Hula Hut Adventures: Spring Travel 2012

I woke up this morning thinking, wow this trip is taking a long time. Then I realized I've been on the road less than two weeks. And, with weeks more to come.

Perhaps it's all the stuff that's been cramped into that time frame that has me slow, sore, and reaching for the Advil. Late nights and early mornings are not for us retired guys and I'm learning the wisdom of that adage that getting old is not for wimps.

From the beaches of Florida's Gulf Coast, the coastal plains of Savannah, the tourist packed Mecca of Virginia Beach, the piney woods of Fayetteville, and the mountain majesty of Asheville all in ten days. Jeez.

Along the way my wayward friends have tortured me with handshakes and hugs, reunions with old friends, early morning off road bicycle tours, late night prop blast ceremonies, strippers and lap dances, far too much rich food and drink, zip lines (into a 66 degree ocean - what was I thinking?), and taunts of retirement. My gosh how have I survived the madness? Experience perhaps?

I'd like to think that this short period has been the "breaking in" period of the road trip and that things will become more sedate as I move away from the evil influences of my old military fraternity. But I doubt it. Some of my even more robust friends are further North and West on this journey. OMG.

The good news is that I've actually gotten to do this. It was put off far too long and the beauty of having a loose agenda is being able to do some things that have been on the shelf for a long time. I've visited (finally) the new county hideaway of an old friend and seen and heard the joy in his voice, and pride he displays over his homestead. Made the time to visit two historical parks, a couple of museums, and rode my Segway through the bike trails of the piney woods. Nothing however tops being able to reconnect with some people, friends, who I had touched while on my last duty assignment and finding that their lives have recovered fully, and I was welcomed into the circle of their community, retired or not. It's difficult to describe how that makes you feel.

Moving on from here, Asheville at the moment, means a brief dinner reunion with one of the wounded from OIF and our joint stint as patients at Walter Reed. I've not seen him since 2007 and we're both anxious to get caught up in person. It should be one of the highlights of the trip.

In the short term, beyond that is Dayton, Ohio, and Elkhart, IN where the Hula Hut will have some factory repairs done while I explore parts of Ohio and Michigan for few days.

This quick update is just to let you know I'm still among the living (despite all the evil intent listed above) and that at some point I'll have to post a few (surviving) photos (a series of photos was deleted due to a security breach on my part, which is a story onto itself). I can only blame it on innocent ignorance of Naval regulations and protocol.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

More soon.