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Going to Florida
Mar. 5th, 2008 10:00 pmWe were too sleepy to drive Tuesday night, so we changed our plan and I'm glad we did, even though normally I would rather not cut it so close getting to an airport.
We packed and set our alarms for 4:00 am. We left at 5:13 am. And we got to watch a thin sliver of moon rising near probably three planets. At least there were three very bright lights in the sky that were lined up with each other. I feel I could identify Venus (the brightest), but don't know which the other two were.
Watching the moon disappear and reappear taught me that Texas is a bit hilly, even heading east from Austin (away from the "hill country"). I never knew that.
The first planet disappeared at 6:30 am due to too much daylight.
**
Then we stopped for a bathroom break. It's a good thing there were no McDonald's around, which are known for having clean bathrooms, because the place we ended up with was much better.
They had state-of-the-art bathrooms, really. They had the automatic flushing, automatic water, automatic towel dispensing, even automatic foamy soap. It was designed so that there was no door to the bathroom, so you didn't have to touch anything on the way out with your newly cleaned hands. And the bathroom was clean. The only improvement I could imagine would be that the water could have been warm.
Even better, the store smelled of freshly baked bread. They had kolaches, croissants, and burritos. We ate.
**
When we got near the place where 71 runs into I-10, mist had formed over all the little ponds and streams. And a stream ran under the road, so we got to drive through the mist. Not so thick as regular fog, it didn't obscure our vision at all. It was just pretty and fun to drive through little clouds.
**
In Houston, we used an HOV lane. I think I've never used one before. But we had two people in the car (isn't it crazy that this makes it a high-occupancy vehicle here?), so we tried it.
One little problem is that once you get on, you can't get off for a very long time. “Wherever we're going, we're getting there quickly.” We couldn't take the toll road north; we had to whoosh right by.
**
The first class portion of our flight was overbooked. I'd never heard of that before. (The offer was $200 and two free upgrades to first class.) Since it was a relatively short flight, that sounded pretty good to me. But it was a while before they found someone to accept those terms.
We rode next to a guy carrying a mysterious long, skinny case. Surely not a rifle. Too long for even super-long-stemmed roses. Not quite an arrow quiver. Finally, at the end of the flight I asked him. Yes I asked a total stranger to do me the favor of answering my nosy question. He did. It was three fishing rods (the reels were packed separately). He didn't want them lost, and they are quite pricey.
Then we had to listen to fishing stories for a while.
**
In Miami, Aunt M and Uncle D picked us up. M had packed the most awesome picking-up-people-from-the-airport kit! It was a cooler with water, energy drinks, and protein bars! Since we had actually eaten on the flight (Continental is proud that they still sometimes serve meals), we only took the water, but it was a great idea.
The first thing we did was join the toilet relocation program. See, the neighbors had just set out two toilets by the trash, which were never going to be picked up. So D&M loaded it in the back of their van to bring to the dumpster at their storage place in Miami where they could dump them for free.
Then we got a warehouse tour. With concrete walls and roof, it survived the hurricane passing right over it perfectly intact. I don't think I've ever heard of a concrete roof before.
**
Next stop: Knaus Berry farm for strawberry shakes and produce. Everything was delicious and sold by “fake Amish.”
We also learned that this is a good season for mangoes--the trees are heavy with them. And we learned that iguanas are a real problem. They eat everything but the bougainvillea. They are very fond of hibiscus.
**
There are two ways out of the Keys, but one is under construction. They've actually given up on being able to evacuate everyone because there are just too many people now. So they are instead focusing on building everything to be able to withstand level 5 hurricanes.
If you look on a map, the keys look like a long string of islands curling around the southern tip of Florida. In real life, it's mostly just one very long island with variable width. The parts that are only as wide as the road are called “bridges.”
We zoomed by lots of mangroves. These were trees with roots visible above the water. These are protected. You can't cut them down, though we could tell that trimming was allowed. They help hold the land together and protect the small fish from the big ones.
**
We got dinner from Cafe Cubano to bring home: roasted chicken, beans and rice, and hot bread. This Cuban food was different from what we get at our local roasted chicken cart, but good. The bread is like French bread in that it is the same long, thin shape and you really need to eat it the same day. It was crunchy on the outside but very, very soft on the inside. And it made lots of crumbs. Anyone watching us get out of the car could tell that we had decided to snack on the bread before we got home.
