Tom Flanders

Tom Week – Winter in the South

1/2/20 – Patriots Fan in The South

We’re in Mobile AL, the land of Moon Pies and things hanging from strings. The owner of the park is an old guy with a Cajun accent so thick that even Alabamans can’t understand him. The funny thing is, he’s a Patriots fan.

1/3/20 – Hard Winter Rain

Fortunately we’re on a hill by the ocean. Lots of the inland lowlands are flooded. I’m getting a little anxious. I haven’t ridden my bike at all this year. Goal is 1200 miles, or 100 miles a month. I can do this. If the rain ever stops.

1/4/20 – Is is still Friday? No It’s Saturday.

Back in Florida, just east of Pensacola. I’m overflowing with testosterone today. I went to Home Depot AND Harbor Freight. I AM MAN!

There is another Winnebago Brave in the park. A red one. Tomorrow I will seek out the owner and we will bond.

1/5/20 – Task Day

Got a pile of little jobs done today. Too cold for a bike ride. I’ve stated work on some weird little videos. I’ll be posting them soon.

1/6/20 – Fall in Florida

We are in Bonifay Florida. It’s fall here. The ground is covered with fallen leaves. It’s very confusing.

We are also in the land of hills. Yes, hills in Florida.

Today at Walmart I got a reminder that we really are in Florida. These people were trying to jump start a car, only their jumper cables had no clamps on one end. The guy was holding the bare wires against the battery terminals, while smoking, and while his helper pulled the filler cap off the battery. I had to turn away because as our RV motto says, “I don’t want to have to testify.”

1/8/20 – Back in Perry

When I went into the office to check in the young woman behind the counter shouted, “Welcome back Mr. Flanders.” As my shock faded she explained that she recognized the Big Yellow Truck.

Today at Walmart I saw the weirdest thing in the clearance aisle, the Harry Potter Lego Advent Calendar. That’s a bizarre combination of words and ideas.

PIX

Tags: patriots,the south | Comments (0) | Author: Tom | Published: January 8, 2020

100 Words – Pearl Girl

Once upon a pearl a little girl did fall. Her skinned knee was ignored as she examined her new treasure. Her mother told her it was fake, but she knew it was real and important. She did not know that the murderer was very grateful she took it from the crime scene.

The police never found the missing woman. The little girl’s mother never connected the pictures in the paper with her child’s treasure. The luxurious strand of pearls draped over the woman’s chest belonged to another world. She never knew that she denied her daughter’s fifteen minutes of fame.

#100words

Tags: crime scence,murder,pearl | Comments (0) | Author: Tom | Published: January 4, 2020

Tom Week – Alabama and Beyond

12/26/19 – Alabama

We’re in Lillian Alabama and nobody in the park got arrested today.

11/27/19 – Biking to Florida

Alabama seems to not like bikes. There are no bike lanes. There aren’t even shoulders on the roads. So I crossed the bridge back to Florida. Sixteen miles of nice wide lanes.

11/28/19 – Baby Yoda is Safe (for now)

Watched the last episode of The Mandalorian. Even if you don’t like science fiction you should watch this episode for the scenes with the biker storm troopers. Hilarious.

Today I finally got around to working on the stuff on my todo list. Turns out that maintaining the todo list takes more time than actually performing the tasks on it.

12/29/19 – Forgotten Travel

Missing a few days of my journal. The new update of the journaling program crashed and wiped out my files.

12/30 /19 – Got my files back

I filled in the blanks above which you never even knew were missing till I told you so why am I even telling you?

Oh yeah, we’re in Biloxi MS.

13/31/19 – Bay St. Louis

We’re spending New Years Eve at a casino in Mississippi. Not too white trash or anything. The casino’s RV park is next to a little waterway full of jumping fish and at least one alligator.

1/1/20 – Happy New Year

Last night I went to the casino for their New Year’s Eve party. Not so much a party as a regular night at a casino with a bunch of extra people. I didn’t last long among the smoke and country music. The highlight of the evening was the men’s room. Beside the sink, right next to the paper towel dispenser, was a biohazard sharps receptacle that was half-full of used needles.

