Typical Day on the Road

January 2004

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Jan. 1

Still in Hot Springs. We returned to the same bath house we went to last year, and again spent most of the day there. Kimberly even sprang for a massage. Ahhhhh..... What a way to start the year!

Jan. 2

Still in Hot Springs. Checked our email at the library, which displays a portrait of former president Bill Clinton, who grew up here. (There's also an Arkansas Walk Of Fame downtown near the fountains where folks fill their jugs. It features many well-known Arkansans, including actor Alan Ladd and former general Wesley Clark.)

Learned that next month, Hot Springs will host Garrison Keillor's radio program "A Prairie Home Companion", which we've been trying to catch for years, but we keep missing it by a week or two here and there. Dennis is a Keillor fanatic, and listens to the program religiously every Saturday (and often the re-broadcast on Sunday) whenever we're in locations that get it, which is almost everywhere. He's never seen the show live--only a solo appearance by Keillor in San Francisco in 1987-- but one of these days!

Jan. 3

Visited the local science museum. But since we've seen many science museums all over the country, and this one was rather small, there wasn't much to hold our attention for long. But it's located in a rather attractive rustic setting.

Jan. 4

Dropped in at the local YMCA, and purchased a year's membership. (Even though we're not residents; most YMCA's across the country participate in the Away Program, meaning they honor membership cards from other locations. This is something we're just now learning after all these years on the road!)

Jan. 5

Went back to the library in Hot Springs to check our email, but there was a power outage. So we went to Books-A-Million, the only major bookstore in town. Also went back to the YMCA, where we all participated in a grueling aerobics class.

Dennis finally has finished (more or less) his first book of poetry, only about 20 years late, and is submitting it to a number of competitions.

Headed south to El Dorado,Ar. (they say DO-RAY-DO, we say DO-RAH-DO) where we last performed 11 years ago.

Jan. 6

Performed at the El Dorado library, where we drew an audience of about 50 (quite large for the tiny space) including reporters from the local newspaper and television station! The librarian (who mentioned that she had lived in San Francisco for a period of 18 years-- longer than either of us) invited us back during the summer!

Jan. 7

On the road again. Stopped at the YMCA in Monroe, La., where we attended another good aerobics class.

Jan. 8

Arrived in New Orleans, where Kimberly and Zephyr had never been before. (Dennis had been there three times previously, but not in over 15 years.) After taking care of some business, we headed to the YMCA for a yoga class.

Jan. 9

Toured the warehouse where floats for Mardi Gras are built and stored. Got a glimpse of the artists busily preparing for the upcoming festivities.

Headed to the French Quarter, and-- after finally finding a place to park-- took a walking tour of the neighborhood. Had the obligatory beignets and coffee at Cafe du Monde.

Met Dennis's nephew, who's in dental school here, for dinner.

Jan. 10

Drove on into Florida. Stopped in Tallahassee to use the YMCA facilities. This is getting to be a healthy habit.

Jan. 11

Drove to Fort Myers, just outside Tampa.

Jan. 12

Took the van into a Chevrolet dealership in Fort Myers for some minor maintenance. We then drove a few miles south to visit one of Zephyr's friends from Chicago, who is here visiting his grandfather. Who would've expected it?

Drove on through the Everglades on the freeway called Alligator Alley (we didn't see any of the critters, though) to arrive on the outskirts of Miami.

Jan. 13

Finally made it to Boca Raton, site of our next shows. Another visit to a YMCA.

Jan. 14

Did a performance of our poetry show at the Willow Theatre in Boca Raton for students who where brought in by bus. A pretty full house.

Jan. 15

Another performance of poetry at the theatre. What a pleasant venue and pleasant staff.

Jan. 16

The third performance of "Act!vated Poetry" for the schools.

Jan. 17

Two performances of "Eureka" at the theatre for a public audience. The first, in the morning, had a small but appreciative audience. The second, in the afternoon, had a considerably larger (and equally responsive) crowd.

Zephyr returned to the theatre in the evening to watch a teen talent showcase.

Jan. 18

Our final performance at the theatre, and our largest audience of the public shows. Returned to the YMCA once more.

Jan. 19

Zephyr participated in a Boy Scout tour of a plant in Coral Springs as work toward his merit badge in engineering.

Jan. 20

On to Orlando. Zephyr finally got his first usage out of the AMC movie card he received for Christmas, and which has been burning a hole in his pocket ever since. He saw "Big Fish", which he loved.

Jan. 21

Dennis finally was able to make it to a dentist, and the news wasn't good. Not only did the dentist have to extract the tooth that had broken back in the fall, but she also discovered that another tooth was broken and needed a new crown, and yet another tooth needed a filling. Thank heavens that dentistry these days is generally painless as far as the mouth goes; now if only they could develop an anesthetic for the wallet!

Jan. 22

Obtained a 14-day guest pass for the YMCA in Winter Park, which is our favorite "Y" yet. The locker rooms are luxurious! The pool also is great, except that it is outdoors, and thus a bit chilly.

Jan. 23

Back to the YMCA. After swimming, Zephyr and Dennis attended the screening on premises of the movie "Seabiscuit".

Then we drove on to Titusville, near Cape Canaveral.

Jan. 24

Returned to the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, where Zephyr participated in another Boy Scout day. This time there was a very interesting activity in which teams of 5 Scouts would huddle for 20 minutes to design and construct a miniature Mars landing pod from a packet of materials such as balloons, straws and string, that was supposed to keep an egg intact when dropped 25 feet. Zephyr's team had only a hairline fracture in their egg (better results than most) even though two of the six balloons in their kit were faulty.

Jan. 25

Returned to the Space Center free, as a bonus with the tickets we purchased for yesterday. This time, we visited the Astronauts' Hall Of Fame.

Jan. 26

Drove back to Orlando, and received some devastating news. The computer repair shop, where Kimberly left her badly misbehaving laptop a few days ago, said that her motherboard was fried, and cannot be replaced.

Jan. 27

Zephyr used his AMC card again, this time to see the new "Lord Of The Rings". Mom and Dad passed, not being fans of Tolkien.

Jan. 28

Dennis returned to the dentist for a quick and painless removal of stitches.

Jan. 29

Went shopping for a new laptop for Kimberly. Finally found a Hewlett Packard that, after a rebate, is a pretty good deal. So we bit the bullet. Trips to Orlando have been very costly for us so far. Mailed her old laptop to Zephyr's friend in Chicago (the same one we recently visited here in Florida) hoping he can retrieve the data from it. Otherwise, the loss will be not only disastrous but catastrophic.

Inquired at the downtown Orlando post office for our mail, but it hadn't arrived yet.

Jan. 30

After playing miniature golf (Dennis won), we checked into our quarters at SunTerra Resorts, about a mile from Walt Disney World, for a week's stay. Heavens no, we're not paying for it ourselves-- it was a gift. A very nice little one-bedroom apartment with a complete kitchen and a huge bathtub. We also have a swimming pool in our backyard. We're planning not to go anywhere for a whole week, but just stay here and catch up on our work in fabulous surroundings. (Dennis violated that plan almost immediately by driving back to the miniature golf course to look for a shoe Zephyr lost.)

Jan. 31

Our first full day at the resort.

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