Tag: Florida

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Driving & Walking In 2025

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. Now that I’m done recapping my 10-day Texas Thanksgiving experience with family it’s time to move on to other travel topics.

Last year I drove a total of 6,210 miles. That’s an average of 17 miles per day. Half of those miles occurred between January 01ST and May 27TH. Almost 70% of those miles occurred during the first 6 months of 2025. June was by far my most traveled month. I drove 1,166 miles in June – including 2 trips to and from my former hometown of Homestead Florida. I closed on the sale of my longtime (30-year) home on June 30TH, and I haven’t been back since. From July 01ST to December 31ST (final 6 months) I only drove 1,910 miles, for an average of a little over 10 miles per day. I drove under 500 miles per month for all 6 months – and under 300 miles per month for 4 of the 6 months. The 6,210 miles driven surpassed only 2022 (by just 66 miles). It was likely my 2ND-least driven year over the past 37 years of driving in Florida. The outlook for 2026 is much less driving – probably less than 4,000 miles.

And now on to my walking in 2025. I wear my Apple Watch 24/7 – except for when I’m taking a shower, or I’m sitting down and recharging it. I got my Apple Watch as a #ThanksChristmasGiving gift in 2022 (IYKYK).

So – I now have 3 full years of data. And for the 3RD consecutive year – I came close, but I did not reach 1,000 miles by foot. I fell short in 2025 at 966.70 miles. That’s compared with 964.71 in 2024, and 995.64 in 2023. My goal is to reach 1,000 miles in 2026. If I can average 2.74 miles per day – then I will achieve that goal. I surpassed 2.74 miles per day last January, February, March, April, November, and December. It’s those 6 months in the middle that I need to increase my walking. Maybe I should try some “mall walking” before the stores open.

I walked around my neighborhood 117 times in 2025 for a total of 142 miles. That represented not quite 15% of my total walking in the year. So – over 85% of my walking was just me walking around and doing things.

Any other Excel spreadsheet nerds out there ?

Next #TravelThursday – I’ll have lunch on the train. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2026 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

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Blogging Driving Food Geography Holidays Home Travel

Homeward Bound

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. I returned home from North Texas 54 days ago. This is Part 8 of 8 – the conclusion of my recap of my 10-day experience with my family for Thanksgiving and the week after.

After my gate at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (#DFW) changed from B18 to B17 to B14 to B11 in less than 2½ hours – it changed once again – to D2. That’s right – a completely different terminal !

I got the text message from American Airlines (#AA), and others sitting at the gate obviously got the same text message at the same time, as we all reacted pretty much the same way. We were aggravated, but there was no time for aggravation because boarding would begin in just 38 minutes at a gate far away from there. We all got up, gathered our carry-on bags, and walked briskly to the nearest Skylink (automated people mover) station to reach the new terminal and gate. Of course – Gate D2 was perhaps as far away as possible from the Terminal D (Gates 1-22) Skylink station (and pretty much all other “D” gates). We all made it to the new gate, and we all got good exercise doing so. Strangely – a lot of people were already at that gate, and it looked like they had been there for a while. They obviously knew about Gate D2 long before many of us did.

After a brief respite it was time to board the aircraft to Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport (#SRQ). As with the incoming flight 10 days earlier – the outgoing flight was not quite full, but close to it. There was plenty of space available in the overhead bins, and the middle seat next to mine was vacant. I had a window seat 3 rows from the rear, and I stared out at the sky towards the NNE for much of the flight. Once at cruising altitude I ate a couple of Pop-Tarts, and then I enjoyed the Lotus Biscoff cookies that are handed out on most #AA flights. Additionally – the flight attendants gave us a bag of pretzels. Two complimentary snacks at the same time !

I also enjoyed a cup of black coffee to go with my multiple snacks. Their coffee has always been delicious, but now it appears that they are in the process of switching / upgrading to Lavazza‘s premium coffee blends. That should be available on my next flights later this year.

The flight from #DFW to #SRQ took a normal route ESE across Louisiana and the Gulf straight into Florida – landing more than 10 minutes early. It took a while (longer than normal) to retrieve my baggage at the carousel. (Mine was one of the last bags to appear.)

After that I went to the wrong location to pick-up the shuttle bus to the parking area. I went to the area for hotel shuttles. I blame that on a lack of clear and proper signage. I eventually figured it out on my own due to no available help from anyone who worked at the airport – inside or outside. The shuttle bus driver took me to the secluded parking lot over near the control tower off Tamiami Trail (U.S. 41). There were two vehicles remaining in that temporary overflow parking lot (which was obviously closed for new parking), and mine was obviously one of the two.

The 78-mile drive back home was uneventful – taking me 1-hour and 49-minutes through Sarasota-Bradenton suburbia and into the countryside and up into the hills. I had to deal with a few slow drivers in front of me and a few tailgaters behind me. I arrived home at 7:26 PM on Saturday December 06TH 2025. My 10-day and 6½-hour Thanksgiving trip to and from Wylie Texas was complete. I enjoyed refreshing my memory and writing about it over the next 2½ weeks following my return. (I completed this post on Christmas Eve.) I hope that you enjoyed reading about it over the past couple of months.

As for my next trip to visit family – that may occur in less than 3 months. As for next Thanksgiving – I’ll likely revert back to tradition and fly out 8 days before the holiday (instead of the night before) – and I’ll return back home on the night after the holiday (#BlackFriday). Or maybe I’ll do something completely different and stay home for the Thanksgiving holiday and instead visit my family during the week leading-up to Christmas. I’ll figure it all out in a few months. #StayTuned

How was my driving in 2025 ? I’ll look back at it – next #TravelThursday. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2026 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

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Blogging Commerce Driving Food Football Geography Holidays Home Movies Shopping Sports Television Travel

Church, Beef, & Eternity

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. Last week’s post covered my holiday weekend time-period from Thanksgiving Eve – through Thanksgiving Day, and Black Friday, and Small Business Saturday.

