Trippin' with Susan Straley

My van died. After arriving in White Springs, FL, I had to drive back 1.5 hours to Green Cove Springs for my DMV appointment.  That is a story in itself, which I don't have time for at the moment, so we will skip that saga. Just as I pulled into my campground where I am attending the Suwanee Bicycle Association's Annual Pedal and Paddle event, my van died.  I was pulling to a stop by the ranger station.  And it sputtered and quit.    I suspected the transmission because I could start the van just fine, but when I put it in drive it would jerk, sputter, and then silence. I called my friend Mari Towle who until a few days ago was my next door neighbor.  She is here at the festival and she was very supportive and came and helped me take the important stuff out of my van and transfer it to hers for transport to my camping spot. It ended up to be the transmission.  I would have fixed it to get a few more years out of the van, but due to a shortage of parts and labor, the time line f

 I found myself smiling a lot the morning I prepared Lilac for travel again.   The months I spent this winter in Inverness, Florida, while my trailer stayed in one spot, have been full of a whole lot of fun with friends.  It has  been a flurry of activity at times, but always worth it because I was able to connect with wonderful people. My last week in the area was no different.   I went birding with Regis and Cindy in Weeki Wachee.  Cindy was writing down the birds she saw.  "That is the sign of a real birder," I thought.  The birds were nothing new to her, but I was thrilled because it was a beautiful day, the tree we were watching was lovely, a Silken Oak in bloom.  We were watching this particular tree.  We had heard it is a place for migrating birds to refuel on their journey north.  We watched a flock of cedar wax wings visit a few times.  Lots of little yellow birds, some I can identify but most still look alike to me.  Cindy can ID the birds by their song. When she po

 Hello, Wow!  Life is a trip. I am feeling younger and stronger.  How? You may ask.   I took my trike to the shop in Inverness.   I was slowing down and I thought it was me.  My bike buddies were trying to talk me into getting an electric motor for my trike.  I resisted.   I wanted an annual check up and lube job on my trike before I left on my travels north. I left the trike there for them to work on.  Shortly after, the mechanic called me.  It turns out that my trike chain was a mess. There is a little guide wheel under the seat of my trike.  There is a little bar that keeps the chain from jumping off the wheel when I shift or hit a bump.   Some how the chain had gotten on the wrong side of that guide bar.  The mechanic said that the chain had sawed half way through that bar, the sawing had ruined the chain and my back cog and more. It took a few days for them to get all the parts and fix it.  Boy, did it ride nice when I got it back! Now when I ride with the group, I can keep up.  I

I sold my townhouse!  I will tell you about that in bit, but first some realizations and excuses for not writing to you sooner. It Feels Like Going 90 Miles An Hour My son contacted me with an "I love you" text and an "Are you OK?" text because I had not written a blog post in a while.  How wonderful is that?!  I called him and we caught up with some of our news.  Feeling loved, I realized I had not talked with him since Christmas time!  Life moves fast. Winters are always bustling in Florida.  It is the peak of the Snowbird and visitor season, January - March.  People come that I only get to see during this time, and so I am active with dinners and rides and gatherings. Friends from my years in Waukesha, WI sometimes contact me when they are in Florida.  I jump at the chance to connect with them and share some of the beauty of this part of the country.  I drove to Tarpon Springs to visit Kathi Seiger from Waukesha.  Another day I met up with Diane and Rick Frowein

 It is 40 degrees out this morning.  Too cold for this Florida gal to ride into town to attend my neighborhood fitness and yoga class.  I miss it. But I also need to stay away because I was with friends on Saturday, February 5th, and they came down with cold symptoms a day or two later.  They ended up testing positive for COVID19.    Yesterday I donned my N95 mask and went to Walgreens and bought myself a COVID test kit and stocked up on comfort food thinking I might be isolated for a while.  Though the government is giving out COVID tests, I have yet to order mine.  So I paid over $20 for a test packet. When my siblings and I were young and had a day home from school sick with chicken pox or some fever, we would often get to drink 7-up and get treated with M&M's.  I still turn to food for comfort when I am not feeling well (unless it is stomach upset).  Yesterday I anticipated not feeling well.   This time, though, after reading the label on the ice cream and the 7-up, I retur

 Life is full. I am getting back into biking with friends, sometimes 30-40 miles.  Between that and preparing meals and taking care of "stuff".  A bike day is all used up. I have set up my kitchen table/sink out in the screen tent.  It's a great place to chop veggies and dine.  I get my exercise going in and out of the trailer a dozen times getting things, putting things back.     The neighbors at the RV park were having Happy Hour out in their front yard one day watching me and marveling on my ability to go up and down so many times as I had to go in and out of Lilac.   That particular evening I was more busy because I was getting ready to have some friends from Windermere (my house neighborhood) over for snacks and Pizza.   Setting out chairs and tables and dishes.    Another thing that fills my life and time is my part-time job. I am working part-time helping out my friend, Jean. Sometimes there is no work, and then there is stuff that keeps me busy for a few days.  I