Thursday, June 21, 2012

Second Leg

Diane and Herman visited the Valley for his sister's wedding about a week of me coming home from Virginia. After the festivities, we packed up in a 240Z Herman bought in Okinawa, with the plates still on the front. The little orange car had two seats and I stretched out in the hatch back trunk, with a large window. I waved at all the truck drivers as we passed them.
Ohio at that time kept strict speeding laws. Flashing red lights stopped us mid-Ohio. The trooper questioned the plates, especially the Okinawa plates. Herman was cool under pressure and the trooper didn't even warn about me in the back.
We stopped at Dayton Air Force Base to visit some friends of Herman's. We didn't go to the museum, which I didn't mind since I had been there before. We stayed the night in Nashville, TN. A debate ensued whether to push through or not, but getting me out of the back seemed the better idea. Diane and I did switch some, yet I really didn't mind lounging back there on my ballerina sleeping bag.
My trip was open ended, my next destination was camp around the end of July. A one way ticket to home when I was ready would be purchased. This was past mid June.
I was impressed with the red bluffs of Alabama. But even from the car, it looked hot without an ocean near. Fort Walton Beach, Florida, waited at the end of the trip boasting white sand and a bay with a dock at their condo complex. Also a medium size pool with a diving board beckoned me. Not much yard, but who needed it with all the water. I loved even sitting on the dock- "Sitting on the dock of the bay." Never mind the song was about San Francisco, this bay was good enough for me.
I ended up staying for over three weeks. I fell right into place with Florida living. We visited the beaches where I walked out to my chin and could still see my feet. The sand looked like sugar from the table.
Diane introduced me to All My Children. On for a half hour only then, the shade covered the pool at that time, so we ate lunch. Fried rice with pineapple became a new meal to me. Diane had taken cooking lessons from an Hong Kong chef while she was in Bangkok, Thailand. When company came from Farrell, she made three dishes, my favorite of those meals was sweet and sour pork. Herman insisted on eating with chop sticks. Stated it tasted the best with the bamboo wood.
I'll share more new adventures next time I post.

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