Trips Coming, Thoughts on Personal Impact, Audio Book

Exciting times!  So much to learn, to decide, to experience!

Ok, now what do I start talking about first? 

Do I start off talking about what I have been thinking about?   

If I believe the science telling us that climate change is happening and that human activity is a big contributing factor, what am I doing and what CAN I be doing (or not doing) to reduce my impact.  And then, I remember something I heard... "No snowflake feels responsible for the avalanche."

Do I start off telling you about the "Trippin'" that is coming up? 

North Carolina, Ohio, Wisconsin, Everglades, Florida Keys, Arizona... too much?

Or do I start off telling you about what is happening with the books?

Audio, large print, book launch events...


Ok, ok, ok, stop twisting my arm!  

I will talk about the progress of the books first.

If this isn't of interest to you, skim down.  You won't want to miss the Trippin' we are going on this fall! (I promise to take you with me virtually.) 

Audio Update

I am SOOOO thrilled with how the Audio book is coming for Alzheimer's Trippin' with George.  What a wonderful job, voice actress Robin Siegerman is doing.

Here is the advertising sample she did up. 

Listen and let me know what you think in the comments here or on my Youtube channel.  And feel free to SHARE on your Facebook page (please) or send the link to a friend.  Let's spread the fun.



Robin says she is going to have to re-do some of it because I chose a part of the book for the sample where I said, "shit."  Robin says the Audio sample can't have cuss words in it.  She wanted to just say "GAAAHHH" instead.  I don't know, I told her to say, "Blast it" or "Dang, Dang, Dang".   But now that I write this it sounds so...

What do you think?  Maybe "GAAHHHH" is more frustrated and the others sound dorky?

The date for release of the Audio book isn't set, but it will be sometime in October.  Just in time for Christmas shopping season! 

Large Print

As I write this I am having the cover designer re-do the cover for both Alzheimer's Trippin' with George and The Journey Continues for the LARGE PRINT versions!   So many caregivers prefer the larger print, so this should help them.  And if they can't see at all, the Audio is coming soon!

Events

 The launch date for The Journey Continues is set!

The Kindle/ebook will launch on December 4th, 2019.

Yes, I am having another party or two or three to celebrate.  Watch for more information coming in the next few months.  Click the Join tab if you want to receive an email when I post updates.

I am also holding a celebration on December 6th in Tampa, Florida at Citrus Park Cyclery.  So if you will be in Tampa at that time, mark your calendar for 11:00. 

Sales and the Blurb Re-write

I have been down.  Each day I check the sales of the book, I tweek my ads, and still the sales were going down, down, down.   So I decided to hire a fiverr gig to have them re-write the blurb I have on Amazon.

It was kind of over the top.  It didn't feel like me.  But I put it up there anyway, still no results in sales.  So I took their blurb and altered it quite a bit and included YOUR words.  The words of the fans who have left such wonderful reviews.

The newest blurb for The Journey Continues is:

"Beautiful, moving, heart wrenching. A challenging situation to be in is an understatement. This was a unique perspective." Amazon Reader


“Susan made learning about the struggles one has caring for their loved one with Alzheimer’s enjoyable. Her sincerity and dedication to love her husband right to the end was inspiring. I came to admire her: sense of humor; deep compassion; humble gratitude for friends and helpers, and tenacious spirit. Easier read than I expected." Amazon Reader


Whether you went Trippin’ with Susan and George on their U.S.A. road trip in Alzheimer’s Trippin’ with George, or you are just joining them now. You will smile, laugh, and sometimes cry with them as they continue living full lives and having new adventures. Journey along with them as they dance, ride recumbent tricycles, battle with a bully, and escape a hurricane.


“Informative, inspirational, funny, sad - I highly recommend this book. … Buy it - for yourself, for others, a perfect gift for any occasion, or no occasion at all!” Larry Varney, co-editor Bentrider Online


Click Buy Now!


“Sue continues to experience George's journey into dementia along with all the messy details. She is one heck of a woman who continued this journey with a lot of love pushing her on.” Ron Freidl


You will find yourself cheering over the victories and finding joy in the midst of change.


You will discover how to stay positive, where to find helpful resources, how to deal with incontinence, and how family, friends and community can make a BIG difference in the quality of life for a caregiver and those living with dementia.


Join the Journey today, Get it now!