We’re up to Museum Store Sunday now; although, this post has nothing to do with any museum stores. (Well since I mentioned it – back home – my Sebring Historical Society observed Museum Store Sunday by having our museum open for 6 hours to try to get rid of [sell] as much of our gift shop merchandise as possible to make room for new inventory.)

OK – let’s get back on track here. And let’s go to church – as a family. That’s what we did for the first time ever at their new non-denominational church in nearby Sachse Texas. (I wrote more about that experience on #SundayScripture a couple of weeks ago.)

After church me and my brother went to a busy Best Buy, and then we went to see our 2ND movie in 3 days. It seems as if every trip – either me visiting in Texas or my brother visiting in Florida – we end up seeing a movie that neither one of us was talking about in the hours or days leading up to it. Our “under the radar” movie for this trip was “Eternity”. I knew about it, but I never mentioned it because I didn’t think that he’d want to see it. And my brother knew about it, and he didn’t think that I’d want to see it. We decided about 90 minutes before the next showing at a nearby movie theatre to see it. We both enjoyed the premise of the movie. It’s one of my favorite movies of the year (out of 20+ so far), and my brother wants to see it again with his wife once it’s streamable. It was a fun movie with (surprisingly) lots of sight gags.

Fun Fact: “Eternity” and “Rental Family” (seen 2 days earlier) were the # 6 and # 7 movies of the 5-day Thanksgiving Weekend. Both played in far fewer theatres than the Top 5 movies above it.

Where’s The Beef ?: I almost forgot about it. Before the movie we ate lunch at a popular place called Portillo’s. It’s a Chicago-based fast-casual restaurant with almost 100 locations nationwide (and rapidly expanding). They specialize in Chicago beef. And I had some for lunch. I had the Beef & Cheddar Croissant. It’s a variation of the classic Italian beef sandwich that uses a croissant instead of French bread. It features thin-sliced, slow-roasted, rich, and seasoned Italian beef and melted cheddar cheese. It was pretty good. Very juicy !

And finally – I ended my favorite month of the year – November – with a great Sunday Night Football game on NBC – the Denver Broncos (a team I like) at my original hometown Washington Commanders. It was surprisingly an exciting and close back-and-forth game that extended well into overtime. My Commanders had a chance to win it by a point if they had converted on a 2-point conversion following a touchdown, but the conversion was blocked, the game ended – Broncos 27 Commanders 26 – and November ended.

Next #TravelThursday is in 2 weeks on New Year’s Day, and I’ll cover the experiences and events of the first few days of the new month of December in the Dallas Texas area. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2025 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

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Blogging Commerce Driving Food Football Geography Holidays Home Movies Music Radio Shopping Sports Television Travel

Texas Bound

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. Last week’s post ended with me waiting at my gate at Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport (#SRQ) and listening to the music that they play (rather loudly) from The Blend (SiriusXM) all throughout the terminal.

My Thanksgiving Eve flight to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (#DFW) boarded a little bit late, and it took off into the air a few minutes late as well. It also arrived at #DFW a few minutes late. It flew a nearly straight-line flight across the northeastern Gulf and over Louisiana and Texas. The Airbus 321EOW was not quire full – with a few middle seats unoccupied (including the one next to mine). There was also plenty of room in the overhead bins. I had an aisle seat 5 rows from the back of the aircraft. The flight was mostly peaceful and quiet with a few mild bumps along the way at cruising altitude (as high as 38,000 feet).

Fun Fact: An Airbus 321EOW is one that can fly up to 400 miles from shore, as it meets specific FAA requirements to do so (such as sufficient life rafts). “EOW” = “Extended Over Water”.

I met my brother at the Baggage Carousel. We picked-up my baggage, and we left for Wylie Texas (about 40 miles away) – with a stop at Kroger close to his home.

On Thanksgiving Day we stayed in all day long, and we watched football from mid-morning – through the afternoon – and into the evening. Oh – and we ate a lot of food too – from early-morning – through the afternoon – and into the evening.

A Thanksgiving Morning tradition actually ended this year. We did not open all of the presents underneath the Christmas tree as we’ve done every year in the past since my nieces have been alive (going back to 2010). There were no presents underneath the Christmas tree. But there would be soon, and we’d open them in a couple of days.

Another Thanksgiving tradition also ended. I didn’t spend much of the day packing and preparing for my return flight or drive back to Florida, as I had just arrived. No packing necessary until the following Friday.

And yet another tradition ended on #BlackFriday. I did not fly back (or begin my drive back) home to Florida. Me and my brother began our week-long quest to eat at different restaurants, shop at many stores, see several movies, and visit various coffeehouses.

On #BlackFriday we saw the movie “Rental Family” (starring Brendan Fraser). And then we ate lunch at “Flying Fish” – a regional fast-casual seafood restaurant chain. And then we went to a busy Barnes & Noble. And then we went to Target including a pitstop at the Starbucks inside Target. So that covers the restaurant, store(s), movie, and coffeehouse for the day after Thanksgiving.

On #SmallBusinessSaturday we supported a small business early in the morning – a family-run breakfast and lunch place in Sachse Texas – Woodbridge Cafe. They opened in January 2018. It was our first visit. It won’t be our last. I enjoyed cinnamon swirl French Toast, two eggs over hard, two sausage patties, and coffee.

Next #TravelThursday – I attend a non-denominational church service with my brother, sister-in-law, and two nieces for the first time ever. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2025 Christopher M. Day, CountUp