Winter into… Summer?

Thumbs up.   Waves…   Again and again…   “Hey, is that for sale?”     “I love your car!”     “Hot ride!!”   “What is that, a 68?”   “Is that a Super Sport?”    “I used to have one of those…”

I lost count of the gestures as we cruised south on 75 in our 1965 Impala, heading to Florida to spend a week with my Dad and sister.  At each stop, people would stop to talk, ask questions, guess the model year, which surprisingly most everyone gets wrong.  We received lots of smiles and waves going down the road, but my favorite was when a little girl in a passing car blew us a kiss. 

I LOVE road trips.  Even in the car.  :-)   Bill and I could have fun at a bus stop, so there is never a lack of good conversation and laughs.  And driving into summer weather was the best, windows down, bare feet on the dash, camera loaded and ready. It was March 10th, and we looked forward to a week in the sun.

Though we didn’t plan for it, our road trip to Florida to visit family fell during Daytona Bike Week.  But honestly, once you’ve been to Sturgis, where we leave our hearts every August, nothing really compares.  Being that my Dad is in Florida, getting up in years and the fact that I have finite vacation time, we spent our week with him, helping visiting, talking and laughing.  My Dad is a hoot, and we had a great time talking and hearing of stories of long ago, from his days in the Navy, to his long tenure at Ford, to financial advice.  He has a favorite saying, “Old too soon, and schmart too late.”  Believe me, if I had half his “schmarts”, I’d be the luckiest girl alive.

Our weather all week was Florida perfect, sunny, clear skies and in the 80s.  It was great to see my Dad and how he’s been improving from his recent surgery.  It was also great to get away from Michigan, and bask in the Florida heat.  My dear husband was kept rather busy, replacing a water valve and light switch, cutting grass, replacing mower blades, fixing a water pump and plugging a puncture in a tire on my Dad’s car.   He certainly earned the nickname of Schneider from One Day at a Time.

Tuesday night I set up the tripod in the driveway and shot star trails, something I’d really been looking forward to doing on this trip.   It takes very long exposures, several batteries and lots of time.  So much more enjoyable though, on a warm Florida evening than on a frigid Michigan evening.   I caught Orion’s Belt, but a passing plane in the below photo, compiled using the StarTrails application.

In the 20 years I’ve been going to FL to visit my folks, I’ve never seen an alligator from their backyard canal.  Friday evening, while I was grilling dinner in the peaceful dusk, Bill took these photos from the dock with his point and shoot.

I was out on the dock earlier, trying to capture a bird with my zoom lens, which I’d never seen before.  Anyone know what this is?  I could Google it, but then this post would never make it up.

Saturday came and I made it through the goodbyes.  We reluctantly made our way north and stayed overnight at the Holiday In Express in Athens, TN.  St. Patrick’s Day.  It was a quiet, very comfortable room, away from drunken leprechauns.  We relaxed with a pizza, non-green beer and Facebook coverage of all the St. Paddy’s activity.

The next morning as we loaded up, I caught the morning mist adjacent to the hotel, which I later made into a panoramic shot.

As I type this, we’re cruising north on 75, through Tennessee, and it looks like were heading into some rain. With the breeze blowing in through the windows, the temp dropped quickly and the scent of rain was in the air.

Facebook had kept me apprised of Michigan weather, the storms that unfortunately tore through Dexter, and the very mild temps we’ve had (80+ degrees, woohoo!), and fortunately, more is expected for the week we return. I hated to leave summer, but it was so nice to return to spring and not snow.  Upon returning home, I found my tulips peeking through the mulch that I’d planted last year.  Here’s hoping winter melts into summer.