THE ADVENTURE BEGINS

Currently I’m sitting in a Hampton Inn in Cartersville, GA, on my way to Auburndale, Fl. to house sit Pete’s sister’s house for a month.  They are headed to Europe for a 3 week tour and we’re dog sitting their 2 labs.

We had to drive two cars down cause I’m leaving for Indian Rocks Beach later in the month for my 60^th high school reunion which should be a lot of fun.  And then I need to head right home for OLLI classes that start a week earlier.    

So, its been a while since I drove down to Florida from our home in Goshen, Ohio.  I’ve made the trip many times over the past several years, but typically Pete does all the driving while I spend the days reading a book. 

This time, since I had to drive my car, I wasn’t really looking forward to the drive, but I buckled in and off we went.  All was well for a while, until we hit rain showers just south of Cincinnati.  It rained, not stormed, all the way to southern Kentucky.  That was a little stressful since the roads were packed.

But once the rain broke, I relaxed and started thinking about all the times I’ve made this drive.  I remember the first time we made the trip for our move to Florida in 1957.  I-75 wasn’t even completed until 1977. 

That means, when I moved back to Ohio in June 1968 that I didn’t make the drive all the way up I-75.  I don’t remember that.  I remember I drove my new 1968 VW Bug was packed with everything I owned…..clothes, books, a sewing machine, golf clubs, etc, etc. 

Driving today I started thinking about this history.  Kind of wished I kept journals recording all those trips.  Early on I drove home to Florida at least once a year, sometimes more often. 

Of course, once I moved to Alaska and then Guam, that was 3* years when I didn’t make the drive at all.  But in June 1976, when I returned to Cincinnati from Guam, the practice started up again. 

I actually love the drive.  I-75 makes the trip very easy and driving through Kentucky and Tennessee is really beautiful.  There is so much history there, I can get lost in thought as I drive along.

This trip will be the longest ever.  From here we travel down to Leesburg, Fl to spend a day with Molly, Pete’s sister, then from there to Auburndale to Jan and Tom’s.

This will be the first installment.  I’ll keep posting as the days fly by.

See ya later.