02 November 2013

Notes - Madeira Beach / sunset / car performance

         Everyone is coming in from walking the beach and/or playing in the sand. Kim, Paul, Owen and Brennan arrived via Delta non stop from Columbus to Tampa, late morning, picked up their rental, a Chrysler Town and Country with only seven miles on it, called, and you and Carol met them at the old Florida Crab Shack on --- just inside St. Pete. A not so quick stop at Target for essentials as the sometime heavy morning rain stopped. You arrived early mid-afternoon, unpacked both cars, had a chat about their new house (kitchen cabinets and front door) while the boys played. Once on the balcony everyone saw a pod of dolphin (hopefully a good sign). – Amorella

         1800 hours. The sky is mostly cloudy but though the sunset will be muted it is a dullish pink to yellow with the clouds semi-broken in the region. Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny. The day is in the mid to upper seventies with some good ol’ Florida humidity stirred in. Carol and Kim are preparing supper, the  boys are refreshed, and everyone is awaiting the vacation.

         You arrived at Linda and Bill’s yesterday afternoon and ate at a very nice Thai restaurant on Dale Mabry. The front yard and porch is well decorated with Halloween scenes that they are keeping up for the boys to see. You and Bill had good conversations while Linda and Carol focused on Linda, Jean and Jen’s upcoming trip to Cincinnati and Columbus for Thanksgiving. They were on the phone with Mary Lou (who is having the dinner part of the time and you thought of the old days when Mom and Dad Hammond were alive – thinking they would have loved to have eves-dropped in on the scene of daughters in conversation on the big dinner – Mom loved working in the kitchen and it was always festive when everyone was at their house in Sun City Center, Florida from 1976 to 1993. Time for supper. Post. - Amorella

         The boys are in bed a little late because of the time change tomorrow at two ante meridiem. You had a frozen family sized Stouffer’s Lasagna for supper plus veggies. No leftovers. During supper you glanced out the window to see ‘light without clouds’ and picked up the iPhone for a picture or two. You have two. Drop them both in for a recent photograph remembrance of the Florida you love.

Sunset A

Sunset B

         2126 hours. The only thing I did was hit the “enhance” button on iPhoto. I like this new camera on iPhone 5s. Yesterday when we arrived at Bill and Linda’s mid-afternoon we had filled up the car three times as we usually would and ended up with 37.1 miles per gallon. This while are average speed highway speed was between 76 and 77 miles per hour. The trip was quite restful (a good test for the front seats and window tint), and it was a quite ride, we talked about half the way through a variety of subjects and listened to the XM the other half (mostly the ‘60’s and 80’s channels). We were forced off the road once because an older fellow pulled over into our lane without looking. I don’t think he even knew what he did – anyway, the car handled the situation well and after a quick slowdown we dropped back into the lane behind him. A couple of times I was forced to speed up to avoid others changing traffic lanes with two 18-wheelers on our right. We were doing 77 and I floored it and zip, just like that we were doing 90 or 91 – cleared the danger. I am quite impressed with the pickup at those speeds, and I didn’t even have it in Sport mode. It was as good as our 2005 Accord six as far as the pickup was at similar situations and speeds. The seats and climate control and radio sounds are wonderfully good. We are quite pleased with Carol’s new car. So far the trip has been a good test for the Toyota Avalon Limited Hybrid. We are pleased.


         You and Carol are enjoying the company of Kim, Paul and the boys. Owen spelled his full name for you today, something he is quite proud of accomplishing. You love your family one and all. All for tonight, boy. Tomorrow Linda is coming over and you all are going out for lunch. The rest of the day is up to the women, Paul and the boys. You’ll go along or stay in and take a nap. After all it is a Fall Sabbatical, a well deserved rest from retirement as usual. Post. - Amorella

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