 10 o'clock that evening we were pulling into the driveway at home and happy to be here!
In general, this was a very mellow, enjoyable trip for both Robbie and me. The only disappointing thing was coming home to several more weeks of winter! As I write this at the end of April, spring is finally trying to grab hold of this part of Southwest Ontario. It is raining gently and I am loving that! By next week we should see green grass growing thickly all around the house. Assuming it doesn't snow again!
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