Six Week Road Trip – Day 18

We made it! We are finally in NYC and ready to take on the day! Jim got up early and walked down the street to get us Starbucks for breakfast–what a good husband!

Not the best view, I know, but it beats tumbleweeds and squirrels! Our first stop do the Day was the Intrepid Air and Space Museum. The ship, Intrepid, was actually the museum! We got to walk through it like a crew member would have. They had some beautiful jets in and around the ship.

They also had one of the space shuttles on display. I never realized just how big they are. The back wheels are almost as big a Jim. The shuttle was not open to go inside. I would have loved to see the inside!

From here we went to Burger King for lunch (yawn!) and then on to the movies. We saw “Jurassic World”. Again…yawn! Way too long and not much of a story. However, there is a movie I am super excited about. Got my picture taken with the cast!

It was pretty hot and very humid today, but we took it easy so it was never horrible to be out and about. Drinking lots of water helps. After the movie we went back to the hotel room to get cleaned up for the play. We passed by the theater where the Harry Potter play is. Only 3.5 more months!!!

I LOVE Ruby Tuesday salad bar, but we don’t have any close to home so rarely do I get to go to one 😞. They do however have one right down the street from the Shubert Theater 😁. My salad was as delicious as I remembered it to be!

Once we were done eating we strolled down the street to the theater. We were not allowed to take photos of the play, but here are a few I could take.

It was going on midnight by the time we got off the subway and made it back to our hotel room. Just look at us party animals…running wild in NYC!

Can’t wait to see what adventures tomorrow has in store for us. Well, I know but I’ll never tell! Until tomorrow that is 😜!

Till then…💖

Ronney

Six Week Road Trip – Day 17

We are still alive–BOTH of us! No one has killed the other one yet. Actually, it is forcing us to work together as there is no alternative 😁. Here is the proof!

That’s us sitting at the Daytona International Airport waiting for our flight to NYC. Our day started off like so many others. Up fairly early, showers, hotel breakfast, pack up and hit the road. Jim and decided to take only what we could fit in our carryon suitcases so we wouldn’t need to wait for luggage.

Since we were parking the Explorer at the airport, we wanted it to be empty so as not to entice anyone to break out my windows and steal our stuff! Mark and Angelia graciously offered to store our belongings while we are in NYC. We dropped off our stuff about 9:30 am and made our way to the airport.

The Daytona International Airport is butted up against the Daytona International Speedway. We have tickets to the NASCAR night race July 7th. We could see our seats from inside the airport! We are in the top row just to the side of the viewing box.

Once we got to the airport I was reading through my emails and discovered that I had bought tickets to both “Waitress” AND “Hello Dolly” for the same date and time! What a dork! So…I had to call Broadway.com and they were able to get the “Hello Dolly” tickets moved to Friday night!

The first leg of the flight was from Daytona to Charlotte, NC. Of course, while we were waiting to board it began to thunder and lightning and of course rain! And then they told us bags with wheels had to be checked as they would not fit on the plane. I mean, what’s the point of a carryon suitcase if you can’t CARRY IT ON the airplane?!? He looks small enough, he should fit, right 😩😬😁?

Oh, I totally forgot to tell you about our crazy! While Jim and I were sitting and waiting to get on our plane, a young lady sat across the aisle from us. She was on the phone and crying, obviously in some sort of distress. Next thing I know, she took off her sneaker and started whacking herself on the side of her head! THEN she starts whacking herself across the front of her face! All the while I am in the phone with the ticket lady in NYC.

All of the other people waiting for flights were worried and anxious because of this girl’s behavior. When I finally got off the phone, I waked over to the girl, sat down, and told her I could tell there was something going on, but that that kind of behavior in an airport makes people nervous and someone was going to call security on her. She said she understood. I told her if she needed to talk I was just across the aisle. A little bit later she got up and left. You could just feel everyone’s relief that she was gone!

Anyway, our take-off time was delayed by 30 minutes due to the storm. But it passed quickly and we were off 🛫! It was a pretty smooth ride the whole way. But because of the late start, we had a late arrival–think…dominoes! I cooked up a plan for the next part of our trip. I told Jim to take his boarding pass and hustle to the next gate and I would wait at the plane for them to unload our luggage before hustling over to the new gate.

Well…we made it by the skin of our teeth, as my grandmother used to say! As I came into view of the new gate, Jim was motioning me to hurry. I think we were just about the last people the plane was waiting for! Fortunately, this flight was a little delayed otherwise we might have had to spend the night in Charlotte, NC!