I am starting to see some increase in sales  (one a day, but hey!)  I am on cloud nine!

ENOUGH ABOUT THE BOOKS ALREADY!!!

"What else is going on?" you ask.

Well so nice of you to ask.

I have been THINKING.

Resource Appreciation

I heard a program about the great acceleration in the melting of the two-mile thick ice sheet in Greenland.  I am just one person.  A tiny speck in the scheme of things.

I really want to live my values.  I just feel that I am using up too many of the planets resources.  I am just one person now.

I have a big van that gets about 27 mpg.
I live in a 1900 sq ft house... not a mansion, but not a tiny house for sure.
I have too much stuff just for one person. 

I was encouraged to get bigger house so that if George went into nursing care, our life savings would have to go toward his care but I could hang onto some of the money and the house.  So the lawyer said buy more house.   I like my house, especially the location.  It is close to downtown and groceries and the gym.

But it seems silly for just me to have 2 1/2 bathrooms to maintain, and 3 bedrooms to dust.

So I have listed a bedroom on Seniorhomeshares.  I also added a listing to roommates.com, though I am not as impressed with that website/program.  I am envisioning a Golden Girls situation.  Me and two other women sharing a home, and when I go Trippin' someone will be here all the time to watch over the place.

AND I could use the income for house maintenance and to stretch my savings further/longer.   I like the idea, especially with the right people.  So if you know of a non-smoking, morning person, who might enjoy sharing a house with a quiet friendly professional woman, have them get in touch with me.  It could even be just for the winter season.

Speaking of house maintenance.

My roof has a leak over the lanai.  I started calling roofers two months ago, I swear.  At that time the spots on the ceiling were small and few.  Then we had so much rain, the roofers could not get caught up and get out here.  FINALLY today a roofer came out.  The small spots are now a huge blob and the plywood under the tiles needs to be replaced.

At least I didn't have to put out buckets... yet.  Hopefully they will get to the repairs this week. 

SO -- Speaking about reducing my CO2 emissions....

TRIPPIN'!

Trip one - Departing September 5th

Since I didn't get to fly with my trike to see my sister in July, I am driving to see my sister in September.

Driving... Florida to Wisconsin ... probably over 3600 miles round trip.  Especially since I am adding on miles by going over to Ashville, North Carolina area first to visit friends, Regis and Cindy.  They are work-camping at a historical site in the woods.

Driving ... in my van.

I plan on camping and staying with folks along the way.  To reduce my impact, I am bringing my own folding mattress and sheets for when I stay at peoples homes.  It is such a waste for me to spend one night and they have to do laundry to get the sheets ready for the next guest.  So even though I am driving my big van... I am saving on laundry.  Ha ha, my own little unequal exchange to relieve my guilt.  I know it is silly, but I REALLY want to visit my sister.

I have also been trying to avoid using my car here at home.  I ride to the gym and the grocery store and to social events if they are close enough.

Last time I tried to camp I bought a tent before the event and I donated it away after the event.  It took forever to put it up.  I have tried camping in my van... the thing is, my stuff takes room.

I have this big ol' honking recumbent tricycle.   My Catrike Expedition doesn't fold.

And hey, part of my trip is to stop in Ohio and ride with some of the Ohio trikers on the Little Miami trail and other trails around Xenia, Ohio.  So I gotta take my trike.

Anyway.  I figured out a way to store my trike and stuff out of the rain.  Either I can sleep in the van on my folding mattress or I can use my Tent-Cot.

When George and I rode around Wisconsin we hauled our Tent-Cots behind our trikes on our flat-bed Burley trailers.  I loved the high-and-dry Tent-Cots and slept well.

The last two times I used the Tent-Cot I was miserable.  It was cold, my back hurt, and I was worried about George getting up in the night and wandering away.

So last night I put up the Tent-cot in my living room and I slept in it.  I slept well, I think.  Though I am unusually tired today.

I could take both the folding bed and the tent cot... but that's kind of too much stuff, right?

And if I am going to camp I need a place to put my stuff if I sleep in the van.  And a place to sit and hang-out if it rains.

So I bought a canopy and side tent.  I erected the canopy in my living room this morning.

I was proud, I got the canopy back in the box.  Not the side tent, though.

Trip Two

I have the reservations.  I may make it.  I may not.

I don't want to rush my Wisconsin visit and I don't want to drive LOOONG miserable days.  I want to keep the time in the car sensible each day.

