The walk\u2026
\nWell I have everything packed and I have run all then scenarios run and I think that I am ready.\u00a0\u00a0 We get up early\u2026\u00a0 the only time I have to get up early in the last two years is when I am on vacations.\u00a0 That just seems odd.\u00a0 But I would rather only get up early on vacation then all of the time\u2026\u00a0 silver lining \u2026
\nSo we get up and I have a nice scone, a banana and some diet dew.\u00a0 Breakfast of champions.\u00a0 We get everything loaded and we are off.\u00a0 We\u00a0 go to the gas station to fill up the car and that is where Marlo and I parted company.\u00a0 I forgot to take the parting shot\u2026 picture that is\u2026\u00a0 I walk off back in the direction that we just drove.\u00a0 It is 8:19.\u00a0 I begin my journey.\u00a0 I had programmed in Port Charlotte into ANB (the garmin) and put it in pedestrian mode.\u00a0 It says that it is 18.2 miles and will take me 8 hours to walk\u2026\u00a0 I can do that\u2026\u00a0 well the moment I set foot on the sidewalk the sprinklers come on.\u00a0 Hmmmm.\u00a0 I walk for several hours.\u00a0 My hips hurt a bit and my feet are getting sore\u2026 are we having fun yet?\u00a0 The weather was perfect.\u00a0 High 60\u2019s light breeze.\u00a0 This \u201cbreeze\u201d\u00a0 continues all day.\u00a0 I later refer to it as the headwind\u2026\u00a0 I walk all the way down\u00a0 Center Street and need to take on River Road.\u00a0 I pass the restaurant that we had dinner at the night before\u2026\u00a0 something odd about walking a couple hours that you just went to by car in 15 minutes\u2026\u00a0 anyway I cut the corner onto River road and continue.\u00a0 I determine that it is time to stick my thumb out.\u00a0 I pass by the dirt road on my left and contemplate\u2026 shortcut\u2026\u00a0 I look at the map on ANB and see that I need to make a bridge\u2026\u00a0 the short cut will not do.\u00a0 I continue on.\u00a0 There is no shoulder so I walk on the grass.\u00a0 My thumb comes to the rescue fairly quickly.\u00a0 I attempted to record the exchange, but I had locked the recorder.\u00a0 I got better about that later.\u00a0 He was a retired man from way up North Minnesota.\u00a0 He had just traveled through the ice storm in Kentucky.\u00a0 He was headed to the golf course.\u00a0\u00a0 The good news is that it did not take too long to get a ride.\u00a0 The bad news is that I only went 5 miles.\u00a0 That is an hour walk though, so that works.\u00a0 He dropped me at route 41 Tamiami Trail.\u00a0 I have a long way\u00a0 to go on this road.\u00a0 It looks kinda like the Berlin turnpike.\u00a0 Lots of local traffic.\u00a0 No very conducive to hitching a ride.\u00a0 I walk\u2026 and walk\u2026\u00a0 I see signs for a local bus.\u00a0 I ask about it and am told that id comes by every hours.\u00a0 Well I have been on this road for a couple of hours and have not seen a bus\u2026\u00a0 as soon as I come out of the gas station, poof, there is a bus.\u00a0 I get in and ask all sorts of questions to the bus driver.\u00a0 He starts with sit down, I am going the same direction that you were so we are good.\u00a0 It cost $.75.\u00a0 I ask for a map, but he is negotiating an intersection filled with emergency vehicles due to the accident.\u00a0 He tells me to hang on a bit\u2026\u00a0 he drives me about 5 miles\u2026\u00a0 another short ride\u2026 hmmm\u2026.\u00a0 I am back on the road.\u00a0 I walk\u2026. And walk\u2026\u00a0 I am now seeing signs for Port North.\u00a0 This is a couple of town before Port Charlotte.\u00a0 Not bad time actually.\u00a0 I walk\u2026 my feet hurt and I can feel the formation of a blister on both feet.\u00a0 They are forming at the top of the big foot pad.\u00a0 They hurt a bit.\u00a0 I walk, I thumb\u2026\u00a0 as I am lazily hanging my thumb a twenty-foot box\u00a0 truck beeps and pulls into the road in front of me waving me in.\u00a0 now this box truck has two guys in it and they tell me that I have to sit on the floor between the seats.\u00a0 I immediately feel a little trapped, but not too bad.\u00a0 We start chatting about this and that.\u00a0 They call themselves brothers, but they are not.\u00a0 They are just one big happy family.\u00a0 I hear about one of there real brothers got a rich girlfriend in Long Island and is now better then everyone, we talked about computers, we talked about fishing and hunting\u2026\u00a0 they were Mark and Howard.\u00a0 They were working..\u00a0 they did pick-up and delivery of uniforms\u2026 I think.\u00a0 So they are doing their route and pick up a hitch hiker\u2026\u00a0 ok\u2026\u00a0 Mark actually wanted to go into computers, but \u2026 well he drives truck.\u00a0 He has a picture of a child on the dash.\u00a0 I assume that it is his.\u00a0 They are delivery drivers with some dreams\u2026\u00a0 well they offer to bring me all the way to Fort Myers\u2026\u00a0 well, looky , lookey, that was way further then I had\u00a0 imagined getting to in the first day.