US-17: the final leg

 

After a one year delay, US-17 will be completed.  The first of our end-to-end series.  Our month at Jekyll Island concluded, we head southwestish towards Orlando, avoiding the interstates as much as possible.  Friday, December 2, we headed to the Winter Haven Howard Johnsons where last year's dog attack took place pausing just long enough to reset the trip odometer.  We have no desire to stay here ever again; Taffee is fine.   She shook it off like the little champ she is, but this place just has some bad mojo.

Hurricane Ian ravaged this final stretch of 17 to Punta Gorda.  And as before, getting this final piece of 17 completed became a chore with the local Winter Festival blocking all of the major East-West streets in the center corridor of the city.  

Blue tarps are a common sight along the way.  Even some church roofs were entirely cloaked in tarps.

We snuck down an alley to finally get to US-17's southern terminus.

And with that one year delay, our first end-to-end is complete.  
What's next?

Here we are

We are ready for the off to Jekyll Island for our vacation.  Yes, we're both retired.    H O W E V E R, this past 8 months have been a near whirlwind of chaos.   First, we decided to try to sell our home of 33 years in Baltimore.  Our fears were we would have missed the housing bubble AND that it would sit on the market for an extended period due to its age as well as the fact it is in Baltimore.   Thankfully, our listing agent made it all so simple sounding with the hard part getting the pre-sales work completed before listing.   He was right; lots of work got done- stuff we had been putting off for years. 

Jean had shoulder replacement surgery scheduled for late June/ early July and the expected 'to sell' date was approximately 6 weeks after we listed, based on the market at that time we were not concerned about any overlaps; the house sold in 2 days.  TWO DAYS.  Well, that just made our lives more interesting.  We asked the buyer to rent back the house until Jean was fully ambulatory in late July which they had no problem doing.  Then, after all the pre-sales work we did clearing out and paring down, the rest had to be packed by a two people with three good arms.

The move to The Estate was to relatively painless with professionals handing the big pieces of furniture for the final move out day.  Now, we had planned on building a modular or stick built house on the property of The Estate; even had a building site selected.  Between the time delay to build AND the costs [which were for all intents and purposes, the same] we decided to look at the existing housing nearby with three stipulations: no more than 20 minutes from The Estate [to act as a guest house]; roughly 1500 sf rancher/rambler; 'move-in' ready; and, less than building new with the 'all-in' costs figured.  We gave ourselves 2 weeks to figure this out and commit one way or the other.

A couple of viewing later we recruited a local buyers' agent to aid the process.  And she was a gem.  Seriously, if you are in the market in the Cumberland-Romney-Keyser tri-cities area, talk with Taylor Kiggens- she is the best.  She sent us a prelisting for a house just down the road from The Estate- literally just down the road, three miles, no turns.  A lovely 1500 sf brick rancher built in the late 1960's for sale by the estate of the original owners who had the house built.   It sits on about an acre and a quarter just off Patterson Creek with lots of recent improvements [metal roof, newish heat pump, etc].  So we put an off in and poof- it was ours.  So now we get to hire contractors to do some painting and flooring

, maybe change our the dated kitchen counter; a collection of little things but nothing that would prevent move-in on closing day if we wanted to.  Sadly, all the local contractors are busy so the earliest anyone could get in to do the stuff was January; we decided to tackle the stuff we could ourselves and farm out the complex things- counter, carpet cleaning, some plumbing updates, etc.  

Before we left for our annual Jekyll getaway, the kitchen, main bedroom and sewing room were done-done with the basement and tractor shed as done as they're gonna get for now, AND we have a  new backyard gazebo to screen in over the winter.  The living room and guest room/office is next up on our return, but for now, we vacation.

