Category: Geography

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Blogging Driving Geography Home Travel

2023 – Year In Review

Welcome back to #TravelThursday, and the final edition of 2023. It’s been a crazy year – even a life-changing year for me. It all changed on the morning of February 16TH 2023 when I drove 3 hours north from Homestead (my home since December 1987) to Highlands County Florida. I checked-in with my Real Estate Agent at her office in downtown Lake Placid (who I had met in June 2022), and we drove up the road to Sebring. We drove into my new neighborhood – which I had confirmed (to her and myself) – would be my new neighborhood when I toured it with her just 2 days after my 55TH birthday in 2022. (It’s a 55+ senior community.)

Long story short – I bought my dream home in my dream neighborhood in my dream part of Florida. The area that I had been driving through, and visiting, and vacationing occasionally for 8+ years, and stating that it would be my future retirement home – had become reality. It’s one of countless miracles for me from my Lord + Savior Jesus Christ. He knows the plans He has for me. They are plans for good and not for disaster – to give me a future and a hope.

I love reading (some of) my old Facebook blog posts from 2015, and 2016, and 2017 (before I returned here to WordPress) when I wrote about retiring in Highlands County and other adjacent areas.

Here’s what I wrote on February 09TH 2015:

“I’m embarking on another classic sightseeing road-trip vacation next weekend. I’ll cover about 575 miles of South, Southwest, and South Central Florida as I visit Fort Myers, Lake Placid, Sebring, and Lake Wales – all of which are currently in the running for my future retirement location. U.S. 27 is pretty much my main north-south route now from the Miami-Dade / Broward County Line straight-up past the Orlando area. I really like the classic route as well as all of the small historic towns along the way. It’s “Forgotten Florida” along the spine of the peninsula some 100 to 250 feet above sea level / both coasts on either side – lots of scenic hills and lakes.”

(I soon eliminated Fort Myers and eventually Lake Wales from consideration.)

I moved-in and closed on my new home on March 15TH 2023, and ever since then I’ve been driving back-and-forth between Homestead and Sebring. (I still have my Homestead home.)

Each trip northward is an “A” trip, and each trip southward is a “B” trip. I’m currently on “20A” – my 20TH trip to Sebring since buying my new home. “20B” occurs on January 02ND 2024 when I return to Homestead for 6 days and 5 nights. It’s 1 of 4 remaining trips to Homestead until I retire.

Next #TravelThursday – I’ll continue my “Year In Review”, and I’ll reveal if it was a record-breaking year of driving for me in 2023. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2023 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

Categories
Astronomy Blogging Geography Home Travel

The Sun

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. One of my all-time favorite lyrics in a song is from R.E.M. in “Stand” when they sang – “If you are confused – check with the sun. Carry a compass to help you along.” It was a quirky song with nerdy lyrics, so that explains why I immediately related to it.

I am not confused. I know exactly which direction I’m standing, or driving, or flying – simply by checking with the sun (or moon) and noticing in which direction the clouds are moving. I don’t need a compass. I don’t need a road sign. A sense of direction is a gift that God blessed me with.

Today (and tomorrow) is the First Day of Winter here in the Northern Hemisphere, and it’s the First Day of Summer in the Southern Hemisphere. The Sun reaches its southernmost point above the Earth along the Tropic of Capricorn (23.4394° south latitude) where it’s directly overhead today at 10:27 PM U.S. East Coast time. (So that’s actually December 22ND across much of the world.)

It’s the shortest day of the year and the longest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, and it’s the reverse in the Southern Hemisphere. Here in the north sunrises continue occurring later in the morning well into January. But our earliest sunsets of the year already occurred 1 to 3 weeks ago (depending on your latitude), so the Sun is actually staying up later each evening. Starting tomorrow – the days will start to get longer.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

The front of my new home (at 27.5436° north latitude) faces almost (but not quite) due NE out front, and of course almost (but not quite) due SW out back. During much of the year the sun’s rays enter my home office (where this blog is written) during the morning hours. But in December the sun can’t quite reach into this room. It’ll be back though in January. Meanwhile my master bedroom, lanai, and living room get full direct sunlight in the afternoon during this time of the year, but those sun rays will soon start becoming more diagonal, and then they will completely disappear later in the year as the sun retreats northward.

