I’ll be in Naples, FL starting 9/22 with tentative departure date of 10/7. I’ll be staying at the Residence Inn Naples located at 4075 Tamiami Trail North, Naples, FL, 34103.

These are a few of the things I’ve found on the web.

• PureNaples – This has cruise (sightseeing, dolphin watching), boat and jet ski rentals and fishing expeditions. Did see some groupon deals for this vendor.
• Downtown Naples – Kind of here for reference, seems to be boutiques and upper scale shopping. Some historical sites are there as well as the pier and restaurants and coffee/ice cream places.

Not that I really needed one but I had a chance to hang out with the Parks and catch the US Women’s Soccer team play, and the bar we were at (Reservoir) also had the Rangers. It was good to see them and the games and there was also some good eats to be had. Glad humpday is over and it’s downhill to the weekend…

Well I needed steps and hadn’t peopled all weekend so I went to church today and then went to see mom. On the way home, I decided to go to the mall and get some steps. But on the way there I ran over something and got a flat. I actually had to read the manual (which was oddly enough in the car) to figure out how to lower the spare. The same spare which came with the vehicle when I bought it 14 years ago. Yes, it was flat.

But here’s the thing, I manged to pull into the parking garage to assess the flat, so I was actually in the shade meaning it was actually only 97 when changing the tire. The walk home wasn’t very fun but because I had 3 water bottles from my trips to the gym, I had water. So I walked to the house, jumped into the coldest shower I could draw and threw on some shorts, grabbed the truck, fired up the air compressor and went and got the spare and a lug nut to size the impact socket.

Back to the house and filled up the spare, grabbed the jack, wheel chock and impact gun, drove back, made super quick work of the flat, came home, grabbed the bike and went and retrieved the Xterra. Life is good today

TGIF BTW. So the morning started out early when Sandy informed me that our racoon trap was doing double duty and was acting as a possum trap. Cute little guy but not very friendly.

So we let him go and sent him on his way. Then, on my way to the gym, I ran over a squirrel… I was not happy about it but he was suicidal so there wasn’t anything I could have done. And when a 4 ton truck rolls over your head it’s pretty instant. But on my way home I saw that a buzzard was having a fresh meal on me. Circle of life yada yada…

Then the evenings entertainment was Hanna’s birthday at Park Place. Always good to catch up and hang out with the extended family.

We finished off the evening by stopping to visit mom and Ron before Sandy takes off for the new job tomorrow. Long day but lots of fun.

I got a chance to see my old friend Doug today! It’s been a good 20 years since our paths crossed and by chance, he was heading through DFW on his way to Baylor University in Waco to move his daughter to Boston to continue her studies at Harvard. The years haven’t been bad to us I’m happy to say, we’re a bit grayer, a bit wider but wiser and grateful that we’re still around.

Got a chance to show him the house, grabbed lunch at Bronco’s, and headed down to meet Megan and her SO. Amazing folks and it was great catching up for a couple of hours.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the best part of traveling is going back home. I’m sitting in the airport in Phoenix waiting for another hour and 15 minutes to board for the 2 hour 40 minute flight back to Dallas. Super excited to be heading home. This was the first time I had to go through customs in ages. Was fairly strait forward and no issues for me. Sandy on the other hand was being a complete asshole and decides she wants to bring fruit back from Mexico even after I had warned her about it. I mean there are always one or two idiots on the plane, I just happened to be sitting next to one this time. Put me in a shitty mood for the rest of the trip home. I really want to know why she did that, was the apple really worth pissing me off for a day? I guess to Sandy it was.

We booked a ride into the town of Loreto from the resort tonight. It was $20 per person which was a little steep but honestly town is like 45 minutes away so you figure $20 for 80 or 90 minutes which, once broken down, isn’t all that bad.

The city of Loreto is a quaint town by the sea, there is a waterfront strip that kind of reminds me of the dock up in Erie in that people just cruise up and down in their cars, motorcycles or 4 wheeler’s. There seemed to be a festival in place, now that I think of it maybe a lead up to cinco de mayo? There was a scary clown throwing candy at the kids that were gathered at the front of the stage, my dislike of clowns was exacerbated by the fact he was speaking in tongues, well Spanish but I can’t be sure it wasn’t something darker.

This is the first time in decades that I’ve traveled abroad and I’m always a bit leery to be out of my comfort zone and I’m deathly afraid of being seen as the ‘stupid entitled’ American tourist. So I keep my head low and always wear a smile. I try to put myself in their place, what would I feel like to see them come to my town? Be nice and respectful of their lives and culture. duck!

Had a chance to go kayaking at the resort.

Tis the season to be thankful and it’s with thanks I write this, thanks for my family and friends, thanks for a pretty kick ass life. I have everything that I need and my wants are few. We have a new truck that will make sure our travels are safer and at a higher level of comfort with half of that being hot having to worry about the vehicle. Shorter more frequent trips are now unlocked with this being the first major holiday with school behind me. That’s a feeling to be thankful for:)

We actually got up and out earlier than expected. I woke up around 4ish and finally got Sandy up around 5ish, got showered and ready, and we hooked up and dumped the tanks and hit the road. I almost had a most unfortunate incident emptying the tank, the hose and hookups were hooked to gray 2 so we could be dump that first, hook to black and gray 1 to dump and go. After dumping gray 2, I moved the hose but the right angle has an a twist to lock and it had come undone… Some slight liquid leaked out on black but was washed away with the gray water. I found the issue and will have to check that also for future dumps.

Left out at 5:30am and got into Shelly’s at 3pm. Not bad time. Went and saw Brit’s new place, they weren’t there yet and I asked Sandy if she wanted to wait for them but she didn’t so we left. Went to see Ron as he had said that there may be room to park the RV at the cleaners, there wasn’t and we’ll just leave it at that. We did get to see the old apartment, it was strange to be back there remembering living there and all the things done. Made me a bit homesick for the days when I didn’t have anything to lose and didn’t care a bit about the future. Good times. I think that the most stunning thing was Cathy lost Norb’s bar and it sold at foreclosure for 16k. Almost as bad as Tony’s old house selling for 50k at a tax sale. Strange folks here in Erie.

So we’re not sure how long we’re here, it’s been raining since we got here but that’s how I remember it. Sandy has stuff to do with her dad tomorrow and I need to replace the starter. We’ll see how it goes. I’m getting a bit tired of the road, I want to go home and be able to do nothing there for a change. LOL, I miss the cats.