Big time at Jon's

25 Nov 2009 Tallahassee Florida

It’s not yet 6:30 am and I open one eye to check the world around me. Light streams through the drapes neatly hanging over the large picture window revealing a finely manicured back yard of the 37 year old condo. There is a lovely view of a variety of flowers and green plants.
Inside I gaze around the room dimly lit by the early morning light. There is no sunshine. It is a gray, overcast day but I know it will be a good day regardless. This is the day I continue my cross-continent drive.
Quietly and carefully I slip out of bed into the cool morning air quickly jumping into the clothes I had neatly stacked beside the bed last night. Jon and Marjory do not get up this early and I certainly did not want to disturb my wonderful hosts. …however, sneak around as I did, about 8am they descended from the second floor smiling and cheerful. This was early for them.. they are night people and usually sleep a little later.These are wonderful people and kind hosts. I always appreciate a visit to their house. Of course, Marjory did not want me snapping pictures this early in the morning. :-)
A light breakfast is rustled up and we chat for about an hour…. Then, time to hit the road.
After seeking out the cheapo fueling station and topping off the tank I head for I-10 West. Driving West on I-10 the Florida interstate looks the same as always… wide grassy areas on both sides and down the middle between the East and West bound lanes. Beyond the grass belt are rows and rows of Florida pines, tall and slim and very close together. I’ve always enjoyed the clean manicured look of the Florida interstates. This may be the last time I make this trip… who knows.
For the rest of the day it will be mostly cloudy with only a couple hours of sunshine. That’s OK with me….it makes for easier driving.
The original plan was to stop at Brad’s place in Tyler Texas but he could not stick around any longer. He was off to Kansas to have Thanksgiving with his family.
I continued on….destination…Cisco Texas. This leg of the trip would be just over 1000 miles. Carefully laid out on top of my load in the back of the truck was a clean mattress and somewhere back there was a sleeping bag. When I get tired I simply pull off at a truck stop, crawl back there and grad a few Zzzzz’s. Boy did that feel good. Each nap was one or two hours. They were frequent.
Finally we arrive in Cisco in the mid-morning the following day. After visiting with several friends and having lunch I was back on the road by 2pm.