Quote of the Day - “It's not an outhouse, it's a cabana.”
We packed and set our alarms for 4:00 am. We left at 5:13 am. And we got to watch a thin sliver of moon rising near probably three planets. At least there were three very bright lights in the sky that were lined up with each other. I feel I could identify Venus (the brightest), but don't know which the other two were.
Watching the moon disappear and reappear taught me that Texas is a bit hilly, even heading east from Austin (away from the "hill country"). I never knew that.
The first planet disappeared at 6:30 am due to too much daylight.
**
Then we stopped for a bathroom break. It's a good thing there were no McDonald's around, which are known for having clean bathrooms, because the place we ended up with was much better.
They had state-of-the-art bathrooms, really. They had the automatic flushing, automatic water, automatic towel dispensing, even automatic foamy soap. It was designed so that there was no door to the bathroom, so you didn't have to touch anything on the way out with your newly cleaned hands. And the bathroom was clean. The only improvement I could imagine would be that the water could have been warm.
Even better, the store smelled of freshly baked bread. They had kolaches, croissants, and burritos. We ate.
**
When we got near the place where 71 runs into I-10, mist had formed over all the little ponds and streams. And a stream ran under the road, so we got to drive through the mist. Not so thick as regular fog, it didn't obscure our vision at all. It was just pretty and fun to drive through little clouds.
**
In Houston, we used an HOV lane. I think I've never used one before. But we had two people in the car (isn't it crazy that this makes it a high-occupancy vehicle here?), so we tried it.
One little problem is that once you get on, you can't get off for a very long time. “Wherever we're going, we're getting there quickly.” We couldn't take the toll road north; we had to whoosh right by.
**
The first class portion of our flight was overbooked. I'd never heard of that before. (The offer was $200 and two free upgrades to first class.) Since it was a relatively short flight, that sounded pretty good to me. But it was a while before they found someone to accept those terms.
We rode next to a guy carrying a mysterious long, skinny case. Surely not a rifle. Too long for even super-long-stemmed roses. Not quite an arrow quiver. Finally, at the end of the flight I asked him. Yes I asked a total stranger to do me the favor of answering my nosy question. He did. It was three fishing rods (the reels were packed separately). He didn't want them lost, and they are quite pricey.
Then we had to listen to fishing stories for a while.
**
In Miami, Aunt M and Uncle D picked us up. M had packed the most awesome picking-up-people-from-the-airport kit! It was a cooler with water, energy drinks, and protein bars! Since we had actually eaten on the flight (Continental is proud that they still sometimes serve meals), we only took the water, but it was a great idea.
The first thing we did was join the toilet relocation program. See, the neighbors had just set out two toilets by the trash, which were never going to be picked up. So D&M loaded it in the back of their van to bring to the dumpster at their storage place in Miami where they could dump them for free.
Then we got a warehouse tour. With concrete walls and roof, it survived the hurricane passing right over it perfectly intact. I don't think I've ever heard of a concrete roof before.
**
Next stop: Knaus Berry farm for strawberry shakes and produce. Everything was delicious and sold by “fake Amish.”
We also learned that this is a good season for mangoes--the trees are heavy with them. And we learned that iguanas are a real problem. They eat everything but the bougainvillea. They are very fond of hibiscus.
**
There are two ways out of the Keys, but one is under construction. They've actually given up on being able to evacuate everyone because there are just too many people now. So they are instead focusing on building everything to be able to withstand level 5 hurricanes.
If you look on a map, the keys look like a long string of islands curling around the southern tip of Florida. In real life, it's mostly just one very long island with variable width. The parts that are only as wide as the road are called “bridges.”
We zoomed by lots of mangroves. These were trees with roots visible above the water. These are protected. You can't cut them down, though we could tell that trimming was allowed. They help hold the land together and protect the small fish from the big ones.
**
We got dinner from Cafe Cubano to bring home: roasted chicken, beans and rice, and hot bread. This Cuban food was different from what we get at our local roasted chicken cart, but good. The bread is like French bread in that it is the same long, thin shape and you really need to eat it the same day. It was crunchy on the outside but very, very soft on the inside. And it made lots of crumbs. Anyone watching us get out of the car could tell that we had decided to snack on the bread before we got home.
Quote of the Day - “It's not an outhouse, it's a cabana.”