Cedar Key - Day # 26 - Classic Vinyl

Every day I try to come up with a phrase best describing the day just past.  This morning I was stumped.  I woke up with the lyrics to songs from my youth running through my head, but none of the song titles, or lyrics seemed to capture the essence of Tuesday.  Then it occurred to me......these songs are running through my head for a reason.......the reason being that for the better part of Tuesday I was listening to Classic Vinyl on XM Radio (channel 26 for those who care).  I have been a subscriber to XM Radio for about 8 years now.  I have 3 receivers.....one in the coach, one in the Thunderbird, and one in the trailer.  Probably costs me around $26/month.......a necessary expense?  Probably not, but listening to music brings a lot of pleasure into my life, and the wonderful thing about satellite radio is I can listen to whatever XM station I wish wherever I may be.....as long as the southern sky is visible, and I would say that is about 99.9% of the time.

Tuesday was one of those days where the Jello was murkier than usual.  I thought we were going to take a long tandem ride, and even had TLE on board for a ride beginning early afternoon.  In the morning I did my usual blog post, dumped the black tank (oh yeah....it was time!), then handled some insurance issues for a customer........all the while Classic Vinyl was playing in the background.  Over the hours I began to realize what a great play list they had running.....one great song followed another.  Of course, with each song came memories of places, and people I have known.  What I am attempting to convey is we both just sat inside listening to music until well after 2 pm.  Was that wrong?  I don't think so.....sometimes it's just right to go with your heart, and not succumb to the self imposed pressure "to be doing".....Tuesday my heart said just sit still and get lost in the music, so that's exactly what we did.  These lyrics from the Beatles song "In My Life" are running through my head as I write: 

"There are places I remember 
All my life, though some have changed 
Some forever not for better 
Some have gone and some remain 
All these places have their moments 
With lovers and friends I still can recall 
Some are dead and some are living 
In my life I've loved them all "

Tuesday was a day for remembering.....I am so glad I just went with my heart!

Around 2:30 pm we both had a hankering for a bowl of clam chowder, and what do you know we are just 1.25 miles walking distance from Tony's and the World's Best Clam Chowder, so around 3 we began our walk into town to Tony's.  We both just ordered a bowl of chowder, and a glass of Chardonnay.......mmmmmm good.

While I was paying the bill TLE went next door to Deja Vu Consignment to browse.....by the time I caught up to her she had two paperbacks in her hand.....:D  I know I give her a hard time about all the paperbacks she has (she also reads e-books), but holding and reading an actual book gives her pleasure....so we'll just make a little extra room.....

On our walk back we saw Krash out walking their dog (Pipa), so we stopped to chat, eventually going upstairs to their apartment to talk for a while.  Soon I realized it was getting on to 5:15, and the sunset would not be far away, so we excused ourselves and continued on home.....

#26

The picture above was snapped at Low Key Hideaway next to the Tiki Bar.....the one below was taken by our friend Cherie on her IPhone......this is one of the best sunset pictures I have seen here at Cedar Key!

That was our day....and what a day it was....thanks for stopping by!

Cedar Key - Day # 19 - Sick Birdie

My Tuesday started at 8 am with another 'Circuit Training' session with our friends Maria and Brian (The Roaming Pint)  I'm doing this workout with them every Tuesday and Thursday.  It takes about an hour, and then I have the rest of the day to continue soaking up the Cedar Key vibe.

Our first date, March 2006, San Antonio, TX

Our Thunderbird is "sick" again.......on our way into Chiefland the other day the engine started missing, then smoothed out, then as we were leaving Walmart it started again, and didn't stop, and eventually the 'CHECK ENGINE' light came on......shoot!  It came and went on the way home, but it was apparent to me there was an ongoing problem, so we decided to take her into the Ford dealership in Chiefland on Tuesday to get it checked out.   We have been together for almost 7 years now, and I think we're beginning to get the "7 year itch".

Ever since the alternator incident on our way back from Louisville to Campbellsville a few months ago TLE and I have been talking about making  a change in our transportation to something more practical for our lifestyle.  The 'Bird is only a 2 seater, and we have no way of carrying our bikes in, or on it.  Chris and Cherie have a Mini Cooper which they tow behind their GM bus when they are rolling the wheels.  They graciously offered to let us take a test drive to see if we like it, so this was the perfect opportunity to combine a test drive while we dropped off our 'Bird at the Ford doctor in Chiefland.

Chris and Cherie's Mini Cooper

I drove the Mini Cooper into town, whilst TLE drove the T'Bird.  TLE drove most of the way back.  The Mini Cooper has seating for 4, and we can add a small receiver hitch to which a bike rack can be mounted.  I found it very comfortable, and it was fun to drive a manual tranny again.....this one has a 6 speed.  It will still give us the sporty feel, but be much more practical.  We haven't decided 100% yet, but we are seriously considering making a change sometime this year.