Changes- chapter 2022

 As we noted earlier, things changed with COVID.  We had originally intended to retire in 2023 but the opportunity window of the post COVID environment was open and we jumped.  Another big change was the housing market; all the sudden, people are buying houses.....in our neighborhood....on our block. ..... and not turning them into multi-family dwellings.   The iron was hot and we struck it.  It took almost 2 months to get our house ready for sale instead of the two years we had planned.  We learned that plasterers command top dollar for their work and if anyone is looking for a trade that is in extremely high demand and also very rare, it's plastering.  
Long story short, we listed out house with the expectations of it being about 30 days until we got a reasonable offer; it was 2.  TWO, with a 21 day closing.  Soooooooo off to Westbygodvirginia we go, multiple loads to our storage locker [yes, we're one of "them" now] and a new shed, AKA the Red Shed on the property to store even more stuff just to get the house cleared out in time.

As of this writing, we are considering both new build on the Estate and purchasing an existing home but we are leaning towards new build.  Several floor plans are contenders in modular or stick built configurations. That decision will have to made soon. 

We Made Another Thing

 Outside living areas are the bomb; we have a really nice one planned for The Estate but wanted one for home.  Some leftover sand from the reconstructed addition, couple dozen pavers, existing 2 bys, some old rebar stakes, a flagstone found buried in the grass and the glider off the front porch.  Add two planter pots [exact locations are still in progress both them, the planter box and hanging basket brackets to be addressed once summer plants / flowers are available in a few weeks] and a new fire pit from Lowes..... final bit of yard clean up to follow.

We Made a Thing

Board gaming is fun activity and let's us keep the old strategic and analytical juices flowing.  Now when we say "board game" we mean games like Ticket to Ride [any version], Champions of Midgard or Wingspan, not Monopoly or Life: sorry [see what we did there?].  These board games can have a very large foot print- Champions of Midgard is roughly 30 by 40 when using the official game mat [which replaces all three game boards] not including table space for the game components: warrior dice, Valhalla tokens, food, wood, etc.

 Board game tables are very nice, but very expensive.  These are not your ordinary card or even poker tables; they are much larger [think 40 x 48 or 42 x 60], usually rectangular and covered in a flocked material typically neoprene [mousepad material].  Some of these tables can run thousands of dollars with all the bells and whistles, like under rail lights, built in dice towers, component trays and of course, drink holders.
An alternative is a game table topper, which mounts to a standard card table while offering most of the amenities above; these can be found on places like Amazon for $200-$500 a pop depending on options.  Being not quite so flush with cash to devote that much money for a twice a week hobby, we decided to make our own topper.  There are numerous videos online to show how to convert an Ikea dining room table to a game table for only a few hundred bucks including the actual table, but we wanted to be even simpler and still have the card table for those occasions. 
Behold, the first ever Miller Board Game Topper.
Materials List:

• existing, sturdy card table [32 x 32] 
• 2 yards of flocked neoprene; we chose dark red - $15 from Amazon
• half sheet of 1/2" sanded plywood [cabinet grade was out of stock at Home Depot]- $45
• 4 scrap pieces of 1 x 4 or 1 x 3 about a foot long for the topper's "feet"
• 4 small bar clamps [to be replaced by small C clamps] - $6
• handful of short deck or wood screws

Cut the plywood to desired size- ours is 42 x 48.  Find center point, measure out where the "feet" go, attach and dry fit before securing all the "feet".  The "feet" should be snug against the existing table sides.  Use the bar / C clamps to clamp the "feet" to the card table's sides to prevent table tip-overs when someone leans on the top's edge.  Drape fabric over the topper and cut to length.  Using a staple gun with short staples [we used 1/4"] attach the fabric to the underside of the topper, mitering the corners as best you can.   

 Viola!   Rails may be easily added later as we haven't decided on that yet. 

The Petroglyphs

here's the hiking trails
 local hint offered- walk the main trail both directions.  according to the local Pueblo tribe's lore, the glyphs only appear to whom and when they want to.

Westward Ho

 Jean's friend is turning 70 this January. She lives in Albuquerque.  ROAD TRIP.  Miller Road Rules apply:  avoid limited access highways and national chain restaurants.

our route

We drop the doggies at Miss Judy's in Martinsburg on Thursday December 30th with the intent of a long day in the car to get to Cincinnati, well just east of Cincinnati.  The motel choice was iffy at best.  No real breakfast but there is a Frisch's across the main drag.  Dinner at a local eatery which was awesome.    We have reservations in St Louis for New Years Eve at the very swanky Clayton Park Plaza Hotel and dinner reservations about a block away.

