Heading Out for a Month In Florida

Day 1: Monday, March 5, 2018

Follow our progress using this link: Steve's Spot

We are finally on our way.  You may have noticed that I indicated in the announcement letter for this trip that we were planning on leaving early last week. Actually, we had set our target departure time as 4:00am on Wednesday, February 28, however, my tired old body had other thoughts.  On Tuesday evening, I experienced a profound numbness and weakness in both of my legs That was the second such event in two days so after a consult with my son Scott, we decided to seek a medical evaluation.  The results of the MRI were returned this afternoon just after lunch.  The images showed significant arthritis, stenosis, and disk bulging typical of an individual of my age.  My physician feels that a vertebral column in this condition paired with a fall about a month ago when I landed hard on my bottom side after my feet slipped out from under going down a snowy terrace aggravated the condition. He prescribed an anti-inflammatory and cleared me to head out.

The boat had been packed and the trailer hooked on the truck pointed up the driveway since last Tuesday, so I didn’t have to be told twice that we could get under way.  It had been a long week, waiting for the results. 

 

At 2:00 this afternoon, we pulled out of the driveway heading south.  Our goal was to put a few miles between us and Fort Myers so as to reduce the long haul that we have come to dread.  At around 5:00, we pulled in for fuel in Charleston WV and decided that since we were already stopped and there was a Bob Evans just across the street, so we chose it to be our first fine dining experience on this trip. Actually, I had a wonderful 6oz sirloin steak with hash browns and a slab of fried mush which were really good. 

While awaiting our meal, I called ahead to a Baymont Inn in Beckley WV and booked a room for the night.  The trip to Beckley was about 40 miles and we arrived around 6:30. We settled in after securing the boat and went to bed feeling good about the fact that tomorrow would not be such a long drag.  We do not plan to drive all the way to Ft. Myers.  We will stop when we get tired.