Where do I have the reservations?

The Everglades and the Keys.

There is a group of recumbent riders that live on the Van Fleet Trail.  Every once in a while I see them at events.  I joined their Facebook group and chat with them sometimes.  When they announced they were going to do a MOON LIGHT RIDE on the Shark Valley Trail in the Everglades, I jumped at the opportunity and made my reservations at the campground they are going to.

They arrive at the campground October 11th.

THEN I learn that the Sisters on the Fly has a group going to Key Largo to swim with the fish on the reef.  They will be counting fish and turtles and snorkeling.

 When I was trying to figure out who I would be without George, I bought myself some snorkel equipment.   I have not used it in the ocean yet.  Just a swimming pool and the Rainbow River.   This is an event that it OUTSIDE my comfort zone just a tad.  A good place for me to start stretching myself and my experiences.  So I signed up.  The camp sites were all taken, but I keep checking back and now I have a campsite for two nights.  The event, I think, covers four nights.

Now to find my snorkel and mask.

Trip Three

I guess I went bonkers when I got back from riding to St. Pete to put my tricycle on a plane and fly to Wisconsin because I planned three trips for this fall!

As you may recall, if you followed that trip on this blog or Facebook, my trike was denied access to the flight on Allegiant Airline.   I stayed a day or two in the St. Pete area then biked home.  I got back from that trip and started planning to try again to fly my trike.

In November I am flying SouthWest Airline.  This time I will drive my van to the airport so I can store my trike in it if they refuse to let my trike in baggage. 

I am flying to Pheonix, AZ to visit my brother.  If you read the first book, Larry was the guy that met us out at Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado.  I have not seen him since last Summer when he and his wife Peg invited me to Seattle to share a house they were renting.  He will be celebrating a birthday while I am in Arizona.


 I will be writing here to you as much as I can while traveling.  If you want to go Trippin' with me on this blog, you can be notified by email each time I post something.  Just click the "Join" tab up above and fill in the form.  I promise not to sell or share your information.

I often post every day when I am traveling.

Are your READY???  Only a few more weeks!

Exercise Video

I have been asked to demonstrate the balance and mobility exercises that I explained in Alzheimer's Trippin' with George.

So I am going to TRY to make a good video of them so any of us can use them if we want to keep mobile.  When it is complete I will put it on Youtube.  Subscribe to my youtube channel . 

Thanks for taking this journey with me.

Empty Time Angst

Hi.

I got back from my mini solo tour gone awry.  I was feeling ok about not going to Wisconsin.  I was already planning another trip to visit my sister and my son in September.  I had a wedding to attend so I had already had it on my calendar.  No big deal.

But -- I came home.  Most of my friends had left town.  Even those that don't go north for the Summer were gone for a few weeks.   I went a whole week without a social dinner... well, almost a whole week.  And for me that is something.  I felt funny.  I started questioning all my life choices.

Do I want to move?
Do I want to get a trailer and travel the country?
Do I still want to write and publish books?
Am I really any good or are my friends just being nice?
Maybe I should get a REAL job with a pay check.
If so, then I will have to move, right? Since there are no jobs that pay in Citrus County, Florida.
Maybe I need a house-mate to share this big space with me.

Wa wa wa... I felt tears in me, wanting to get out.  Just like so many days when I was caring for George and saying the long-slow goodbye.  What is that all about?

One of the things that was also feeding this crazy thought loop was that each day I would check the sales on my books and they had fallen to zero.  ZERO!!!  So much effort and ZERO.

I had heard that sales fall off after Amazon runs your kindle for free for a while.  I had done the free 3 days at the end of June.  Was that it?  They didn't tell me how long do the sales sag after a give-away period.

I don't know.  I even sat still for 20 minutes.  You know, meditated.  I should do that every day, I know.

Ok, so that was LAST week.

THIS WEEK

I started reaching out to plan social activities for my evenings.  Bam bam bam, stuff fell into place and I even got invites too.  So only one night this week is on my own.  Pretty cool.

And I made a new shorter video to use in a Facebook advertisement.  I am targeting non-fiction readers.  I added a picture that Gabriella took of me at my speaking event last month.  And a quote that Audrey left in a review or comment.  I like it so much.  I was hoping to show pictures of the trikes so the viewer would get an impression of the bicycle part of our journey in the first book.  They didn't show up so good.