\u00a0 My distant hope was Punta Gorde so I have them drop me there.\u00a0 It is a nice little tourist town.\u00a0 I decide that this is a good time to grab a bit to eat and rest my feet.\u00a0 I find this great caf\u00e9.\u00a0 Caf\u00e9 Ruelle.\u00a0 They have live music, ok, a guy with a guitar, and free wireless internet.\u00a0 Excellent!\u00a0 I sit and update my facebook and break out my maps.\u00a0 I\u00a0 order a diet coke and a steak and cheese wrap\u2026\u00a0 pretty healthy.\u00a0 I look at my map and try to figure out where I want to turn due east\u2026\u00a0 well it looks like I should go down to\u2026\u00a0 yup, Fort Myers!!!\u00a0 Drat, drat and double drat.\u00a0 I could have been there already.\u00a0 I don\u2019t get too upset because I have faith that the universe will provide.\u00a0 I do have to admit I had some doubts over the next couple of hours.\u00a0 I changed my destination a couple of time and then started back out on the Tamiami Trail (route 41).\u00a0 Well I resolve myself to be walking a while because no one is going to stop right in the middle of town on a busy street\u2026\u00a0\u00a0 I walk and walk and walk\u2026\u00a0 finally with the town behind me the road opens up a little bit and me and my little thumb get busy\u2026\u00a0 I walk\u2026\u00a0 well sometime later this van pulls off and I have a ride.\u00a0 Now with all this time walking I attempt to rate the chances of different vehicles picking me up.\u00a0 A sedan with a couple in the front seats rates about a 0.\u00a0 A pickup truck with one guy driving is one of the better prospects.\u00a0 That was my first ride.\u00a0 Now I knew that trucks were a good bet, but I would have given the box truck a slight chance\u2026 live and learn.\u00a0 Anyway this old van drives up and offers me a ride.\u00a0\u00a0 I record the conversation.\u00a0 I have not listened to it.\u00a0 I think it will be a little boring.\u00a0 Well Bob was retired and he lived in Fort Myers.\u00a0 Score\u2026\u00a0 I decide at that point I am staying in Fort Myers tonight.\u00a0 Also in Punta Gorde as soon as I updated my facebook, a friend called me and told me that he was just down the road in Fort Myers at his fathers\u2019 with his kids\u2026\u00a0 go figure.\u00a0 I also have a friend currently at Disney and another\u00a0 one somewhere in Palm Beach\u2026\u00a0 go figure\u2026\u00a0 anyway Bob drives me into the city and we start checking out hotels.\u00a0 I see a holiday in that looks good to my weary body but we continue down a ways.\u00a0 There are a bunch of cheap motels along the way, but I am thinking nice pool, wireless internet, and a comfy bed\u2026\u00a0 Aheb Patel\u2019s hotel might not cut it.\u00a0 Bob is on an errand to check out a new car.\u00a0 I tag along\u2026\u00a0 I really have nothing better to do.\u00a0 I read my book, check out hotels with ANB and my cell.\u00a0 There are rooms to be had and fairly reasonably.\u00a0\u00a0 Also the cigarette lighter in the van has power with the van off so I am able to charge ANB.\u00a0 That makes me feel better.\u00a0 He spends about an hour shopping for a car.\u00a0 I read.\u00a0 I am comfy.\u00a0 After he is through we cruise back the way we came headed for the hotel near the road I am considering walking the next day.\u00a0 The room is very nice, non-smoking king overlooking the pool.\u00a0 It also has a great signal to the included wireless internet.\u00a0 Sweet.\u00a0 It also has a reasonable flat-panel hdtv.\u00a0 i change and head down to the pool to get some sun and a swim.\u00a0 I look down and I have an awesome road-grim tan going on.\u00a0 I took a picture.\u00a0 I dive into the pool.\u00a0 I am pretty sure that I left a ring\u2026 maybe I should have showered first\u2026\u00a0 I did not really want to walk through the lobby all wet\u2026
\nThere were a few people at the pool.\u00a0 It was nice.\u00a0 Just after I left the pool was infested by rug rats.\u00a0 I got out just in time.\u00a0 The hotel had a decent hotel right there and I was getting hungry.\u00a0 There were not a lot of people there.\u00a0 I ended up chatting with this guy that pulled a fifth wheel trailer to perform breathing apparatuses certification.\u00a0 Mostly for fire departments, but also for the Navy.\u00a0 He was interesting.\u00a0 We discussed the\u00a0\u00a0 merits of crossing through central Florida.\u00a0 He was of the opinion that there were none.\u00a0 He even offered to give me a ride, but his schedule would not fit.\u00a0 He told me that there was a whole lot of nothing between here and there\u2026\u00a0 I asked how far apart the service station and towns and motels were\u2026\u00a0 he said that they were up to 50 miles apart\u2026 hmmm, that did not sound appealing\u2026\u00a0 now\u00a0 the odds of getting a ride across were not too bad.