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Published: January 6th 2009
Getting Started
Couldn't help proudly displaying our front license plate bragging of the car having completed all 2448 miles of Route 66 On The Road Again!!!
We are back on the road after a busy and wonderful holiday season. We took a lot of razzing about only having posted the first 8 days of our Route 66 Adventure when we were gone over 30 days. We are still committed to going back and finishing that trip for all. There may be some downtime on this trip in order to do so. If not, we'll for sure get it all done in Puerto Vallarta. Meanwhile, we'll try to keep up a bit better on this current trip to Florida. We'll be getting together with some of the firefighter retirees, two special ones - Bob and Chris - and others as possible. Our plan is to head straight down to Trenton where Bob and Chris are (near Gainsvilled, FL), and then get over to Disney World, a place Jerry and I have always enjoyed. It's been years since we've been there so we expect to see some change. My brother Charlie is an avid Disney World fan so he's armed us with information and tips from his family's recent trips. For us, this trip will be a little less hectic since we'll spend four
days in Trenton and then move to Disney World for another four to five days. It'll be nice not to have to pack up and move every single day of the two and a half weeks we expect to be gone. We won't guarantee posting every day but should be able to keep up every couple of days on this trip. Just don't get confused as we post for both the current Florida trip and the previously completed Route 66 trip! 😊
Day 1 - Sunday, January 4th - Waukesha, WI to Indianapolis, IN
We were off to a very late start partly because of the ice and partly because of Jerry's scooter. As we went to reposition the scooter, we found out the wired connection for the lift was eroded, obviously worn from the winter salt and ice. Given a Sunday, nothing was open to find out if it was fixable. Many thanks to an electrician, Troy, whom we had very, very recently retained for something else. We called him and he took a look at it. We tried to get the connector part so he could fix it but the applicable stores that were open did
not carry it. We considered waiting until Monday to leave in hopes of having it fixed by the mobility store that installed it on our car but following Troy's advice, it was definitely fixable and there would definitely be places in Florida for us to get it fixed. We took his advice and headed for warmer weather, confident we'll be able to get the lift fixed before getting to Disney World where we know the scooter will be in and out of the car a lot. So, off we went. Very late but happy to be back on the road.
We are definitely road warriors. We've been teased about being "trapped" in the car together for such long periods of time but honestly, we do travel well together. We both commented how wonderful it was to be back in the car and on the road. Jerry had mounted our special license plate, proudly stating the car had completed all 2,448 miles of Route 66. We just had to have it on the car!!
Not much to report as the day was pure expressway driving and we took no time to do any side trips. We only waved to
Columbus Crossing
Just a strange bridge at Columbus, Indiana. We're sure there's a story to it but we didn't take the time to find out about it. our Puerto Vallarta friends as we passed Urbana, IL as it was already too late to be stopping in even for a quick surprise "hi." It got bitter cold in the evening with the cold, crisp wind blowing everything that wasn't weighted down. We got through Indianapolis and called it a night, both of us very tired. It was at check-in at the hotel that we realized we were already on Eastern time so we had lost an hour. Wow - it was even later than we thought!! We hadn't eaten but sleep was definitely more important.
Day 2 - Monday, January 5th - Indianapolis, IN to Dalton, GA
Sunshine with little wind got us off to a much better start today. Not much picture taking today as poor Jerry had a bad night and thus, spent more of the day napping than taking pictures. In fact, he had taken more pictures that didn't turn out than did! Oh well. At least he napped instead of whining or backseat driving. Rita didn't mind even though he expects her to stay awake when he is driving (he told me to type that).
Nashville was the most memorable as Rita
Cool bridge
Major bridge across the Ohio River headed toward Louisville, KY. We traveled under the bridge across the Ohio River found an alternate route to get through Nashville that ended up quite the adventure. By that time, Jerry was napped out and had just taken over driving. He was definitely not convinced about the improvement the alternate route gave us. As one would expect, Rita still believes it was a better route than if we had stayed on the main expressway right through downtown. It was really quite amusing.
Weather took a turn as we moved through Kentucky and then especially in Tennessee. Minor sleet, fog that we later figured was really driving in the clouds, and then major rain made travel through Tennessee tedious. We decided to get through Chatanooga and stay in Dalton to make the morning travel more efficient. Now, it sounds like rain, rain, rain. In fact, they are talking potential flooding. Luckily, we went far enough that given a good morning start, we will hopefully avoid any delays due to the rain. At least it's rain and not snow or ice. After all, it's still 50 degrees here which is a grand improvement to the 20's and 30's with colder wind chill factors of yesterday. We may not be in shorts tomorrow but given
Under the bridge
See, we literally went under the bridge what we're seeing of Florida weather, the shorts should come out Wednesday for sure. That will be nice!!
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Vickie Hart
non-member comment
Was it Briley Parkway?
Yeah! They're back on the road again! We've been looking forward to another posting. Rita - I think Briley Pkwy is a splendid route around Nashville much to the disagreement of Bryan. He's a "plow though the middle of downtown kind of guy". Briley takes you past Opryland Hotel, etc. Have a wonderful time. Can't wait to see you next month! Feliz Ano Nuevo! Love, Bryan and Vickie