So all that hurry to catch our connecting flight, and then we sit at the gate waiting for clearance to taxi to the runway. But hey, we made our flight! And then we sat in our plane, near the runway, for two hours! Finally, they taxied us back to a gate at about 6:00 pm so we could get off, go to the bathroom, and grab something to eat. Here was our gourmet dinner!

At about 7:00 pm they loaded us back on the plane. FINALLY we took off about 7:30 pm. The flight was uneventful and we arrived at La Guardia about 9:00 pm. From there we claimed our bags, bought MetroCards, and hopped on the bus to NYC! Between the bus and the subway, I would say it took us about 50 minutes to reach our hotel, which is right across the street from Grand Central Terminal. Total cost for the bus and subway ride for both Jim and I…just $5!!!

Our hotel is lovely and centrally located. This is a good thing as we have a ton of things planned over the next few days while here in NYC. Well, time to sleep and get ready for new adventures!

Till then…💖

Ronney

Six Week Road Trip – Days 14, 15 & 16

We are officially one-third if the way through our road trip vacation 😁😞😁! So far, it’s been a blast. The big event planned for today was a trip to Disney World. We chose to visit the Magic Kingdom. Our first ride was the jungle boat ride, which is one of Jim’s favorites!

From here we hopped in line for the Pirates of the Caribbean ride–which is one of my favorites!

From here, we headed over to the hunted mansion. I LOVE the elevator ride and all the creepy ghosts! While waiting in line we ran into a old friend.

Jean, Jim and I had a really nice lunch. Then we rode “It’s a Small World”. It was just like the one in California! I don’t remember this girl though.

Then we rode a couple more rides. By this time it was around 6 o’clock so we decided to call it a day and headed out to our hotel. We were so tired we can even bother with dinner!

The next morning, Tuesday, found us on our way to New Smyrna Beach in Florida. Jim and I finally found the movie “American Animals” in a local movie theater. I had been wanting to see that movie but couldn’t find it in any of the movie theaters on our trip across the US.

And the movie was over we headed to our hotel. For an early dinner Jim and I had Chick-fil-A nuggets. A little while later we went to Mark and Angelia’s house for a quick visit, just to check in and see how they’re doing, what are the plans for the next few days, those kinds of things. Once we got back to the hotel we called it an early night.

Wednesday was an action-packed day for both of us! Y’all know I love quilting and that Jim loves all things history. We spent our day pursuing our loves!

I spend the day at Seaside Sewing & Quilting for their all day long Sit and Sew! They even loaned me a sewing machine! I ironed, cut and sewed fabric to my heart’s content. I called it my mental health day! They had a big bucket of chocolates for our pleasure. I grabbed two mini Snickers without looking and I got an “S” and a “C”–for Sidney and Clayton. How cool is that!

Angelia graciously offered to take Jim around to some of the historic spots around New Smyrna Beach. They visited an old fort, a Seminole site, and some old sugar cane groves. They stopped for lunch at a seafood restaurant. Jim said “Howdy!” to the captain!

Later that afternoon, we hooked back up and once Mark got home from work, we headed to the beach for dinner. Here in New Smyrna Beach, if you are a resident and pay $25, you can drive and park right on the beach! Talk about an ultimate tailgate party!

We chose to eat at the Crow’s Nest–mostly for the view! It was so nice to see, hear, and smell the ocean while eat and chatting with family! This was our view from the restaurant.

Jim and I have a big day tomorrow (NYC), so after dinner we headed back to the hotel to plan our adventures in NYC and to get caught up on the dreaded laundry!

Super excited about tomorrow!

Till then…💖

Ronney

Six Week Road Trip – Day 13

This morning we woke up to a very hot and humid sunny Florida morning! I thought it was humid at our previous stops, but nothing like it is here in Florida. You can feel the air you breathe!

Breakfast this morning was standard hotel food. I don’t know about Jim, but my tummy is tired of eggs, sausage, English muffin and orange juice! At least I didn’t have to cook it or clean up the mess–one of the perks for staying in a hotel!

We got to sleep in! Even Jim slept until 7:30 am. Twelve hours of driving really wears you out! My poor eyeballs are exhausted, and both Jim and I have been complaining about the constant ringing in our ears from the road noise! My hearing will never be the same 😩!

it was about an hour drive to the Tampa Bay Rays’ Tropicana Field.

This is a two-fold adventure. Jim has visited EVERY major league ballpark, and bought a pennant at every ballpark EXCEPT Tampa Bay as they did not sell pennants! So…reason one – to get a pennant. Reason two…the Rays are playing the Yankees–Jim’s favorite team!

Round one at the snack bar…nachos, and not even the good ones 😞!

