Day 7, Saturday March 7th - Still Chilly

Saturday after a Cracker Barrel breakfast we left Hilton Head for southern Florida and warmer temperatures. Unfortunately, the strong wind continued and the temps hung in the high 50s and low 60s. Not the Florida weather we came south for, but there was no ice to slip on. On the plus side, it was a quartering tail wind (from the Northwest) and on this 300 mile leg we got just short of 20 mpg. It is amazing how much difference the wind direction makes when driving a vehicle with a large wind profile. So far our worst tank has been 17.2mpg and our best 19.9mpg.

On the drive we saw so many motorcycles headed south we finally realized it was Bike Week in Daytona. We attended this event in 2016, yes we did a blog.
https://jaquishdaytona16.blogspot.com/

We considered joining the Daytona Bike week with the scooter but reconsidered.

We drove as far as Vero beach and met up with Michele and Brian.  We then went to Fort Pierce and walked the streets, visited the Sail Fish brewery and had Dinner at the 2nd Street Bistro, another good meal.









It was a nice visit with Michele and Brian and they allowed us to "driveway surf" at their house.

Sunday we plan to move on to the Everglades National Park for a few days. It is my understanding that the Everglades has only AT&T cell coverage and no WiFi in the park, so we will not likely update this blog for a few days.

Day 6, Friday March 6th - An IBM gathering.

Friday Eric prepared a big breakfast for us, even though they don't ever eat breakfast. So we were well fed again!

It had stopped raining in the early morning but everything was soaked, so much for washing the scooter. We said our goodbyes and set off for Hilton Head.

The drive to HH is about 5 hours, it is an easy drive but there was plenty of traffic.

Our friends, the Colbournes, winter in HH. We visited them last year and wanted to drop in again this year. Rich arranged a dinner at the Crazy Crab on HH and included a few other retired IBMers we know who are in the area or visiting.  It was a great evening. Nothing like reminiscing about the old days of IBM with a bunch of guys who went through it with you. I continue to be amazed by the number of IBMers who have left Vermont and settled in the south. 

Included in the picture are Rich and Sandi Colbourne (standing in the back), Kurt and Tanya Carpenter, Michele and Tom Mitchell and Pat O'Connor.












After dinner June and I went just off the island to a Cracker Barrel to park and spend the night.  Saturday we will have breakfast at CB and continue our journey south.

Day 5, Thursday March 5th - A short drive.

Thursday, we had breakfast with the Keys, yes we mooched another meal. Both Ken and Patti had to go to work, poor buggers, and we set off to see June's nephew who lives a bit over an hour away. 

One of our friends who left Vermont about 5 years ago has relocated in the Raleigh area so we gave him a call, he lives on the way to Eric's, so another stop was added.

Ken was home since he works from home, but Victoria was working and the kids were at school.  We still had a nice visit with Ken. Ken runs a business he started when he left IBM, about 10 years ago.  He makes human powered generators. We got a bit of an education of what it takes to run a small business, it is a lot.

Check out his web page, he has some cool products:  https://www.k-tor.com/




After our visit with Ken we moved onto June's nephew's house and arrived about lunch time. It was cool (50s), breezy and cloudy. Not exactly motorcycle weather, but I decided to unload the scooter and give it a rinse anyway.

Eric owns a full bagger Harley and a new Honda Gold Wing, so of course I made him take the scooter for a ride.

He does look a bit like Jim Carrey, name the movie.

Of course I could not resist a ride on the new Gold Wing.  What a machine. Fully automatic, no clutch, rides like a carpet.  I think I should have one.










We spent the afternoon hanging with Eric, we even took his Kubota side by side for a spin.  Another crazy machine, 4x4, diesel engine, AC/heat, radio....it is like driving your car thru the woods.  Eric has the best toys!

Myra got home around 5ish and we decided to go out for Mexican, we went to La Cocina in Smithfield, NC.  It was very good Mexican food.

It was good to catch up with Eric and Myra since we missed them when they trekked north last summer.

Friday we will make our way to Hilton Head to meet up with more friends.

Day 4, Wednesday March 4 - Making old acquaintances

Wednesday we spent the morning with the Malloys, June even went to a Pilates class with Maribeth.

