April 27, 2012

Polk Salad Annie

...................got your grannie, chomp......... chomp chomp chomp

The Fishin Optishin and I took off last Friday for fishing in southern Florida in celebration of our collective birthdays. Odd that more than one person warned Bobby to not let me stop at the free orange juice stand, he would regret it otherwise. I must have a reputation.

The ride down was especially fun for Bobby as I amused him with some of my new material. Or at least I thought it was some of my new material; seems as though my memory is about as long as my..............well let's just say it isn't very long, or good either for that matter. (So what's the deal with the peanuts on the airplane, I mean come on, can they put them in a smaller bag?) Hahahaha, sorry, that still cracks me up. (And why does the pilot come on the intercom to tell us what he's doing? I mean come on, do I go knock on the door and tell him I'm eating peanuts from a tiny bag?) [editor's note, in proofing this entry I laughed each time I got to this part] Anyway, as usual I digress. We got to Lake Okeechobee or somewhere near it and stopped to enjoy the exotic scenery. Usually when I travel with someone in my family who will go unnamed (OK enough with the torture it is SWMBO) I'm too busy looking for a clean bathroom; or actually A bathroom in most cases. But we stopped and looked a couple of times, then pulled over at a boat landing and saw this toothy gator-critter. Two of them in fact; they kept looking at us like they were perusing the menu at Denny's (why I ask? Moons Over My-Hammy with grits). Neat to see them and Bobby tried to wear out his new camera with lots of shots. 

We also saw a group of feral pigs. What's that you say Arnold? Looks like a couple of city slickers heading down to the swamp? Say you saw one of them "smoking a pork butt" and bragging about it? Say you want to hear some albino banjo music? 

Long story short.......................hard to believe but we went all the way down there, got to Clewiston and had rain that made Noah sweat and ask me what the hell is a cubit? Anyway, we dutifully got up and met our guide at 6:00 AM only to have him tell us:

1) He doesn't want to go fishing

2) He really means it; he didn't bring his boat!

I think he really meant it, and we wanted this to be fun, so we scratched the trip and headed home. Not a total washout though, it was fun to have another road trip under our belts, we got some good information from our new wet friend, and we plan to go back, maybe in November. 

On the way home we were the only tourists who stopped and bought oranges (hey, where is the free OJ? ......................................YOU GO NOW!) 

and also at the Daytona International Speedway. That was a neat tour, went into the infield and into the towers. It was a long day, got home late and slept late the next day, but alas...........

from the warped mind of George Takei:

And that's it for this week; off to Richmond tomorrow to help Jackson celebrate his 21st birthday in fine style. Next week, as I try to do every year I will work in and around Charlotte. Wonder what else is happening in that area Thursday through Sunday (http://www.wellsfargochampionship.com/Home.aspx) Justin and I plan to go to the course with customers on Thursday then it's back to work Friday, end up in Rockingham that night (as my wife and mother-in-law celebrate Laurie's graduation), up to Sanford Saturday for Keelyn's second birthday, home that night so I can serve Communion Sunday morning. Wow, I'm tired just thinking about it.
Happy 21st birthday Jackson, we beeeees so very proud of you!