Palatable Patterns

Jan 01

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Dec 31

NYE Ride in a WWII Biplane

I’ve always wanted to ride in a biplane. After all, what is cooler for someone obsessed with both convertibles and airplanes than a convertible airplane?

So, on NYE in Key West, I took the opportunity and went on a biplane ride around the island. Double thanks to Southwest and US Airways, whose commercial flights were coming in for a landing while I was up in the air, and because we had to wait for them to clear the air space, they ended up extending my 15 minute ride to about 25 minutes.

Never thought I’d have anything good to say about US Airways.

[video]

Dec 30

[video]

Dec 29

Freudian Crunch

I killed my brand new (personal) laptop.

I accidentally backed over it with the car.

It was an accident. Really.

I think.

Dell can’t do anything to initiate the repair/replacement process until I get home… which means none of the writing I had planned to do, and it means not being able to pull pictures off my camera until I get back to Austin.

Sigh.

Plan B… or is it C? D?

Having not camped in years and having never camped in this climate, there were a couple of things I was not prepared for when I came to the Florida Keys intending to spend a week camping.

1. Within four hours of pitching my tent, the condensation collection had the whole tent soaking wet. And in a small one-person tent, by morning everything inside was wet, too.
2. The humidity was damaging the books and art work I bought on the road. Stashing them in the car did not provide enough protection.
3. Even though it is only 81 degrees, the humidity is so severe, I can’t leave Zeka outside in it without risking heat stroke.
4. When they say this is the busy season here, they aren’t kidding. And there are no individual camp sites. It is effectively a serious of fields where people stake out space. Close to each other. No solitude.
5. Campers are a friendly lot who like to eat and drink with neighbors, and stay up talking until 2:00am. No sleep.

[video]

The biggest iguana I’ve ever seen in the wild. (Thank goodness!)

Dec 28

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Naples, FL. Very cute, and I can see why it’s such a vacation spot this time of year for those from the colder northern reaches. A little too cute for what I was in the mood for, though, so I stuck to a drive-by instead of a sit-down/walk-thru.

Christmas with Jen, Andi, Nilla and the felines. Quite a lovely way to spend a blistery Atlanta Tuesday.

Dec 25

Is it weird that when I travel to a new city, one of the things I am most likely to buy as a souvenir is a cookbook? Or, in the case of New Orleans… FIVE cookbooks?

Christmas Day

In the true spirit of my “spontaneous” vacation with “no plans allowed” I have decided that instead of heading straight to Florida today, I’m going to detour through Atlanta to see Jen and Andi.

Last night, after Christmas Eve dinner in the French Quarter, we got back on the road and pushed through to Mississippi and then Alabama. Got all the way to Montgomery last night before stopping at midnight.

It should be about two and a half hours or so to make it to their place today. After we spoke on the phone last night, Jen texted me lamenting that the only alcohol she has on hand is beer. Fortunately for her, I have a bottle of St. Francis wine from Sonoma County with me.

Merry Christmas all! Back to the open road!

New Orleans

I don’t know why, but when I think of cities I’d seriously consider living, New Orleans never quite makes it to the top of the list. Maybe it’s due to my only seriously considering “tech cities”— which I’d never classify NOLA as being. But in walking around the Quarter, I kept thinking, “Why isn’t this on my list?”

I think it is.

OTOH, I’m also pretty sure that if I lived here, my perpetual battle with my weight would be a lost cause.