Category: Travel

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Blogging Driving Travel

Wylie Texas

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. I’m waking-up in Wylie Texas this morning – the home of my brother, sister-in-law, two nieces, and canine nephew. This guy adores me being around him:

Wylie is an old railroad town with origins that go back over 150 years. Today it’s an affluent and rapidly-growing northeastern suburb of Dallas Texas. Its population has quadrupled since 2000. My family moved there in 2019.

I’ve been candid about this over the years here on my blog. I’m not a fan of Texas. My favorite thing about Texas is my family that lives there – outside of both Dallas and Wichita Falls. After that – it’s a sharp drop to my 2ND favorite thing about Texas – the food – particularly steak.

My history with Texas goes back almost 40 years. It’s where my USAF career began – at Lackland AFB in San Antonio. I returned to Texas several times – San Antonio, Austin, and Fort Worth – during the first-half of my civilian career with the USAF. My brother and his girlfriend turned wife moved to the Dallas area for the first time in 2006. They moved back to Ohio in 2013, and then they moved back to the Dallas area in 2019. My Aunt, Uncle, and Cousins have lived in the Wichita Falls area for about 55 years.

My favorite location in Texas is the San Antonio River Walk. I’ve been there a few times – starting with a day of liberty during USAF Basic Training in July 1985 and most recently in July 2011 with my family. We stayed at a hotel directly on the River Walk, and we just walked around the River for a few days taking in the sights, sounds, and tastes. It was one of our greatest family vacations ever.

Next #TravelThursday in 2 weeks – I’ll write about some of my fun adventures here with my family in Texas. Let’s keep traveling together.

#CountUp & #TravelThursday is on Facebook. I usually post there on Mondays and Thursdays.

All rights reserved (c) 2024 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

Categories
Blogging Driving History Nature Travel

Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. Earlier this month a small group of us took a bus trip down south by a little over 100 miles to southeastern Hendry County. We visited the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum and their annual American Indigenous Arts Celebration on their exterior grounds across the street from the Museum. They are located on the Big Cypress Reservation about 18 miles north of the Alligator Alley portion of I-75 (exit 49). They are owned and operated by the Seminole Tribe Of Florida. It was my first-ever visit to the Museum and local area.

This is one of those hidden gems in South Florida that I really didn’t know anything about until our Sebring Historical Society announced it as an upcoming bus trip that I promoted during the month of October on our Facebook page (which I’m the Administrator of).

There were a lot of singing and dancing performances – and food and merchandise vendors at the Celebration. The Museum (inside) was modern and fascinating. As I slowly walked through it – I was getting educated on the history of the local area and the Seminole Tribe Of Florida. I was also dreaming of how our own Museum (present and potential future location) could incorporate a lot of what I was seeing presented there. I also walked the mile-long elevated boardwalk behind the Museum. It loops around a 60-acre natural cypress dome.

We spent 4½ hours at Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki. With the 2-hour bus trip each way – it was a fun 8½-hour day with my museum friends and fellow history fans. Our next fun bus trip is a little over 2 weeks away – to historic downtown Bartow Florida in Polk County (our neighbor to the north).

Next #TravelThursday – I’m in Texas. Let’s keep traveling together.

#CountUp & #TravelThursday is on Facebook. I usually post there on Mondays and Thursdays.

All rights reserved (c) 2024 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

Categories
Blogging Driving Travel

Start Of An Era

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. Last week I wrote about the demise of my 2020 Honda Civic and the end of an era – my nearly 10-year association with the Honda Civic family.

8 days after the collision that caused the totaling of my 4-year-old car – I bought a new car – a 2025 Kia K4 LX !

Fun Fact: Before I joined the Honda Civic family – I was a longtime part of the Saturn family. I leased a new 1997 SL1. And then I leased a new 2001 SC2. And then I bought a new 2003 Ion 3. I kept that last car longer than any previous car in my lifetime – 11½ years. So – I drove 3 different Saturn cars over the course of nearly 18 years.

