Fall in the Deep South

We took a last motorcycle ride around Lake Eufaula last week, knowing we were heading down to Florida on the weekend.  It is hard for me to leave when it is so beautiful in Georgia, but Mr. Ron wanted to get the bike to Florida while it was still warm and sunny for the ride.  Since I was driving the car, with no worries about cold and/or rain, it seemed like it was his call.

We spotted the smoke before we came upon the controlled burn.  

The leaves are really starting to turn.  The super dry fall seems to have brought even more color than usual.  The reds are especially brilliant this year.

In our trek around the lake, we stopped at Highland Park, one of the beautiful parks maintained by the DNR.

The low water this year makes for really nice sandy beaches around the lake.  This one is at Highland Park.

Not sure if the controlled burns are what make for such beautiful sunsets.  This is the last one we will see this fall as we head down to Florida for the rest of the year.

But it is lovely to ride the motorcycle in our shirtsleeves and eat outside while we watch the boats.

NaNoWriMo - November Again!

November, which is already a pretty busy month with Thanksgiving and all, is also the month each year when lazy proscrastinating authors  attempt to write a novel in one month.  It actually isn't that daunting of a task - a mere 1667 words a day - but every day of the month.  The every day part is what is daunting.  The idea being to dump the words into your word processor, and worry about editing and changing and revising next month or next year, but to at least have a working script to deal with.  

Last year I entered the program for the first time and did manage to complete my first draft of my first novel during the month.  Since it was based on the life of a friend, it wasn't that hard - I knew what was going to happen next, and was able to lay out an outline before November 1, and actually completed revisions and editing before the end of last year.  I self-published the book and it is available at "Put your Hands on Your Head" 

I have written two memoirs, and one semi-factual biography.  This year, I am writing my first novel.  It probably falls into the "fantasy" genre - it is about a small boy who can occasionally see into the future.   I have an outline for the book, and got started right on schedule today with 1815 words in the bank.  

So for this month, probably fewer blog posts - with an update now and then of my novel progress.

Columbus, Georgia

Years ago, when I was stationed at Fort Benning, Columbus was a typical military town - pawn shops, dance clubs, cut rate auto dealers, tattoo parlors, etc.  Phenix City, Alabama, directly across the river, was even worse, and the entire city was off limits.  When I came back to the area after 50 years, what a surprise I had.  Even though Fort Benning has greatly expanded over the years, Columbus, too, has grown.  

All the old cotton gins along the river that were mostly abandoned years ago are either restored or in the process of being restored.  A walking trail winds along the Chattahoochee River, linking the university and the convention center and the arts building.  In the far background the building by the water tower has been developed into trendy condominiums.

With a gym and future shops planned for the ground floor, the condos on the three upper floors are in high demand.  The original foot deep walls and cement floors and exposed pipes add to the charm of the units.  Most have balconies overlooking the river and park.

The restaurant at the Marriott has a large outdoor patio eating area, so it is one of our favorite lunch spots.  The brick street beside the hotel has majestic old Magnolia trees in a row in the median.

The performing arts building always has a good slate of entertainment.

Different sculptures grace nearly every corner of the core downtown area.  

While there still may be a "military zone", the downtown area has definitely changed into a trendy financial and college district.

Georgia Flowerbeds Getting Some Love

This is what it looked like when we first got here October 6.

After a day or two of serious weeding, things are looking up.

Before look at Mom's front flower boxes

After  - the weeds are in a pile in front waiting for Ron to take them away.  Surprising how many hardy plants survived with little water and lots of competition for air and water from the weeds.

Best plants to thrive on neglect:  dianthus, creeping thyme, Gerber daisy, snapdragon and mums.

Honeysuckle vine on the edge of Mom's flower box is still in bloom and smelling wonderful.

Manasota Key, Florida

Manasota Key, sits about half in Charlotte County and half in Sarasota County in SW Florida.  Our house in Englewood is about halfway between the southern road onto the Key and the northern road.  Today was a beautiful sunny day so we went out to the Key.  Unlike "the season" when you can barely find a standing place, let alone a parking place, the Key was nearly deserted today.

The waves were high enough to attract a few surfers, but most of the  people on the beach were collecting shells, swimming or just basking in the sun.

Here is a close up of the shells:

Great for shell seeking, not so great for barefoot beach walking.

The canopy road up the island is beautiful with lots of interesting houses and plants to view.

Many houses are "Gulf to Bay" with the house on the gulf side of the island and the dock on the bay side.  Definitely "lottery option" homes to drool over.

Now this is a fixer!

Walls of bougainvilla and palms

This looked like a Christmas Cactus plant growing up a host tree.

The plant was covered with gigantic yellow blooms.

Manasota Key - something for everyone - one of our favorite places.

Back in Florida

After a week of intensive gardening and cleaning in Georgia, we headed down to deal with our boat and house in Florida.  We have been away from both the Georgia and Florida houses for over six months, so lots of deferred maintenance waited for us both places.  The boat battery was totally dead, so our first stop today was at West Marine to get a replacement battery.

It is so much easier when we have a full time gardener to take care of the yard work.  The things we had to do at the Florida house were all inside.  Dust, a few spiders, a little bit of mildew, and we were really thinking about listing the house on vrbo.com.

We couldn't get the dishwasher working, so we went to Home Depot and got a new one - when it is delivered next Tuesday, the house should be ready to list.

I was able to get the TV's working and my mobile hot spot works really well.  The only thing we can't offer on the rental is internet service.  Hopefully that won't be too big a problem. 

We have been swimming laps every afternoon in the community pool.  The weather is perfect 85 during the day and 60ish at night.  Off for a boat trip tomorrow!

Conclusions from our VRBO trip

We have been toying with the idea of listing our Georgia house on the Vacation Rental By Owner site.  One of the goals of our trip across the country using vrbo rentals for our stays was to assess the program and see how our home stacked up against the homes we rented.  


Some conclusions of our trip.  All of the places we stayed were nice - very clean and a wonderful alternative to hotels.  Some differences:

1. They were all quiet - off the freeway far enough to allow for quiet nights.
2. They were all immaculately clean.  While most hotels are cleaned daily, they aren't cleaned with the same care as an owner gives.
3. Nearly all of the places we stayed had refrigeration.  This was great for us as it allowed us to pack a cooler full of perishables and get it from one point to another still frozen.
4. Most of the vrbo places we stayed had full kitchens which would allow less lazy people than us to prepare their own food.
5. It was really nice to have lots of room to spread out in the evenings like we do at home.  
6. Most of the places we stayed had washer and dryers available.
7. Three of the five places we stayed had plenty of room for another couple where both would have the privacy of their own room.
8. We saw some of the country we have never seen in spite of a dozen or more trips across the U.S.A.
9. The bed expense was about twice what it would be using a hotel for a couple of reasons - many required a minimum 2 night stay; many required a deposit (while we have gotten all of them back, it still was an up front expense.) Many tacked on a cleaning fee of around $100.  For a one night or two night stay, that adds considerably to the total cost.  The vrbo program is more suited to week-long getaways where that fee can be spread over several days.
10. It was hard to find vrbo rentals for one couple.  Many vrbo rentals sleep 10 or more, so the cost for one couple is high.  
11. Using vrbo for waypoint stops is a bit expensive, but to us, worth the extra expense.  We traveled for nearly two full weeks and arrived in Georgia rested with our laundry neatly folded and ready to put away.  It forced us to stay with a plan and not start bolting for the barn after two days on the road.