Tim McClain greeted us at the service desk, took down our information, and we bid goodbye to our baby for a few days.  Tim thinks it may be a bad coil, and that would not surprise me as we had this issue about 3 years ago.  I hope he is right, because that is not a big bill.

We returned to find our "blog friends" Dan and Marlene (read their story at Mali Mish) had arrived, and were in the pull through site right next to us!  We are all from Southern California......they lived in Oxnard for a number of years, and of course, we in Ontario.  Despite our relatively close proximity to each other we have never been able to synchronize our timing to actually meet face to face, so this was a treat!  They have three children aged 6 years , 3 years, and 9 months.  They are currently about 165 days into their current long trip.  Mali Mish is Croatian for "little mouse".  We spent time catching up with them....they had just finished a 28 day stretch in the Florida Keys, and I was interested in how they cobbled together reservations at State Parks in the Keys by pouncing on cancellations as they came up in Reserve America.  Usually you have to make reservations a year in advance for these parks, but they only started to acquire theirs about a month before they arrived, and were still picking them up while they were in the Keys.

Back row: Dan, Luka and Marlene

Front row: Ava and Mila

Additionally, our friends, Krash and Karen, whom you will remember from our visit to my sister's home in Chelsea, MI, arrived in Cedar Key by SUV to spend a couple of months in a rental home.  You can read about our meeting here: Serendipity

They found our blog because we had been to Cedar Key last March, and this was a favorite place of theirs to escape the cold winter in Michigan each year.  We met up with Krash and Karen at the Tiki Bar for a quick drink, and to watch the first part of the sunset, then headed off walking into town to meet Dan, Marlene, and the kids at 'Big Deck' for dinner.  

On our walk into town TLE took this great sunset picture......

Much to our surprise just as we arrived at Big Deck we saw Chris and Cherie arriving with their parents who will be spending some time here in Cedar Key......another Cedar Key convergence!  Soon after Dan, Marlene and family arrived.  We talked, and talked about our shared experiences.  Here we have a family that is in a totally different phase of their lives.....a generation removed, if you will, and yet there is this unmistakable connection.  Sure, their experience will look different than ours as they travel with three small children, but we are all out on the road for the same reasons.

After a very pleasant meal, eaten very slowly, TLE and I started our 1.50 mile walk home....I'm sure we could have hitched a ride, but you know, there is nothing like an evening stroll in Cedar Key with a 'fingernail moon' to light our path.  We arrived home with big smiles on our faces, and an inner satisfaction derived from another day lived well.

Thanks for stopping by!

So, now we know......

That our release date will probably be December 23rd.  The scuttlebutt flying around, as usual, was incorrect.  Starting this Tuesday we will begin working 5 twelve hour days.  After tonight there are just 10 work days left, or, more precisely, 120 hours of walking on cold concrete....:D

Our Friday tradition since we have been in Campbellsville is to go to lunch with our friends.  It started back when we were still working the Tuesday to Friday shift, and Friday, of course, was our last work day of the week.  This Friday we decided to drive over to Greensburg, KY around 1:45pm and have lunch at Longhunters Coffee and Tea Company.  What a great choice.

The guys all had "Hot Browns", a local turkey dish that was "delish".  TLE had the Thomas K. Slaughter sandwich, which is their version of a Ruben.  Of course their coffee is quite good , and we actually bought a pound to take home.  Greensburg is a quaint little town that has a wonderful downtown area with a lot of old red brick buildings that have been renovated.  If we hadn't been on such a short leash for going back to "that building" we would have loved to have walked around for a couple of hours.  The Longhunter's building also houses the Green County Museum, which the owners are quite involved in.

More rain was forecast for Friday night/Saturday morning, and it came.  Fortunately the low for the night was only 53, which seems quite balmy when compared to the 25 we had a couple of times.

Work went better for me......I was able to spend most of my 10 hours in building "C" picking in the palletized area.  Much easier on my body.....no nasty "A" bins that require one to stand on their head to peer inside.  A lot of opening of large boxes to get the items.  A lot....I mean a lot of Kindle's were picked last night.  I think I picked a couple hundred all by myself, and there were a lot of us doing that.  

At lunch time Amazon.com treated its workforce to a Chili/baked potato lunch at the 10:15pm lunch break completed with pie and soft drinks.  To me the "lunch" was quite good, but TLE's personal Chili recipe is much, much better.

I got to bed around 5am......just as I heard our neighbors start up their truck to head in for their day shift.  Amazingly I slept all the way to 12:30pm (TLE is still in slumberland at 1:20pm).  The few times I was awake the rain was coming down with a fury.  Looks like more of the same for the rest of the day.

That's it from exciting Campbellsville, KY.....thanks for stopping by!