Tampa Bay ended up winning the game after 12 innings! From here we made a pit stop at Joann Fabrics so I could pick up an online order–sewing might be in my future!!! We’ll see.

On our way we drove right by what is called “Redneck Riviera”. Not sure why they call it that. It sure looked like a lot of fun to me! People were able to drive their trucks and water toys into the water right from their camping spot!

It was about an hour+ drive to Orlando. And boy did it rain!!! The lightning and thunder were pretty amazing as well. You can’t really see the rain, but just look at those ominous clouds…

With the rain and all the theme park traffic, it really took closer to two hours to get to our hotel! Fortunately there was a Denny’s restaurant in the same parking lot, so that’s what we ate for dinner. Mine was delicious!

Well…we have to get an early start tomorrow. Lots of things to do before the rain starts in the early afternoon.

Till then…💖

Ronney

Six Week Road Trip – Day 11 & 12

Well…we almost made our 6:30 am departure time 😞! Anyone who knows me knows that if I am not early, I am late! But we were only 10 minutes late, so not that big of a deal.

Jim and I had separate things we wanted to do in Nashville this morning so we split up. He dropped me off at a GIANT quilt shop for FOUR HOURS! That man had no idea of the amount of damage I could do in a shop like this and with a credit card!

Stitcher’s Garden is in Franklin, TN. It has the MOST quilt fabric I have ever seen in one place! It’s a little hodgey-podgey but you could tell she had some sort of rhyme and reason the the layout. And the fat quarter sections, to die for! The photo below only shows about 1/4 of all the fat quarters in the store!

Jim chose to spend his time driving to a cemetery 1.5 hours away to look for family member’s graves–hey, different strokes for different folks! He found MANY gravestones for family members. Here is a picture of one:

We met up again around 1:00 pm and shared a BBQ chicken pizza for lunch. Then it was on the Nashville and the Grand Ole Opry!

We checked into our hotel room, got cleaned up for the night’s event, and then off we went again. We ate dinner at Claim Jumpers as it was right next to the Grand Ole Opry. Nothing too exciting to write about there!

On to the Opry! The show lasts about 2.5 hours. The hosts and announcer are live as they broadcast the night’s performances live on the radio! So we had to sit through the announcer doing live on-air commercials! Never done that before! Brook Eden is a up-and-coming country singer, and boy can she yodel! First time I ever heard someone do that in real life!

It was quite an enjoyable evening. We got to see Paul Cauthen in his debut Opry performance! I liked him so much that we got tickets to see him in Los Angeles August 10th. Can’t wait!

The next day was an 12 hour drive to Tampa, Florida. We left Nashville around 7:00 am. Of course, what trip would be complete without a couple of hiccups along the way. Our reservations in Nashville were at a brand new hotel that as of Friday morning had not opened yet. So the hotel called and made us reservations at a La Quinta Inn nearby.

So we were surprised when we got up Saturday morning to see a bill under our door. When I asked the clerk he said that we were charged the rate and we would need to contact Expedia to get her money back for the other hotel. I did that Expedia was more than helpful took care of it right away.

The next 12 hours were spent leaving Tennessee, arriving in Georgia, leaving Georgia, arriving in Tennessee, leaving Tennessee, arriving in Georgia, leaving Georgia, arriving in Florida! It just how the road works in this part of the world!

FINALLY we made it to Tampa! We walked across the street to pick up Popeye’s chicken for dinner, then we did our laundry, and relaxed after 12 hours of being cooped up in the Explorer.

Tomorrow will see us at a Tampa Bay Rays baseball game!

Till then…💖

Ronney

Six-Week Road Trip – Day 8

So here is another picture of my Explorer’s odometer. This means that we have traveled a total of 2,155 miles in just one week! My poor car 😩!

This morning we ate the hotel free breakfast. For once they served hot food–omelets, sausage, potatoes, etc.. I took a yogurt and granola and Jim took a couple of muffins to snack on later.

It only took about 1.5 hours to drive to Springfield, Illinois. The freeways here are lovely. For the most part everyone drives the speed limit, they are kind and courteous, and they stick to the right lane unless they are passing. In no time at all we had arrived at our destination.

The tour took us into the house that Abraham and Mary Lincoln lived in from 1844 until they left for the White House in 1861.

I loved getting to see what it must have been like 150 years ago. The tour guide had many interesting facts/beliefs to tell us. One was that Mary loved her new cook stove SO much that she wanted to take it with her to The White House. They didn’t as they believed they would come back to this house when his presidency was done.

