Trip to Florida
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Click on any of the little pictures to see it full size (as big as it goes).| On October 14, 2001, I set off for my first stop, Bloomington, IN. I went by way of US Rt 12 West to US Rt 35 South and then US Rt 31 South. That took me to Indianapolis where I took SR 37 South. Here is Vinson and Anne's house which i s about a mile west of 37 and about 12 miles before Bloomington, IN. It is in farm country and they have been very comfortable here for over 25 years. After over six weeks it was odd to sleep in a bed where you can roll over without any gymnastics whats oever. In my car I get to do strength and stretching exercises each time I need to turn over. I did adapt to the open spaces quite easily though. | |
| On the right here is my cousin Vinson preparing breakfast. He is about to flip the scrambled eggs. He is really a foster cousin as my mom's mother died in giving birth to my mom. As a result, my mom spent a lot of years with a foster f amily, which is just plain family from my perspective. He got his doctorate in Musicology from Harvard and then ran an audio store in Bloomington, IN. Vinson had taken to computers when they were running the Glass Harmonica which specialized in classica l albums and then CD's. He set up a PC to maintain their inventory. They closed the Glass Harmonica shortly after a Barnes and Noble opened nearby and their business fell off. Now he is programming computers part time for the university there. Pretty good for a guy in his seventies. After breakfast we had some pleasant conversations. On the left is Vinson's wife, Anne. She was a nurse most recently, but now has retired and is staying home with her mom. She is rumored to be older than Vinson, but w e all know how much faith to put in such rumors. | |
| Vinson was kind enough to take this picture of me and prove that I really was there all along. In the background you can see some of their computers. They have four computers networked now and a quite nice set up (as expected with a pro grammer in the house). Between their computers there is also a piano that Vinson likes to play. Two of their children, Beth and Brooks, live pretty close by (which is nice so that they can see the grand kids), but David is living in Spain so they get to travel to see the grand kids there (which is also nice). | |
| On the left is Anne's mom, Verna. She had gone to get the mail (it about a hundred yards) and Anne was reading a note to her as her vision is not so good. However, she is in great shape for being 95. In the background Vinson is startin g on dinner. On the right is Brooks (later) when he visited and got a phone call. | |
| Here is a picture of Brooks wife, Havely, and their daughter Ava. Havely was giving Ava some medicine which Ava likes very much (she had gotten it out for her mom). The had just moved into a new house, but it had mold problems. So they are moving into another house as the mold was causing Ava problems. They stayed the night at Vinson's for my last night there. I left for Knoxville, TN on the morning of the 16th via 37 to US 150 to US 27. | |
| I stopped outside Louisville, KY for lunch at Captain D's. Both Captain D's and Long John Silver's used to be national chains where you could get excellent fish and chips, but they seem to have retreated a lot. So, I was happy to stop h ere and really enjoyed the fare. The woman who served was very friendly (I had forgotten how much friendlier Southerners are to strangers) and gave me my first senior citizen discount (I didn't ask for it). Oh well, since I expect to live to about 80, t hen middle age is 30 to 50 and I am barely more than two years away from 'elderly' (50 on up). I guess I should get used to it. | |
| The McGreary County Library in Whitley City, KT had very nice internet access. I took a break there before heading on to Knoxville, TN. | |
This page was last updated on August 14, 2004.