December 28, 2017. Two Blogs in One Day - or, Two Days in One Blog.

December 28, 2017.  Two Blogs in One Day - or, Two Days in One Blog.  I know I disappointed at least one of my followers by not publishing last night.  She told me as much.  However, it worked out for the best because neither yesterday nor today were sufficiently interesting to support its own blog.  So, tonight, you get either two blogs in one day, or two days in one blog. 

We left Paducah, KY, yesterday morning expecting to drive 300-400 miles, depending on whether we stayed the night near Atlanta or forged further south in Georgia.  The traffic was terrible all day.  I have no idea where all those people came from or where they were going.  The first back-up was on I-24 between Nashville and Chattanooga.  There were three lanes of stop-and-go for about five miles.  Eventually, we came up on the cause; there was an overturned camper trailer behind a jackknifed tandem truck.  The trailer was still hitched to the truck and the rear wheels of the truck were suspended in the air due to the trailer being on its side.  Fortunately, there appeared to be no injuries, but two of the three lanes were blocked.  

We hit another long stretch of congestion in Chattanooga.  This time, both GPSs told me about the problem in time for me to detour around it.  However, the detour took me miles out of the way and more time was lost.  

The third back-up was in Atlanta - surprise.  Traffic is always backed-up in Atlanta.  The GPSs alerted me in time to get off I-75.  However the rerouting took us through downtown Atlanta, into a dark industrial area highlighted by graffiti on stone walls and a gazillion stop lights.  By the time we emerged, we had had our fill of Atlanta.  We sojourned on to Macon, Georgia before stopping for the night.  We closed the day, 400 miles from Paducah.  

Today, we drove to Tampa, FL, two hours north of our destination.  We took a spin through The Villages, a number of retirement developments south of Ocala.  The various "villages" have a total population of 150,000 residents.  It is one of the largest developments of its kind in the US, spreading over five different zip codes.  The homes range from 1000 square feet for $125,000 to 3000 square feet on a golf course with a pool for $800,000.  There are charter schools and commercial areas with Walmart, CVS, groceries and a movie theater along with any other creature comforts you can imagine.  It would be a nice place to retire to if you don't mind being 1200 miles from your family.  But, I do mind.  We'll be staying close to family.  Maybe someday, some enterprising entrepreneur will build a development like The Villages near home.  

The pictures: Nashville skyline, The Amish Hippie (I have no idea what is sold inside, but the exterior was intriguing), the bowels of Atlanta and the information center at the Georgia-Florida border.  Annie is doing her best Darth Vader imitation next to the NASA astronaut.  And, she is checking out local knowledge about the American Alligator.  She has a thing about alligators as you will recall.  I am hanging with a dolphin.  We were about the same height.  I think he had me by a nose.  

So, as I said, nothing too interesting, but two days strung together make a blog.  

Goodnight.