The tour guide said that about 80% of the house and its furnishings were original to the house. Somehow though, it seemed less believable than Washington’s house. I did however rub my hand along the same stair rail that Abraham Lincoln did–that was pretty amazing! They say this is the closest anyone will ever get to shaking his hand.

From here we went to the Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. They are two separate buildings next to each other. The library is really for people to do research, and there really isn’t much to see.

The museum, on the other hand, was interesting. The Lincoln family was there to greet us.

The museum had many things to see, such as re-enactments of times in Lincoln’s life and execution.

From here we went to the Lincoln tomb. He is actually buried here, about 10′ under his headstone. Lincoln’s only remaining son made it a stipulation that his body never be moved again, so when his body was moved to the tomb, they poured a concrete slab, set the coffin on it, covered it with a steel cage, and then poured concrete over it! Eventually Mary, Eddie, Willie, and Tad were all moved to the tomb as well.

Our hotel for the night was a pretty nice one. Jim and I were on a roll for not spending any money on food for the day, so we used my Red Robin gift cards and got dinner for free as well. And it was delicious! WooHoo! Way to go Ronney!

We have several places we plan to visit over the next couple of days. So tonight was about relaxing and getting a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow we will head for Memphis, TN.

Till then…💖

Ronney

Six Week Road Trip – Day 10

We woke up to a rainy, overcast day. I am not going to complain as this will probably help keep the temperature down today. One can hope anyway 😜!

Our hotel served a hot breakfast. All of it was pretty good. It’s a nice way to start the day. It takes us a while to eat though, as breakfast is the hardest meal for us to eat.

after breakfast, we headed over to a different Malco Movie Theater to see the 10:00 am showing of “Incredibles II”. We used our free passes to get in. It’s a good thing too, as once you have used MoviePass to see a movie, you can’t use it to watch that movie again!

We ran into a friend while at the theater, and he was kind enough to pose for a photo with me 😁! Gotta love Deadpool!

From here it was a 25 minute drive to Graceland. They have it set up so that the mansion is on one side of the street and the Graceland tourist center is on the other side of the street. They pipe Elvis music throughout the center, and have lost of Elvis murals painted on the buildings.

Then Jim’s and I walked up to the ticket booth and discovered that if you want to see the mansion, his wardrobe, cars, and gold records you have to pay $60 A PERSON! I like Elvis, but not that much. So…Jim and I sat on a bench and watched a YouTube video of Graceland and then spent the $120 on gifts and t-shirts! Here’s mine:

We also walked across the street and saw the gates of Graceland.

The actual mansion is pretty hard to see from the sidewalk. We tried to get pics, but it sits up on a hill and there are MANY giant trees between the sidewalk and the mansion. Here is our best effort:

By this time we were hot and hungry so we decided to search for the best barbecue in Memphis. We settled on “The Dancing Pigs”. It’s one of the ten best in Memphis AND it was open at 2:30 pm! Here is what I ordered:

Honest opinion…the brisket was dry and way too crunchy on the bottom. Cole slaw was made with sweet pickle relish, which gave it a different, but good, taste. The beans tasted like canned baked beans, and the Texas toast was just toast with butter. I can’t wait to get back to California for some real barbecue!

It was so hot and humid by this time we were tired. So it was back to the hotel room. I was in need of more shorts, and there was a JC Penney just down the street, so I went shopping and Jim hung out in the room. On my way back from shopping it started pouring rain. Glad the rain waited until I was done shopping!

For the rest of the evening I sewed and watched “Flash” on Netflix. Gotta love Netflix! We called it an early evening as we head to Nashville at 6:30 am in the morning. Big adventures await us there!

Till then…💖

Ronney

Six-Week Road Trip – Day 9

Today was “not much going on” kind of day. Our goal was Memphis, Tennessee. We ate breakfast at the hotel (free), packed up the Explorer, and headed out! At about the five hour mark we hit Arkansas.

A short time later we crossed the Mississippi River and arrived in Tennessee.

It only took about six hours to make the drive. Jim and I share the driving duties, so it’s not too bad. We ate junk we had packed for the trip for lunch at zero cost. Well…I did buy a small bag of Nacho Cheese Doritos for $1.78!

When we got to Memphis, we drove to the Lorraine Hotel where Martin Luther King was shot. They now have a Civil Rights Museum attached to the hotel.

They have it all set up, including cars, like on the day MLK was speaking from the second floor walkway where he was shot (in front of room 306).

It is suspected that the shooter was at the boarding house across the street, which is now part of the Civil Rights Museum as well. We didn’t go in to either part of the museum.

