Off to get culturized!

Day Seventeen – July 4, 2018 – Lake Ridge, VA to Tampa, FL Happy Fourth of July! We’re up and packed and ready to hit the road around eight-thirty, with time for a cup of coffee and last hugs and good-byes.   It’s been a lot of fun getting to know Kathy and Dennis – and Baby and Twink!! Roddy has already filled the car, so we head down the highway with a full tank, and only stop the first time when breakfast calls.   We find a Denny’s and the waitress points out the morning’s special – two eggs, bacon and sausage (or four of one), hash browns and two pancakes!!   The last time I had pancakes was Christmas morning!   (One of the offerings is “Moon over my hammy’! )   Splitsville! Sunflowers zipping by It's still going strong! Back on the road, and it’s a string of highway miles broken up by stops for coffee, or gas, or bathroom breaks.   We’re listening to the last half of Dick Francis’ “The Refusal”. ...

Day Sixteen – July 3, 2018 – Lake Ridge, Virginia After all that walking yesterday, it is a treat to have a lazy morning to stretch, shower, and wander upstairs around eight.   The coffee is already made (Thanks, again, Dennis!) and Betsy and I split the leftover baked potato.   Some people don’t understand leftovers for breakfast;   but we do!! There is plenty of time to put together the brisket which we’re having for dinner.   Kathy’s crockpot is a Cuisinart and the rectangular shape makes it lots easier to cook things like brisket and ribs that don’t fit well into a round pot.   We’ve got all the ingredients ready to go and the pot is on it’s own by ten or so.   That leaves us about an hour to check mail and such.   Kathy brings out her several notebooks filled with art miniatures that she has collected and we pore over them, appreciating the delicate and detailed works.   She also has two notebooks filled with the inventory of...

Day Fifteen – July 2, 2018 – Lake Ridge, Virginia Betsy and I promised each other that we’d wake the other in time to walk before the mercury rose above ninety!!   We’re up and out pretty darn early and the temperature is, well, not quite balmy!   But the path hasn’t changed and is still shady.   And today we find a doe relaxing in a little glen she’s located.   She watches us carefully but shows no signs of fear.   We meet some of the neighbors and some of their dogs and get home before I holler “Uncle!”. Can't see much of the dam through the trees. Roddy has had the last serving of chicken, so we go with coffee and English muffins.   It is so nice to just have a relaxing day with nothing much that has to be done.   Betsy and I go outside to water Kathy’s new dwarf mondo grass that has just been planted, and pull a few weeds.   I go out on the back deck and frustrated mysel...