\u00a0 Most people that were on that road were ging all the way across.\u00a0 So, it I got a ride in the beginning I would be all set and I would get dropped near either Fort Lauderdale or Miami.\u00a0 I still had to decide what airport to get a car at also\u2026.\u00a0 I had some thinking to do.\u00a0 I could probably get a and it would be one ride all the way over\u2026 OR I could simply catch a ride with Tom who would pick me up at the hotel and drop me at the airport\u2026\u00a0 I actually made the conservative choice and decided to accept the ride from Tom.\u00a0 Now I had to wait for him to call and confirm that he would do it\u2026\u00a0 he had not called by 9:30, so I called him.\u00a0 He said that he would pick me up at around 6:30\u2026\u00a0 ouch, vacation getting up early.
\nAfter I confirmed my arrival on the east coast, I had to figure out where I wanted to get the car and where I wanted to stay.\u00a0 It was a long arduous process to get that all figured out.\u00a0 First I had to back into a departure date\u2026\u00a0 I figured a couple of days in Miami, a couple in Key Largo, and a couple in the keys.\u00a0 It was going to cost me a couple hundred bucks a day to stay so I did not want to spend too much\u2026 but hey I was here.\u00a0 Well I was looking at about a week and the price of the plane tickets dictated that Wednesday was the day to go back home\u2026\u00a0 $79 ticket!!!!\u00a0 Sweet!\u00a0 It was more in Miami so that made the airport choice for me as well.\u00a0 I then decided to attempt priceline for my hotel\u2026\u00a0 not great.\u00a0 The place I got was the same price on their own web site as I was paying!\u00a0 50% off my azz!\u00a0 Then I needed a car.\u00a0 So I went to expedia and checked that out then to the Hertz site to check out my discount.\u00a0 Well the Hertz deal was actually better.\u00a0 A week with a decent car for around $400.\u00a0 Not bad!\u00a0 Now I have a ride, I have a car, and a place to stay.\u00a0 I kick back and watch the rest of the action flick.\u00a0 Then I read and go to sleep\u2026 for not too long\u2026
\nHe called me at 5:40\u2026\u00a0 I was not overly pleased about the time AND he had not left the house yet\u2026\u00a0 but, hey, that whole beggars and choosers thing\u2026\u00a0\u00a0 I was ready.\u00a0 Tom had just gotten a new Garmin so I gave him the address of the hotel.\u00a0 He was not able to get it in before he let so he pulled off the exit to enter it.\u00a0 It is a good thing he did because he was coming up on the exit that he would need to take to gather me and my stuff up.
\nHe got there at 7:15 or so\u2026\u00a0 I have been\u00a0 awake for far too long already.\u00a0 Fortunately I had my diet dew.\u00a0 I also replied back to the guy in Fort Myers that I would not be able to make lunch because my ride was a-leavin\u2026\u00a0 well, it was a long desolate stretch of highway between Fort Myers and the east coast.\u00a0 I am fairly confident that would have gotten a ride, but this was not the route that I would have choosen\u2026\u00a0 I took some pictures.\u00a0 The ride went quickly.\u00a0 There was little dead air time.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I went to the Hertz place to check in and I was way early.\u00a0 It would cost me an extra day if I picked it up then.\u00a0 I am waiting and typing.\u00a0 I am actually all caught up.\u00a0 I am typing about typing while I type.\u00a0 This has got to end\u2026\u00a0 I will post it and go get the car. \u2026\u00a0 posting now\u2026. Ahhh make it stop\u2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The walk\u2026 Well I have everything packed and I have run all then scenarios run and I think that I am ready.\u00a0\u00a0 We get up early\u2026\u00a0 the only time I have to get up early in the last two years is when I am on vacations.\u00a0 That just seems odd.\u00a0 But I would rather only […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-florida-2009"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7vq9N-2Q","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatup.brantct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatup.brantct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatup.brantct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatup.brantct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatup.brantct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=176"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/whatup.brantct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":177,"href":"https:\/\/whatup.brantct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176\/revisions\/177"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatup.brantct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatup.brantct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatup.brantct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}