Category: Geography

All Aboard !

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date January 25, 2024

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. You know I love the sound of train horns in the distance. And in my new home in the Heartland of Florida I hear train horns from afar. When it’s really quiet outside (and inside my own home) – particularly at night – I can actually hear (and almost feel) the sound of the train as it moves along the track. Those are sounds that I never heard down in my former home in deep South Florida. (Trains didn’t go that far south.)

At its closest point the active railroad track (used by AMTRAK and other trains) is just 2 miles to the north-northeast. My home office in the front of my home also faces in that direction, so when I’m sitting here at my desk writing this blog, or writing a sermon, or working on Excel spreadsheets – and I hear the train – it’s a beautiful sound, and it makes me wonder how many people are on that train, or what material and supplies are being hauled, and is it headed northward or southward. It’s a welcome distraction for a few minutes.

FLASHBACK – I wrote about AMTRAK on the July 13TH 2023 edition of #TravelThursday.

I want to ride a train sometime in the future to see America. There’s a vast part of our country that I’ve never seen before (such as California, and the Pacific northwest, and the Rocky Mountain states, and the Great Plains, and even most of New England.)

There’s actually a train that does short sightseeing trips right here in the Heartland of Florida – Sugar Express. That would be a good start to see America – starting right here in my backyard. I may do it in March. That would make for a great #TravelThursday blog post !

Next #TravelThursday – My Heart Will Go On. Let’s keep traveling together.

Tags Florida, Railroad, Train

Blogging Driving Food Geography History Home Travel

DeSoto County Florida

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date January 18, 2024

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. It’s my 2,501ST post here on WordPress since 2007. I’ve probably blogged about travel more than any other topic over the past 17 years – and even going back almost 31 years – back to 1993 – when I began my dial-up bulletin board system – an ancestor of my current blog.

Travel is my favorite topic to write and talk about. I’m happy to share my travel adventures with you – past, present, and future – each Thursday here on my blog.

This week I’m writing about a neighboring county to my southwest – the rectangular-in-shape DeSoto County.

I’ve spent very little time in this rural county that’s part of Florida’s Heartland region. I’ve driven through the county a few times along U.S. 17 and Florida State Roads 31, 70, and 72. I’d actually like to explore the historic city of Arcadia – the population center of the county near the geographical center of the county. Over 40% of the 34,000 or so residents of DeSoto County live in either Arcadia or the adjacent unincorporated community of Southeast Arcadia. DeSoto County is among the Top 20 least-populous counties (out of 67) in Florida.

I’d like to start at the Tree Of Knowledge, and take a leisurely stroll along the historic downtown district of Arcadia – with street names like Maple, Cypress, Hickory, Oak, Magnolia, and Pine – maybe enjoy a nice Lunch at one of the local eateries. There’s a soul food restaurant called Red Zone that has piqued my interest. I hear that the food is quite authentic and tasty there. The pictures presented on their Facebook page are indeed mouthwatering.

Arcadia is about 45 miles away from home. I should be able to get there within an hour. As a special bonus I’d have to drive through Zolfo Springs to get to and from Arcadia. I’d like to explore that historic town as well.

Next #TravelThursday – I hear trains. Let’s keep traveling together.

Tags Arcadia, DeSoto, Florida

Blogging Driving Geography Home Travel

2023 – Year In Review

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date January 11, 2024

Welcome back to #TravelThursday, and the final part of my 3-week look-back at 2023. Last week it was all about my driving. This week it’s all about my walking.

I got a surprise Apple Watch for #ThanksChristmasGiving2022, and so December 2022 was my first full month of wearing it almost 24/7. That month I averaged 4,530 steps per day – or 2.27 miles per day. As it turns out I averaged more miles per day in all 12 months of 2023. My 2 “low” months were in the dead of summer in July and August when I averaged 2.38 and 2.34 miles per day respectively. My 2 “high” months were in January and May when I averaged 3.19 and 3.10 miles per day respectively.

My new neighborhood near Sebring Florida is very “walk-friendly”. Since I moved in last March I’ve walked around my neighborhood 70 times for a total of 92.79 miles. That’s an average of 1.33 miles per walk. (A complete walk around the circumference of my neighborhood is 1.15 miles.)

For all of 2023 I took a little over 1.94 million steps – or 995.64 miles. That’s an average of 2.73 miles per day over the course of the 365 days.

I know for sure that I’ll be walking a whole lot more in 2024. I’d like to walk 100 times around my neighborhood. I’d also like to get my average miles per day up to at least 2.85. If I can do that – then 2024 could be over 1,040 miles.

Next #TravelThursday – I’ll write about DeSoto County Florida. Let’s keep traveling together.

Tags Florida, Highlands, Homestead, Sebring

Blogging Driving Geography Home Travel

2023 – Year In Review

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date January 4, 2024

Welcome back to #TravelThursday, and the first edition of 2024. It’s going to be a big year of travel for me as I settle-in to life as a retiree. I’ve got a long open-ended road-trip that I’m starting to plan for the month of April. I know I’m leaving on the morning of April Fool’s Day, but I don’t know when I’m returning home. (That’s why I’m calling it “open-ended”.) I’ll be writing about this road-trip a lot – before, during, and after – here on #TravelThursday, so buckle-up if you’re going along for the virtual ride.

#ButFirst it’s the continuation of my recap of 2023. I drove 11,721 miles in 2023. That’s the most number of miles driven over the past 9 years (since I’ve driven 1 of 3 Honda Civics). It’s also the most number of miles driven since 2004 (when I drove a new Saturn Ion 3 Quad Coupe 4D). How do I know all of this ? I keep accurate records via Excel Spreadsheet – more so now than in the past. I exceeded 1,000 miles in 8 out of 12 months – with January, September, November, and December being the exceptions. All of those miles were fueled by my 20 trips to my new home near Sebring Florida – and my 19 trips back to my longtime home in Homestead Florida. (Each trip was about 185 miles each way.)

My next 1,000-mile month will be in April, and in fact it will likely be a 2,500-mile month. It has the potential of being a 3,000-mile month – depending on the duration of my road-trip.

Next #TravelThursday – I’ll conclude my “Year In Review”, and I’ll reveal if I was able to walk 1,000 miles in 2023. Let’s keep traveling together.