MORE TRAVELS

SINCE THE LAST POSTING, I returned to Australia for a month (in August) reuniting with family and friends. To tell the truth, I was more than a little worn down by the time I got back to Corning, mainly due to jet-lag.  I must be getting old!  Even so, it was very worthwhile.

JUST LAST WEEK, I flew down to Fort Lauderdale (Florida) to pick up a car that I had sucessfully bid for on eBay.  This was quite the trip, in more ways that one!

The Car?  A 2000 Mazda Miata!!  120,000 or so miles old and supposedly in excellent condition.  A real 'pig in a poke' That is:
"something is sold or bought without the buyer knowing its true nature or value, especially when buying without inspecting the item beforehand."

To make it worse, quite a few, friends and others, warned  that is was probably a 'scam'...there would be no car!  To be frank about it, I thought that it was probably it was a little rash.  However, I had not expected to win the auction and was greatly surprised at my unintended success. And I had done my due diligence researching the seller

You might guess that I was considerably relieved when Tom, the seller, arrived at the airport to pick me up in that very car!  The vehicle was as advertised...another source of relief!  Hooray and Hooray!!

Since very young I have wanted to own a sports car, and more than a few times came close to doing so.  But then, at 82 years, how many more years of driving might I expect to enjoy?  Sort of  'on my bucket list' if you like.

I was dreading the drive back (four days and 1600 miles). But the Miata got me home with only a problem with the alternator light (two hours at an auto-electrical shop somewhere along the way) caused by faulty wiring.  Here I am in Market St, Corning, showing it off to my coffee mates.

Actually, if you discount many boring miles, the trip was great!  Along the way I made new friends, benefited greatly by the kindness of strangers, and deepened friendships.

A mistake actually made the entire trip great, despite those boring freeway miles. I forgot to reprogram my GPS not to avoid toll roads!  So it frequently took me off highways onto byways.  In turn, this forced me to drive fewer miles eash day over the middle two days, adding some hours and wonderful passage.

By the time I had figured this out (GPS, why are you taking me off onto these strange back roads?), it was too late to avert traversing the rural roads of the Appalation Mountains during the peak Fall season.  How dreadful to have to view all those colors and the spectcular vistas of mountains and broad valleys!  And not be forced to keep an eye on the busy traffic.

By such means the journey became a consant delight.

As in life, the journey takes over, refusing to be compliant with what seemed to have been the plan. Of the many possible paths, the best may prevail.