After yesterday’s experience in the slush, our beautiful black truck (actually it’s a dark dark gray), is dirtier than it’s ever been. It appears to be spread with white frosting. It’s hard to believe that it’s a dark shade.

As we drive along, we’re able to pick out the other cars that came from Michigan. We all bear the same telltale coating. Our overnight stop will be in Macon, GA, and we should arrive about 4:00. John’s going to try to find a place to get our vehicle washed.

Today it’s still cool (29), but beautifully sunny. We’ll be stopping for a light lunch when we get gas. Fuel prices are much better than previous trips. Yesterday’s price was $2.179 for diesel and today we’ll be paying $2.219. That’s about 20 cents cheaper than home. And when I think that a year ago, during our cross country trip, we ofter paid more than $3. Hopefully it’ll stay this way. (I can’t believe that I’m actually happy for gas that’s more than $2 a gallon!)
I’ll write more later.

It’s January 30th. We’re in northern Ohio on our way to Florida where we’ll stay until the end of March.The only problem we’ve encountered so far on this trip has been our truck’s windshield washers. They aren’t working.The roads have been messy and we’re struggling to see.

John had checked out the wipers and washer solution before we left, so we fear it’s more serious than that. We stopped and he checked the fuses, and the hose.We’ve tried two places to buy a bottle of the washer solvent but no one has any. We’ll keep trying.

We find that semis often throw up enough slush so it washes off the windshield, but here in Ohio the snow’s not quite as deep and hence there’s less slush on the roads.We aren’t making very good time.

Tonight we’ll be staying in London, KY. Temperatures are going to be in the teens. Temperature right now is 18 degrees. Sunny Florida sounds grand, but unfortunately, according to weather.com, the whole east half of the country is chilly (including Florida).

Seems that during 2006 we were always getting ready or recovering from a trip. It was a year of travel for us. We figure we logged 9,000+ miles on extended trips. This year (2007) our travel plans are much more modest. We plan to go to Florida on January 30th and stay until March 20th (we’ll be home by the 22nd). We’ll probably go camping a few times, to a couple festivals, to the Upper Peninsula, and back to Florida from mid-September until Late October. There’s a chance that we’ll spend a week in Branson, MO, in May, but that’s iffy at best.

With so many trips under our belt, I’m getting pretty darned good at packing. Today I’ve spent the day in “phase 1” of our preparation for our January 30th departure. Yes, we have over three weeks, but since I know the last week before we leave we’ll be totally pre-occupied with Snowfest (our huge two-day concert in Frankenmuth, MI), I’m starting now to pull stuff together.

My clothes are ready. That’s the biggest job. I’ve set aside a corner of the basement where I can bring everything that will need to be loaded into the truck. My plan is to have it all done two weeks from today.

Did I ever mention that during the years I was employed, my job was that of “planner”? (A hospital planner.) I guess I’m still at it.

We’ve finished out 2006. Our next “adventures” will be some local music performances, and then, at the end of January, we’ll be heading back for Spring 2007 in Florida.
I’ll try to keep my blog advised of things of interest. Not that our life is so astounding, but keeping this “diary” is therapeutic. I enjoy putting down my thoughts, and it’s also a way I can stay in touch with family and friends. They can always check in here to see what we’re up to.