What is Hodgepodge?

Hello again, 2 posts in one day! Sorry to overwhelm you, I typed this morning's post last night.

So, in honor of our family's favorite TV game show, which we haven't been able to watch live for several months... Tonight's post will be presented in Jeopardy format. It's just about 730 where we are, so here we go! The category is.... Potpourri. Cue the music....

For $200:

Answer: This town in Florida has a more drug dealer "store frontage" than all other establishments combined.

Question: What is Sanderson Florida.

Yes, that's right. There are only two stores in Sanderson; a Dollar General, and a "Beer, Wine, and Lotto" catch-all establishment. And conveniently positioned in between the 2 stores are THREE drug dealers, each sitting in their own vehicles, all day long, waiting for customers. These entrepreneurs are not shy. They park clustered together in an empty dirt lot, ready to meet all your needs (or so we assume, we didn't check what they had for inventory). The local sheriff was parked next to Dollar General and didn't even intervene during a transaction we witnessed.

For $400:

Answer: This is the reason Val should not be planning the driving routes on her own.

Question: What is Google maps is smarter than she is.

So, yes, my map reading skills have gotten much better. Yes, I can usually tell you what our main route of travel is going to be (US Rt 75, Interstate 10, etc). But, when it comes to very detailed planning, to avoid wash-board dirt roads for example, this may still be above my pay grade. Leaving Holiday Florida, we researched a very carefully planned route that would have avoided all the miles upon miles of dirt wash-boarded roads that lead to our next destination. One small turn at the beginning of the trip that was not what Google recommended, and we lost all of that work, because I didn't realize that Google Maps changed our entire plan based on that one turn. Usually, Google navigates you back onto it's route, so I wasn't worried or paying super close attention. Well, we hit the longest dirt road that we had been specifically trying to avoid as a result. Lesson Learned.

For $600:

Answer: This is the reason Val gets nervous about picking the gas station while in transit.

Question: Why can't she (still) not read a map!?

GasBuddy... awesome resource, saving us money, love it. But since I am still learning to navigate, AND read maps, AND learning how all of these apps work (all at once, while we're moving, might I add), I screwed it up again folks. Hey, being the navigator takes a LOT of practice! So, lesson learned? When GasBuddy says the station with the cheapest gas is 4.2 miles away -- click on "get directions" and make sure it is not BEHIND you, a half hour in the opposite direction. Yup. Twice last week. Sent Mike off an exit, only to direct him back onto the northbound ramp and 25 minutes back from where we had already passed, only to save us less money than we spent in gas getting to the cheap station. Oh well!

For $800:

Answer: This US Route does not follow the standard "Exit Only" lane markings we learned about earlier in the trip.

Question: What is Route 75 in Florida.

Why? I can't say, other than that Floridians do what they want whether it makes sense or not. It definitely makes fighting those crazy drivers even more difficult when you are trying to get somewhere you've never been.

For $1000:

Answer: This is the number of times our dogs have gotten to a pair of glasses and chewed them up like a chicken wrapped raw hide.

Question: What is 6.

Six times so far. Two pairs of Hailey's glasses, once required replacement. One pair of Callie's, which was dismantled into 4 pieces and destroyed beyond repair. One pair of Val's glasses, which were retrieved while they were still wearable. And twice on the same pair of Mike's. Most recently about 10 minutes ago, leaving one side bent up in the opposite direction (he was able to bend it back), and only wire is now left behind his ear. When will we learn? Much like the old commercial that ponders "How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Pop..." the world may never know.

And for Final Jeopardy... Go all in folks, you came to play, right?

Answer: After one month on the road, this happy couple finally has working doors on their bedroom!

Question: Who are Mike & Val!!!

Yes, last night while I was doing laundry, Mike was able to successfully mount our TV! It's a long story with a happy ending. Two years ago, on the Colonel's maiden voyage, we purchased a TV. The stand for it hung ever so slightly over the edge of the entertainment center. Last summer, while tip-toeing around in the wee hours of the morning while everyone was still asleep, my sleeve caught on the stand and the TV tumbled to the ground, completely destroying the screen.

A new TV was purchased for this trip, an "off brand" Roku enabled model. It had the same stand as the last model we had. Mike efficiently strapped the TV into the entertainment center with neon orange motorcycle straps (which I appreciated and really enjoyed the pop of color the straps gave us... ummm... not really though). Well, the straps wrapped around the unit to our bedroom side of the wall, which also strapped our bedroom pocket doors in. After being unable to find a comfortable manner to relax at night with the TV pointing at a bad angle in the wrong direction, Mike settled on a mount he felt would safely secure the TV during travel. Did I mention we purchased an off brand TV? Well, it must be the ONLY TV on the market whose set up was backwards on the back, making the mount Amazon brought us unusable.

Flash-forward another 2 weeks, we are camped where we can get mail and packages again, and Mike found an adapter plate for the mount (also on Amazon) that would solve our problems. We got the adapter plate yesterday, and as I mentioned, last night Mike surprised me by mounting the TV, which in turn allowed us to close our doors! Privacy!! YAY!!!! And as an added bonus, I can now sit on the couch and watch TV next to Mike! (I had been sitting in the dinette because half of the couch was out of the TVs viewing area.

Thanks for tuning in to tonight's episode. I hope you all enjoyed playing along. Until next time....

Stay Tuned!

Lady Bird, keeping my seat warm!