I Been Trippin'

Whew, glad to be back. I been trying to plan a trip to visit my mom on her birthday, Monday June 9, and Friday I got a call from my bff who was packed and ready to go. I threw my stuff in the little Cavalier and took off to Alabama to pick up my friend Julie, arriving just before dark and off we went down I-20 to Hotlanta then south on I-75. We were trippin'! I finally had to get some gas before we hit the state line, it was nice and cool out so we didn't have to run the air conditioner at all. The weather forecast was for hot, dry weather both up my way and in Florida so there was no chance of rain. We cruised all night and ended up in St. Augustine beach just before sunrise, and we stopped for about an hour or so, walked the beach and waited on  the sun to appear out of the Atlantic. It was a beautiful thing. I felt like I was trippin' again.

After that we eased on down A1A south towards Daytona enjoying the morning peace and the ocean waves soothing our souls. Up ahead I could see the condos getting closer and closer then we spied a little motel/inn right on the ocean. I made a u-turn and asked the owner about renting a room now, it was about 9 by now, and we hadn't slept all night. He agreed and we got the place for another night after seeing it. $62 and right on the ocean with a kitchenette, fridge, microwave, new mattresses, and our own private front yard. Right on the ocean!! Yea, we went to sleep, we woke about 1pm and then  had the whole day ahead of us. And it was a perfect day. We went to a place I know of, next to the Daytona Beach Lighthouse at the inlet, called Down The Hatch, it's a local seafood place with fresh fish, right on the water. There must have been a fishing tournament there were so many boats coming and going plus we were right on the Intercoastal Waterway so all the big yatchs were going by. We both had the Yellowfin Tuna and something else, we were still kinda not with it anyway.

We drove around some and on the way back I got on the beach and drove for about ten miles back to Daytona Beach before getting back on the asphalt. That is always so cool to do. I wish I had had more time to rent a bicycle to ride on the beach, I really like that. I drove Julie around some, stopped at a couple of  shops to get a few things, went back to our room and chilled out the rest of the evening. Julie went for a walk on the beach and I went to the grocery store for some munchies/breakfast stuff. That was kind of bad waiting in line, I always seem to pick the slowest ones anymore? After dark the wind picked up and was blowing about 25mph from off the ocean. It was exhilarating. I found it hard to go inside, I almost got my sleeping bag and slept on the beach, but the tide was too high. We slept good that night, it felt like it was our second night, but it was still day one! I think my circadian rhythm was messed up some, but I am on a trip

I woke soon after sunrise the next morning, Sunday now, and it was another great morning. The wind had subsided, it was relatively cool and I'm recharged now. We ate breakfast at a little diner in Daytona Beach then headed up to see my mom afterwards arriving about 11 or so. It's always good to see her but she is having some troubles at home with her husband's 50 something year old child not being able to support himself so it seems he has moved in with them, and is living off them. I'm not ok with the situation and made it known right away, causing a little tension in the air, so we didn't stay long but did set up a birthday dinner for her at 5:30 at one of her favorite places. So we took off and went to Playalinda beach beside Kennedy Space Center, then to Haulover canal to get a local rock from the area for Julie. I found her a big chunk of Coquina rock, about 30 lbs, and then it was off to dinner with my mom.

We had a nice dinner while looking at the Space Center across the Indian River Lagoon on a perect day.  She said she had a Dr's appointment Monday morning, so I decided to leave from our place on the water in the morning, and we said goodbye after taking a few pics. We eased our way back up to our place arriving after dark as the waves lapped the shoreline and the crescent moon glowing in the west.

The next morning Julie went for her morning walk as I checked the car and cleaned it up some for our return trip. I had picked up some Staghorn Ferns from my mom's place and had scattered them around our front yard to find some shade for them before we took off. Julie came back and we ate some cherry pastries and then there was a knock on the door. It was the owner. He was kicking us out. He said check out was 10! I said well what time is it? 10:30. Oh.. So as I threw the stuff in the car Julie took another shower and we hit the road for our return trip. Very nice day for driving, no traffic stoppage during our whole trip and uneventful until we were about 2 miles from Julie's place. A little car had been following me for a while down a 2 lane road and when we got on a 4 lane he made sure he passed me. I try to stay on cruise control and not speed. He got ahead of me and when we cleared a little rise on the road there was a cop. He turned his light on as we saw him and he made a u-turn. Julie was freaking out! What do I do with this stuff? How fast were you going? I started to pull over and he went right on by and stopped the car that had passed me. Whew! I dropped her off about dark and headed on my way back to Chattanooga area, arriving by midnight and I remember thinking, I been trippin', as I dozed off in slumber...........