We took our time packing up and set off for Raleigh, NC a bit after mid day.  The drive from the DC area to the Raleigh area is about as easy as they get, great roads.

We travel past Raleigh nearly every spring and often stop to see family, but it never seems like the timing works out to stop and visit friends we have here. This year we decided to take the time to visit friends since they left the Burlington area, over 30 years ago.  So we arranged to meet Ken and Patty Key at their home in Raleigh.

We had a very nice evening catching up over dinner at Farina's, a nice local Italian restaurant. The Keys have a beautiful home and appear to really enjoy the Raleigh area. We even got to meet there youngest daughter, Kristen (she took our picture).














We enjoyed our visit, Christmas cards and occasional correspondence are no substitute for face to face conversation.  We are glad we stopped.

Thursday we will visit June's nephew who also lives in the Raleigh area.

Day 3, Tuesday March 3rd - Lazy Day

Tuesday we hung out with the Malloy's. The morning was rainy but we had a nice afternoon.

Since it was going to stay well above freezing from here south, I de-winterized the Serenity Falcon and filled the fresh water tank. We are now fully operational for the summer, for us it is the true start of summer...it is a great feeling.

While it was raining we decided to watch a movie.  We watched "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood". We thought it was a story about Fred Rogers, but it is more about how Mr. Rogers impacted the life of a writer who was assigned to do a piece on him.  Interesting movie, I wouldn't say it was a great movie, but worth your time if you have the time.

As Bob predicted by early afternoon, the sun came out and it turned very nice. Bob and I went to the driving range and hit a few balls, the girls took a long walk and sat out in the sun.

Over the last few years each time we visit we look over Bob's Habitat Tree. It is a dead tree he refuses to cut down because the birds and bugs live there.  Well it appears it had a tough winter this year and a major piece of it came down. None the less, Bob says it is still good habitat for his creature friends and he will not remove it...yet.






It was a very relaxiing afternoon with the nice sun and temperatures in the low 60s, we had dinner at Artie's in Fairfax, I can recommend their BBQ ribs.

Wednesday we will make our way further South to visit friends and family in the Raleigh area.

Day 2, Monday March 2nd - On to Virginia

On Sunday we arrived at Keith and Debbie's just time for dinner, good planning.  We had Pizza and caught up a bit. Keith and Debbie spent a month in Florida in their Class B RV earlier this year.

We had made it to Queensbury as clean as can be, but got a surprise when we woke up Monday morning. It was chilly and had snowed. The roads were going to be sloppy for sure... :-(.

Keith and Debbie set us off with a good breakfast. As we had breakfast we could hear the salt trucks pass by. Don't these people know I don't want salt all over my RV And scooter!!









We left Queensbury around 8AM and headed south, the temperatures climbed from the mid 20's to 50's before we hit Binghamton. I88 from Albany to Binghamton is pretty rough in spots, but not nearly as rough as the I81 in PA, do they spend anything on their roads?

We have been using Google Maps for navigation, but I Think I am just about done with Google. It is a bit like using a Nest thermostate in your home, it thinks it is smarter than you and dispite what you tell it to do, it will just change it. I did not want to go into DC and take I495 because I knew it would be during rush hour. I would set up the route and somewhere along the way Google would change it, after about the third or forth time I gave up, google sucks! In the end we ended up using the EZPass Express Lanes on I495, these lanes were moving, but I495 was a parking lot. I have no idea what it cost or if I will get a fine? So I am in search of a new navigation program. Rant over.

We arrived at our friend's, the Malloys, around 5:30PM. It was in the 60s and raining, but at least it washed some of the salt off the RV and scooter. Of course Marybeth prepared a nice dinner for us and it was great visiting with old friends again.  We will probably hang here a day before moving on south. The temps are in the

Day 1,Sunday March 1st - A Sunday Drive

Sunday we had our usual Sunday Breakfast with Mom and Dad.

 Don, Louann and Candy were also there...as usual. It was a nice breakfast, Foote's seldom disappoints, try the Eggs Florentine.. :-).

After BF June and I went home to pack up and load the Scooter. We were not in any rush, and only planned to drive to June's cousin's house in Queensbury, NY.

We departed around 3PM, the weather was decent and the roads were clear.









So off to Queensbury..65 miles...starting it slow.