After we checked in to our hotel, we stopped by the local movie theater and used our MoviePasses to get tickets for “Incredibles II”. Then Jim and I had to go to Costco to pick up some protein shakes. We decided to stay cheap and eat a slice of pizza and a hot dog for dinner. We spent a grand total of $5.83 on food today! Go Team Fowler!!!

After we ate we returned to the movie theater to watch the show. We got about five minutes into the actual movie and the power went out! It’s been raining pretty hard off and on all day, and the storm knocked out the power at the movie theater! Fortunately we were all given free passes, so Jim and I plan to go in the morning to see the show. Here is my soaked Explorer!

Tomorrow is devoted to seeing “Incredibles II” and Graceland. So excited!!!

Till then…💖

Ronney

Six-Week Road Trip – Day 7

The day finally arrived…a visit to the Missouri Star Quilt Company!!! I felt like a kid going to a candy shop! So I had a kid breakfast! Yum!!!

Once we were done eating, we ran to the car and FLEW down the highway to Hamilton, MO. Jim dropped me off at the Missouri Star Quilt Shop and then he returned to Cameron, MO to get the car washed (and remove all the evidence of our murder spree)!

This is only 1 of 12 shops! I walked through them all. They had one shop for florals, one shop for modern, one shop for kids, etc., etc., etc.! Here is my haul, including a very cute t-shirt:

And I did all that damage in only 1.5 hours! The Missouri Star Quilt Company also has a “Man Cave” with a dozen recliners, bathrooms, TV–all the things men need to be happy. Jim was there relaxing while he waited for me to finish shopping.

Then it was back on the road to Hannibal, MO–home of Samuel Clemons/Mark Twain. Lunch was at the Gran Rio Mexican restaurant. I know, I know, Mexican food again?!? But it just works so well with our stomachs! AND it was really good!

There were several homes/museums and a couple of gift shops to peruse. There was also a Norman Rockwell collection of drawing and paintings depicting Tom Sawyer and friends. An interesting side note – Norman Rockwell was the first illustrator to actually visit the area and the places Samuel Clemons/Mark Twain wrote about in his books!

Our hotel for the night was about 15 miles north, in Illinois along the Mississippi River. It was a pretty nice place and they serve a hot breakfast that I am looking forward to tomorrow. You know, even on vacation you can’t get away from chores. We got to do laundry! See how happy Jim is?!?

Once done with the laundry, we headed downtown for a BBQ dinner (it was okay) and then a stop along the Mississippi River for a photo.

To finish off the evening, Jim watched YouTube and I sewed and matched…you guessed it – murder shows! Can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings.

Till then…💖

Ronney

Six-Week Road Trip – Day 6

It being Sunday and all, we were taking it easy today. I got to sleep in until after 7:00 am! I think I am getting adjusted to the time difference. Our not-so-satisfying breakfast was the complimentary hard boiled egg and half a waffle. I ate my egg 😁!

Every day is a new adventure, but it also has its struggles! Our first stop today was the movie theater to see “Tag” using our MoviePass cards. Now they make you take a picture of your movie stub and submit it every time you use your card. Well…Jim took a picture yesterday but it didn’t get submitted, so of course when he tried to use his card today it wouldn’t work! Fortunately, the picture of his stub was saved in his pictures so we eventually got it all fixed and were able to get “Tag” tickets!

But the struggles continued! Using Google Maps to chart our course to the next destination, we quickly discovered that we had booked our hotel for tonight in Hamilton, Montana and NOT Hamilton, Missouri! Oops! 🙃! Fortunately we were able to get a hotel in Cameron, Missouri–only about 10 miles from Hamilton.

On the drive to Cameron, we saw a LOT of green and a LOT of corn! Looking at all the corn fields, one has to wonder what I’m the world do they use all this corn for? Jim said for cars, hogs and cows, people, etc.. That makes sense, but still, it a LOT of corn!

It didn’t take long to get to Cameron from Kansas City, maybe 45 minutes. And the struggles continue!!! I was so excited that our new hotel had a pool. But alas, there was no water in it 😫!

We hung out in the room for a couple of hours. I got some serious hand sewing done during that time. I am supposed to make 46 of these hexie flowers–so far I have 6 done. WooHoo!

For dinner we went to a local restaurant – Dino’s Diner. I had a turkey BLT and Jim had meatloaf and baked potato. Do you see all the food they gave him? And him with a little stomach?!? Struggles, I tell you!

After dinner we returned to the room for more sewing and “Snapped”! You know me and murder shows!!! I told Jim we were like mass murders on the run. Just look at the front of my car. All those little lives just snuffed out in an instant!

Well…back to sewing. I can’t wait to see what adventures, and struggles, await us tomorrow.

Till then…💖

Ronney