On the road again… I have logged over 1,000 ground miles this trip. 60 of it backpacking, 100 of it or so riding and the rest driving. I am glad that I upgraded the car to the convertible. It was a fun car. I wish I had more of a chance to play with the rear wheel driveness of it in some sand, but I never got the chance.
The drive up the Keys, was long and slow. I did stop on Bahia Honda State Park. It was pretty, I visited the butterfly garden, and hiked on the nature walk. I took some pictures, left some foot prints… there were a few kite boarders enjoying the beach. Marlo is hot to do that… I have to say that it does not look overly easy… I don’t feel all that motivated to do it… we will see. I would like to dive in Cozumel come May though.
Anyway the drive was long and uneventful. ANB kept me on track. I really do like this version way better then the lesser models. I should do the right thing and just keep this one. I think that I will give it to Marlo for her birthday… we will see if she reads this before then… her birthday is coming up. She is a great girl. I stop along the way and fill up with some cheap gas. I cruise though Fort Lauderdale and find the hotel. It is very nice and on the beach. It is after four by the time I arrive. There are lots of volleyball nets on the beach… I wish I had gotten there early enough to get in on a game… if they were even playing… it was a Tuesday after all.
I get my Starwood preferred treatment and have an ocean front room. It is nice. I head to the bar to get a bit to eat. I am sitting there and a woman sits next to me. She is a about my age and fairly attractive. I say hi. I go through all of the hi stranger things and she is about as talkative as nothing… I order a cob salad and it is excellent. The presentation was very nice. It was arranged with all of the ingredients surrounding the lettuce in the middle. Little miss talkative next to me speaks and comments about the bartenders French braid… it makes her look up tight and unfriendly. She seems both. The women next to me sells upscale sun glasses to chains. She say that she sells optical solutions… ok, whatever gets you to sleep at night. She travels a lot and enjoys it. She tells me that she can do this because she is single and has no kids. She tells me this several times. But every time I try to engage her in a conversation she fails to hold up her end… no wonder she is single and has no kids… I think that it may be a personality disorder… or maybe she was just tired. Now just to make things clear… I was NOT trying to pick this women up… If I had tried I would have :> off to my room for some tv, reading, and sleep.
In the air again… I pack and am on my way. The car is supposed to be back by 11:00 and my flight is not until 4:00. So, what do I do, spend more money and keep the car or hang out in the airport for 5 hours… ok, I am still cheap… and done with Florida. I spend 5 hours in the airport. That is ok, I finally finish the book that I was reading. The Weight of Light, not very captivating, but I finished it and then abandoned it to the universe that travels through the airport. I bought another one. This is by Robert Parker and I am sure that I will like it. After reading the first part I find that it picks up right after the last Robert Parker book I read. This is good.
I look around the airport for a plug so I can run on ac with my laptop. There is one plug where I am waiting and some guy is using it… I wait. I can also watch the USAIR counter for a time when there is no line. The guy leaves and I swoop in on the plug and type away for another hour or so. There is free internet in Fort Lauderdale airport, sweet. I post a blog. I read my book… I eat at Friday’s I think. I check in. I go though security. Even security has lost its angst. I sit, I wait, I plug in. I read, I type I buy a soda. USAIR now charges $2 for soda on the plane… geeze!
While at the airport I pay my car insurance, I call Geico and take my ex-wife off of my policy… why after nine years is she still listed on my policy??? Well, I could not do it on-line and I never bothered. It turns out that the married status was saving me $50 a year on my insurance! Yup, I saved $450 on car insurance over the last nine years because I could not change it on-line, sweet. I finally needed to get here off because she had some problem with her insurance. This came at a good time because I want to see the kids on a weekend that is not mine, so it helps to have done something for her….
Off to Philly and then onto Hartford…