When I was a little kid growing up in Lanham Maryland in the mid-to-late-1970s I always noticed how the sun hit my home, my neighbors’ homes, and my grandparent’s home in the morning and in the afternoon / evening. I noticed that the extreme angles occurred during both solstices in June and December. Every March and September there were no angles. It was straight up and down. So – I’ve pretty much been an astronomy (and of course) weather nerd for the past 50 years.

Next #TravelThursday – it’s my personal travel recap of 2023. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2023 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

Categories
Blogging Driving Geography Home Travel

SW 328TH Street In Homestead Florida

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. There’s a street in Homestead Florida that I’ve driven on more than any other in America. It’s SW 328TH Street – a Miami-Dade County road that runs about 13 miles due west / east in the far-south of the county from the edge of the Everglades on the west-end through Homestead in the middle to almost Biscayne Bay on the east-end. At its most primitive – it’s a narrow dirt road through rural farmland. At its most busy 2½-mile stretch – it’s a sometimes congested 4-lane divided road (recently widened from 2 lanes) with a couple of dangerous intersections.

My longtime home of the past 28½ years is near the middle of that busy stretch. That easily makes it my most driven road of my lifetime. I can’t go anywhere without getting on that road. It’s much nicer now than it used to be when it was a narrow and bumpy 2-lane road (up until just a few years ago).

Fun Fact: SW 328TH Street is exactly 20½ miles south (as the crow flies) of Flagler Street (which is Zero Street and divides Miami-Dade County into north and south). Every 16 streets north / south is exactly a mile on the county grid. Most streets that are a multiple of 8 (particularly in the south part of the county) are major thoroughfares.

SW 328TH Street is also known as Lucy Street for its western-most 5½ miles – and North Canal Drive for its eastern-most 7½ miles. It’s also known as SW / SE 8TH Street within the city limits of Homestead. For 1.7 miles Lucy Street serves as the border between Homestead (to the north) and Florida City (to the south). And speaking of Lucy Street – Lucy was one of the daughters of the first Mayor of Homestead in 1913. It’s been Lucy Street ever since, and it’s one of the longest-named streets in the region.

Next #TravelThursday – I’ll follow the Sun. I’ll write about the Winter Solstice here in the Northern Hemisphere. And I know that I have readers in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and the South American continent. I won’t forget about your Summer Solstice. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2023 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

Categories
Blogging Church Driving Food Geography Home Travel

Year 37 In Homestead Florida

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. Yesterday was a wonderful day in downtown Sebring Florida – catching-up with a lot of my friends for the first time in over a month. I got to hang out with my favorite coffee roaster (and neighbor) at Strangely Warmed. I got to spend 2½ hours with my Sebring Historical Society family. I even picked-up a pizza and cannoli from my favorite pizzeria – Tony’s II. Even my Pest Control guy showed-up in the afternoon to spray my home for bugs. It was a good day in my new hometown.

And then there’s down south in Homestead Florida. Last week I celebrated (make that observed) my 36TH anniversary of my first arrival there during the early-morning hours of December 01ST 1987. I was there for a full week – from Sunday morning (November 26TH) to Sunday afternoon (December 03RD). I reflected last week on my 36 years in Homestead, and how it wasn’t supposed to be that long. (It was supposed to be less than 5 years.) Aside from my longtime church family that I got to preach to and enjoy fellowship with on both Sundays (and the next 2 Sundays) – there aren’t that many other bright spots in my life and times down there. There aren’t that many other reasons to visit Homestead and South Florida.

Nevertheless Year 37 has begun for me in Homestead. I’m likely spending another 25 scheduled nights in Homestead between this upcoming Sunday and the start of March, and then my visits will become sporadic after that – probably once every few months or so. I do plan to keep my longtime home (since 1995) for at least another year or so. Hotel rates are sky-high down south, so staying in my own old home is a bargain !

Down in Homestead there’s a single street with a few numbers and a few names that I’ve driven on more than any other since 1995. Next #TravelThursday – I’ll write about that street. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2023 Christopher M. Day, CountUp