And now I’m a member of the Kia family. When I still had that last Saturn, and I was shopping for my next new car (knowing that Saturn no longer existed) – the 2015 Kia Forte was actually on my short list of cars to test drive and buy. Also on that list – the 2015 Ford Focus, the 2015 Toyota Corolla, and the 2015 Honda Civic. (You now know how that turned out.)

So – I paid cash for my new 2025 Kia K4. (I actually wrote a check for the full amount. I’m probably the youngest person that I know that still writes checks.)

I love my new car. It’s got all of the modern technology that I’ve always wanted in a new car – most notably SiriusXM. I’ve been listening at home since 2005, but I’ve never had a car with it included. (Recently – I’d been listening via their app on my iPhone through my car’s Bluetooth.)

It’s also my first car with no key – just a fob. And it’s got a button to push to start and stop the engine. But what I really love about my new car (besides the new car smell) – is the compass, latitude and longitude (degrees, minutes, and seconds) and elevation of where I’m at. I’m looking forward to my first extended road-trip in it.

Next #TravelThursday – I’ll write about my fun day at the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki. Let’s keep traveling together.

#CountUp & #TravelThursday is on Facebook. I usually post there on Mondays and Thursdays.

All rights reserved (c) 2024 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

Categories
Blogging Driving Travel

End Of An Era

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. My 2020 Honda Civic survived Hurricanes Helene and Milton (both Tropical Storms here in my local area of inland South Central Florida), but it did not survive the Monday after.

A couple of miles from my home – while headed to my favorite car wash (how ironic) and then movie theatre (to see “White Bird”) – I was sideswiped by a heavy lawn and tree care utility truck while stopped in a long line at a red light. The point-of-impact was the rear-right corner / edge of my car, and the entire right-side (including tires) was smashed with pieces of it laying along a frequently congested portion of Sebring Parkway (approaching U.S. 27). Police arrived. Fire and Rescue arrived. A few were placed on stretchers and transported with injuries to a local hospital. Traffic was shut down in both directions for about 90 minutes during the aftermath.

I didn’t see it coming, but when I was hit – my car didn’t move one inch. Neither did I. The truck that hit me then hit the next vehicle up, and that ultimately caused 3 other vehicles to be hit. It was a 6-vehicle collision involving about 10 people.

Most of the vehicles were towed away as undrivable, and mine was almost immediately identified as visibly totaled (just by looking at the photos alone). Confirmation occurred several days later at the insurance company’s salvage yard by an adjuster.

The next day – Tuesday October 15TH – I picked-up my rental vehicle – a 2022 Buick Encore GX – a subcompact SUV. My insurance company reserved it in my name and paid for it. I drove it around for 8 days. Needless to say – I am not a fan of driving around in an SUV – no matter how subcompact it is.

So – it’s the end of an era. My almost 10-year association with the Honda Civic has come to an end. I leased a brand-new 2015, and then I leased a brand-new 2018. In August 2020 (coming out of COVID) – I bought a brand-new 2020. It was intended to be my retirement car – a car that I would finance and make monthly payments for – and then have it paid off shortly after retirement. I would keep it forever after that, or as long as it would keep on running. (I was thinking 15 or 20 years or more.)

It lasted exactly 4 years and 2 months – 50 months (to the day) – 1,523 days. The final odometer reading was 37,910. That’s an average of just shy of 25 miles per day. I drove to and from North Texas twice in that car – in November 2021 and April 2024 (my well-documented 18-day retirement road-trip). Over the course of almost 10 years and 3 Honda Civics – I drove a total of just over 94,000 miles. That’s well below the U.S. national driving average of about 14,000 miles per year.

Incidentally – on the final morning of driving that Buick Encore rental – I reached a milestone. I drove my 10,000TH mile of 2024. I’ll surpass 11,000 miles next month. I did that last year too. It’ll be the first time since 2016 and 2017 that I’ll drive 11,000+ miles in back-to-back years.

On the 8TH day of driving around in that Buick Encore – I got my insurance money – and I bought a new car. I’ll write about it – next – #TravelThursday. Let’s keep traveling together.

#CountUp & #TravelThursday is on Facebook. I usually post there on Mondays and Thursdays.

All rights reserved (c) 2024 Christopher M. Day, CountUp