Let me know what you think.  Each change I make is going to cost a bit for the artist to make the change.  But let me know anyway, in the comments.




I am interviewing Audio-book readers to turn the first book into an audio-book.  I don't know if I should.  But I am moving in that direction, investigating, learning.

NOW

We are having a lot of rain here.  Tonight I am going to meet some neighbors at a Mexican restaurant nearby.

And now I am feeling a bit better.  Each morning I am trying to re-write my to-do list so I can see all the things that were done that I don't have to continue adding to the list.

This morning I attended a breakfast networking meeting.  They were promoting a conference called Global Leadership.  I have signed up for a Woodstock event put on by the group I joined, "Sisters on the Fly".

LOOKING FORWARD

For now I am NOT getting a camper, I am NOT moving.

I AM looking for a housemate to help share this 4-bedroom townhouse full of my stuff.  I am NOT polishing my resume but I am open to a summer job next summer.

OH!  And I am planning on trying to fly my trike again to some place this fall.  I am thinking I haven't visited my brother and his wife yet since he moved to Arizona.  Different airline this time, and definitely I will have a PLAN B in case they reject the trike.

Wind At My Back, Friends Pulling Me Forward

I was up at 4:45 because I was keyed up about beating the heat on my cycling trip home.  I would be riding from Tarpon Springs to Inverness, a ride of over 80 miles.  It had been a few years since I had ridden that far, I was a bit nervous.

It was predicted to be 95 degrees, humid, and sunny on Sunday.  I packed two thermoses of ice water, a bottle of Gatorade, and a baggie with salty pretzels and nuts.  If I am smart and keep re-filling my waters, I should be ok.

My neck had stopped hurting during my day of rest.  I had bought a bottle of Hydrogen Peroxide and was swishing it around my chipped tooth two and three times a day.  It had done the trick!

Sunday morning is a good time to travel by bike.  The traffic is lighter because many sleep in or sit in church pews.

I assembled my things and got them all packed on the bike and was riding by 5:30 in the dark.  I was glad I had packed my front light and a flashing back light because it was very dark when I departed Ellen's home.

I took a different route to get back on the Pinellas trail, going down the sidewalk on Hwy 19 instead of the narrow shoulder on Alternate 19.  It worked well.  It helped that I had ridden this area several times because there are several dis-connected trails on Google called the Pinellas Trail.

As I rode the sky became a light blue-grey and I watched bats fluttering to fill their stomachs before returning to their roost to sleep the day away.

Sometimes when I stopped I posted on Facebook to let my friends know I was making progress toward home.  It was cool to have them cheering me on.  As I headed up the Sun Coast Trail I realized I was being pushed along by a nice tail wind.  YEAH!!

Shortly after I got on the trail two young men heading my way on their racing bikes must have touched wheels.  One went flying and crashing.  They were about 200 feet from me at the time.  I could see that the guy that crashed was in pain, and his buddy was ignoring that and trying to get him up off the ground.  When I arrived the guy on the ground was asking for an ambulance and his buddy was trying to talk him out of it.

I called 911 only, here is stupid me, not hearing anything and going hello? hello?  I hung up.  The 911 operator called me back and I still couldn't hear.  I then remembered I had been listening to a book on my phone with my earphones.  I had taken the earbuds from my ears as I was approaching the accident.  I unplugged the earphones and could hear the 911 operator.  We were about a mile north of the Starkey Park Trail intersection.

It was clear the guy on the ground (who was sitting up by then) was bleeding bright red blood from his mouth and had hit his head.  He told us he thought he had broken his jaw.

I left after the ambulance was on its way and a trail ranger had stopped to help.

As I rode away I had two thoughts.

1.  I sure am glad I ride a trike.  
2. Your life can change in an instant.  You can lose ability, change life direction and trajectory, and even die.  We like to think we are secure and that the ability or the lifestyle we have now will continue, but the only thing for sure is that things do NOT remain the same.

At Hwy 50 I turned toward Brooksville and stopped for refreshment.

I was feeling good!  My friend, Robyn, who had helped me find a Sister on the Fly to stay with the last two nights, had messaged me that she could come get me if I ran out of steam.  It was so nice to have that option.  Maybe I would have felt awful without that option.

It was getting mighty hot in the sun, but I had made it to Brooksville around noon.  The Good Neighbor Trail and the Withlacoochee Trail were ahead of me and they both would have some shade.