But first, we trek across the middle of Indiana and Illinois hitting some fairly interesting sites, like Paulhenge, Mellencamp Plaza as well as the future Birthplace of Captain Katherine Janeway and some other stuff before we get in sight of the Arch.

Paulhenge

Mellencamp Plaza

Hoosier Buddy Liquors

Captain Kathyrn Janeway's future birthplace

The Tulip Trestle

We had lunch here on the little picnic area and discussed the odds of catching a train crossing the Viaduct.  Low and behold, the odds were good apparently.

World's Largest Catsup Bottle

New Years Eve was spent at the very nice Clayton Park Plaza Hotel with dinner at Cantina Laredo nearby- their salsa is to die for.

New Years Day was a gloomy day; gray, rainy with the weather guessers stating the temps were going to drop all day bottoming out in the low teens overnight.  As such, we tried to stick with the bigger roads diving off onto Historic Route 66 on occasion.  66 is a trove of Americana.

Devil's Elbow Route 66 Bridge

Uranus Fudge Factory

Mariachi Band of Uranus

Frog Rock

Big Ed's Totem Park - to revisit when open

Cahoosa Blue Whale all done up for Christmas

The temps quickly fell from the mid 30's to the low 20's with some light showers; just enough to stick to the windscreen and make a mess and not enough to be actual snow.  Then the wind kicked up.  Brutal bone chilling with gusts upwards of 50 mph.  You could feel the cold air radiating through the motel room door frame.   Don't stick your tongue to that, even on a double dog dare.  

Again, due to the overnight precip and temp in the low teens, we stuck to the big roads trekking along old 66 for miles at a time, even the snow covered stretches.

Mazda hits 121k.  Oh it's 15 F.

Tulsa's Giant Oil Driller

Just one more thing.... you happen to have a pen?

The Murrah Building Memorial

Home of the grilled onion burger

ummm, errr, ummm.

OK land rush, western start line

Route 66

Typical small town USA along Route 66: dead or dying

The grave of the Mother of US-66; Miss Lucille

Lucille's Gas Station serving customers from 1941 until her death on August 18, 2000

Alan L Bean- the 4th man on the moon.  Native of Wheeler

The intersection from the last scene of Castaway.

Sunday night is Pampa, TX, the home of Woodie Guthrie.   Woodie was one of the first folk singers; he wrote "This land is your land"

The music of This Land is Your Land

Where Woody worked in his teens; now the Woody Guthrie Museum

The Helium Time Columns

Cadillac Ranch

Just about 1140 miles to LA or Chicago

A dirt stretch of 66?

The San Jon Trestle Bridges

The Blue Hole

Route 66, down in the ravine east of Alburquerque

We are in Albuquerque for the next week; visiting friends, seeing shit

The surprise.  And boy was it.

and the gifts

Golf at the city's highest point

The Petroglyphs [see full post]

The Nuclear Museum

1,000 paper cranes

an honest to God B-52 in person

The Trinity Site Tower Replica complete with the "gadget"

a MIG

and a Delorean 

the 'goodbye' shot in their back garden

The Return Home

First off, the Musical Road.  We missed it on the way into Alburquerque.  It's along eastbound old 66; looks for the surveyor's paint marks on the pavement.

A visit to Billy the Kid's grave; unfortunately, the recreated Fort Sumner was closed on our day.  On the 'to visit again' list.

Welsome to Earth

Bob's Oil Well

The World's Littlest Skyscraper in downtown Wichita Falls; twas quite a scandal in its day.

Dinosaurs on parade

little German town in Texas.

jackrabbit oil well

Paris Texas, complete with a hat of course

Baltimore locals will get the reference

Most Natty Boh stories end in a bathroom

Arkansas 9

Paris, Kentucky

Odo reaches another milestone

The Famous S stone bridge on the old National Road