An Overview and Explanation
“Hey” my friend Bubba said on the phone a few months ago on a seemingly quiet afternoon, “want to drive from Florida back to Colorado in an RV with me?”
I’ll admit I said ‘no’ the first time he asked. But then… the idea started growing on me. It’d be a vacation, it’d be something different. And heck… I haven’t really traveled since 2019 save for a few work trips. Crazy if you don’t, crazy if you do. Right? So I agreed, alongside a few friends whom I know in person and online, and suddenly it went from a whim to a 4-man, cannonball run-style cross country extravaganza! Okay well, maybe not quite that level of insanity, but we planned four days, a few stops here and there, some time meeting a friend in Florida to kick it off… and a stop in New Orleans to finally see the city (something I have never done before).
So as I was sitting on my flight to Florida yesterday… I considered that the last time I took a “one way” plane flight was probably as a child. I mean sure, here and there in other countries I’ve taken one or two but I’ve always flown out to, and flown back from, a destination. This time I’m driving back, a first for me as an adult.
The flight was mostly uneventful, about three hours from Colorado out to Tampa, FL. I did manage to have another first this trip… Bubba and I flew out together, and were headed to the car rental lot… when I realized my pocket, where my phone always lives, was empty. I’d gotten everything else, the charger… the ticket stub… but yep no phone.
I told Bubba, and we headed down to ticketing and check-in. We asked them what to do… and they radioed the gate. Yep! They had my phone with the gate agent. I’m probably very lucky that Tampa is a smaller airport, one trip back through security on a special pass and I was able to retrieve it. I even saved another couple right in front of me at the gate… they were wrapping up their business and walking away when I noticed a phone sitting on the counter. “Hey… did you forget your phone?” I asked, and they had! At least maybe my blunder saved someone else from making their own.
Luckily, the rest of the day wasn’t quite so eventful. We stopped for my friend to do a final inspection of a home he is purchasing out here (our real reason for going, and getting the RV, but more on that later), and then it was time to find some dinner as the day was slipping away from us. Bubba suggested a place called “Ukulele’s”, a local restaurant near his new place, and we were off!
The restaurant has live music each weekend in May, we listened to a lot of covers of 90’s music while we enjoyed some local cooking. I had a fish fry basket, while Bubba enjoyed a local fish he knows, ordered “blackened”. I couldn’t help but notice everything, and I mean everything, tasted sweet. I’m not the first to discover this, but I’m pretty sure that sugar is the spice of the South.
After dinner, it was a nearly three-hour drive to our friend’s house where we will be staying tonight and tomorrow night. It’s our “staging ground” if you will as we plan the trip. My friend Albert has been nice enough to open his home to us for a few days, and we’ve got plans tomorrow for breakfast, perhaps an activity or two, and then an authentic Jamaican dinner from a neighbor. I couldn’t be more excited!
More to come as the days go on… I’ve coined myself the official trip historian and photographer! I’ll add photos here soon, as well.