My legs were feeling good, it was just the heat that was becoming difficult.  I would stop in the shade, read some more encouraging posts on Facebook, and keep pedaling.  Wetting down my shirt at Townsend park I decided to go straight to downtown Inverness and visit the Ice Cream Doctor.

Thanks to everyone that followed my journey here and on Facebook and boosted me up with messages, emails, thoughts and prayers.  You ROCK!

About 85 miles.  Not bad for a 66 year old widow lady.

Rested Enough?

Ellen has been a gracious hostess.  She has made me feel welcome and engaged me in lots of great conversation.  I have basqued in the aircondtioning, soaked in the food and beverages, and loved on Stinky the cat.

Tonight, after cooking dinner for my hosts and making a mess of their kitchen and stove, I have wheeled out my trike and locked it up, ready to roll in the morning.  All the bags have been hauled back in because there is a lot of theft in the area.  I will have to re-assemble things in the morning.

I am setting the alarm for 5 a.m.   It is going to be a hot day so I would like to be through the SunCoast trail by noon.  We'll see.  I did NOT arrange for a stop/sleepover part way.  Years ago, George and I rode the whole way from Inverness to Tarpon Springs.  83 miles.  Can I do it now in this heat?  I have packed nuts and salty snacks, a bottle of Gatorade and two thermoses of ice water.  There will be gas stations and restaurants and parks along the way for refilling the waters and refueling.  Since George and I rode to Tarpon, we moved 5 more miles away... 88 miles.

Several friends ride over 100 miles several times a year.  Preston rode his trike 100 miles in one day for every week of the year just a few short years ago.  Dana Thomas recently biked across Florida in summer heat.  Over 100 miles.  I am only 66, I got this!   Just the same, I might put a shout out for possible lodging in Brooksville just in case.

Today Ellen and I tried walking but it got too hot in the sun and we turned around (95 and humid).

Ellen took care of her husband living with dementia.  Now she is caring for her 93 year old Mom that has some short-term memory loss.  As we talked I have learned that her adult life has been about caring for others.  Children, foster children, homeless people, disabled old dogs, and me, all under the her momma-bird wings.

I hope to see her and Amy again at a Sister's on the Fly event.

Some Days are Like That

So last night, here I was, exhausted, comfortably sitting on a balcony overlooking the beach.  Enjoying the sunset and sharing a picture on Facebook.   When I noticed that it hurt to swallow.

A pain above my Adam's apple.

Before I left I had started getting some pains in my neck and I suspected it was from a tooth that had chipped while I was in the Netherlands.  It was a back molar with a large filling and the whole side of the tooth had fallen off.

I have an appointment with my dentist set for the end of July.  I thought, since I had not felt pain, I was ok to wait a couple months to see the dentist about it.  Just before I left I tried to get in, but it was near the 4th of July and my dentist was off for the week.  I went to the walk in clinic and asked for antibiotics to combate the infection if I needed it on this trip. I got some and I am carrying them with me.  I don't want to take them.

We all have heard about the damage to the gut bacteria that can be caused by antibiotics.  My gut has been functioning well and I don't want to mess with it, thank you very much!

I don't know if you are like this, but a strange pain and I start to think of what it could be.  I am pretty sure it is the tooth, but still.  Once you have something happen like cancer or heart or any serious diagnosis it makes you realized that you are not immortal.  Bad stuff CAN happen even to us.

I took two Tylenol and went to bed hoping this morning the pain would be gone.  The good news is, it only hurts when I swallow.  The bad news is the pain is still there on top of an over-all tiredness.

I went too long yesterday, I think.  I am feeling not my normal positive self.  It has been 5 days in a row of biking.  As I bike I think of Dan Sheridan.  He is right now biking across the country with a group.  Into the wind and over mountains, in the cold and in the heat. 80 and 100 miles a day.  They go 5 and 6 days before they get a day off the bike.  I am a wimp.

FORTUNATELY,  my friend and fellow Sister on the Fly, Robyn, checked around for Sisters in the area that might be able to let me crash for a day or two.  A Sister on the Fly in Holiday, FL contacted me and offered me a bed on her porch!  Yeah!  And I had met her and her mom at the Sister's on the Fly event I attended in late June!  I am so grateful and glad to have a place to crash and folks with whom I can converse.


It was a slow hot ride, but I am close to her place now, in the Tarpon Springs Library.  I have bought a bottle of wine and some pretzels and hummus.  Ellen tells me she is having a friend over and they are all going out for fish and I am welcome to come along.  YEAH!

I am looking at where to go next.  I know I have wanted to ride to Polk City from Inverness.  Doing the Withlacoochee and the Van Fleet Trail in one day.  It doesn't excite me today.  I will chat with others and see.  Maybe tomorrow I will have my energy back.

*******
Ellen had offered to come get me and bring me to her house.  I will bike it, I insisted I would ride it.  A part of the ride was on Alternate 19.  For those of you who have never driven on 19 and Alternate 19, they are highly congested roads.  There is so much water around and they are the only through roads going north and south along the West coast in this area.  The big problem for bikers and walkers is they did not plan for pedestrians and bikes.  Fortunately on one side of Alt. 19 just north of the Sponge Docks in Tarpon Springs, they did include a sidewalk across the bridge.  On the south-bound side.  I was heading North.   I rode against traffic so I could see it coming and pull off the road when it appeared the vehicle was big or the driver wasn't paying attention.  Most bicycle-vehicle accidents happen when the biker is struck from behind by an in-attentive or impaired driver.

I made it to Ellen's,  Met her little dog, "Little Bit" and her big affectionate cat, "Stinky".  I arrived in time to avoid most of the rain.  What a wonderful oasis.

I am feeling like a need at least one day to rest and re-group.

Risk and Reward

I felt uneasy about not having a place set up for tonight to lay my head.  I kept telling myself I had plenty of time to look and if all else fails I could pay for an expensive motel room.

I said goodbye to Peg, my Evergreen hostess in Largo.  It was a nice stay, last night she drove me around to show me the area and then took me to the Regal Theater with huge lounge chairs.  We saw "Yesterday".  Lots of great Beatles songs and a fun story.

There were two places Peg told me about that I wanted to see.  Near her home is the Largo Nature Preserve with extensive board walks.  I looked at the map and there was a Racetrack gas station right at the entrance.  So this morning I went there first, got my large coffee and took it with me into the park.  I exchanged my bike sandals for my tennis shoes and walked the extensive boardwalks.  The planes and handrails are made with that plastic/wood hybrid.  Very well done.  Lots of birds to see.  The wadding birds perched on the railing weren't too skittish and I could sometimes pass them without them taking flight.

Early in in my walk I saw three, what I thought were, parrots.

I saw a couple with binoculars so I asked them.  They said they were Budgies that fly here from Cuba.  I don't know how I got into my story, but I learned that the woman was also from Wisconsin (New Berlin), she had walked parts of the Apalacian Trail.  We chatted quite a while for just meeting on a trail.  I learned that he had been part of 60 people in a research trial for using stem cells to re-create vertebrae.  He is doing well.  He said there was an optional second stage of the surgery that he chose not to do because he felt so much better after the first.  Those that did the second surgery got pins and plates and didn't do as well.  It is thrilling to hear about such advances in helping people with chronic back pain.

Leaving the nature center I rode to the Pinellas Trail and Rode to Downtown St. Petersburg to the Dali Museum.   The ride was fun.  I chatted with My sister and made a plan to visit her in September. She said it was hot up there and it is good I didn't come now.

Then I chatted a long while with my friend, Bev.  We became best buds in Junior High.  The ride seemed to go fast with all this human interaction.  But in reality I didn't arrive at the Dali Museun until almost two.

Before I left Inverness I bought a hefty combination lock for the bike.  As I was using it today, I kind of loved and regretted the combination I chose for it.  George and my wedding anniversary.  It is a reminder of what I am missing.  Though I know he would be happy with that choice.

I left, I thought, in plenty of time.  I actually thought I would arrive back in Largo and find a motel by 5:00.  I mean, Googlemaps said I less that's two hours away.

I didn't want to get a place in St Pete.  It would cost too much.

I stopped a few times and tried to find and call motels but got no answers.  It turns out, when I arrived they were weekly rental places.  No one was around to talk to.  I finally found a place with a vacancy for $100.  It is run down, with hair and sand in the corners.  But when I stepped out on the balcony it was all forgotten.

Tomorrow befor I leave here I want to walk the beach.  A Sister on the Fly has offered up a porch couch for a couple nights so I can figure out were to next.  Home?  South?  East?