The highlight for today was that I managed to misspell the word intellectual. Irony overload.

PIX

Not just a Walmart. This is the Pass Christian MS Walmart

Tags: Alabama,baby yoda | Comments (0) | Author: Tom | Published: January 1, 2020

Tom Week – Panama City Beach

12/18/19 – Panama City Beach

Not Panama City, Panama City Beach, there’s a difference.

Similar to other beaches; Virginia, Myrtle, etc. It seems to be a big spring break location. One of the few places in Florida where camping rates are lower in Winter than Summer. It’s currently very cold but should warm up later in the week.

On the way here we got caught in a passing tornado watch. We pulled over and sat out the storm in a Piggly Wiggly parking lot.

12/23/19 – Star Freakin’ Wars

Saw the new Star Wars movie today. I enjoyed it very much. Sometimes it was like watching a movie in fast forward, but if they slowed down the pace the movie would have been four hours long. The best advice to help enjoy the movie is to not have any expectations.

The most interesting thing was the development of supporting characters which were obvious setups for the next movie. (Yes, there will be more movies.)

12/25/19 – Merry Christmas, You’re under arrest

As I was getting ready to go for a bike ride there were suddenly police cars everywhere. No, they weren’t looking for me. They were after the drug dealer two spaces down. They were here for a couple hours. He eventually came out of his trailer and was cuffed and put in a police car.

Now I feel like I’m really in Florida.

PIX

Abigail did not like the bow from the groomer

Tags: Arrest,Panama City Beach,star wars | Comments (0) | Author: Tom | Published: December 25, 2019

Tom Week – Dolphins and Stuff

12/5/19 – Dolphins

Yes, dolphins. I was sitting in the Big Yellow Truck watching the water and three dolphins swam by. I wasn’t fast enough with the camera to catch them. Dolphins swim fast. One neighbor says there’s also manatees.

Sitting here we’ve seen all kinds of birds; Hawks, vultures, cranes, pelicans, seagulls and many smaller unidentified birds. This is now my favorite campground ever.

It’s also great for riding. No hills and a wide off-road bike path. Lovely.

12/6/19 – Orlando

Well, we are in Orlando, but we are nowhere near anything in Orlando. We are tucked into the southeast corner as far away from downtown you can get and still be in town.

This is a nice park. Not as nice as the last one, though here we have cable TV.

There is a nice fenced-in dog park. Abigail made some new friends today.

12/7/19 – Hot day in December

Went for a bike ride. Flat and straight.

12/8/19 – Hospitals don’t like me

I was on a bike ride and rode past the VA hospital. As I did my phone made a weird noise. My ride-tracking software had reset. Then it happened again as I passed the children’s hospital. This has never happened before. It happened one more time in front of the county hospital. Weird.

12/9/19 – Lucky Again

A picked today’s RV park based on distance and price. Not looking for anything special. Well, once again we are parked on a river bank. Allegedly there are manatees, but haven’t seen any.

The park is also a marina and there are all kinds of boats, big and small.

We are also across the road from the dog park. Abigail is very happy about that.

12/10/19 – It got hot today.

The guy in the houseboat across the street might have seen a manatee, but it was gone before he could get his camera. Pat saw something moving in the water but isn’t sure what it was.

12/15/19 – Fun Park Names

We stayed two days at Moonshine Acres. Today we are at Ho-Hum RV Park. We are on the shore of the Gulf of Mexico on what is called the Forgotten Coast. We get sunrise and sunset over the water. We are just up the road from Tate’s Hell State Park.

There are warnings about bears and sharks. There are also puffins here. Wikipedia says they don’t come this far south but the Audubon website says they started showing up here in 1988.

PIX

Wonderfully spooky house in an otherwise boring neighborhood

The coolest police station I have ever seen. Perry Florida.

High tide on the Gulf Coast

Low tide on the Gulf Coast

How could we NOT stay here?

Tags: dolphins,ho hum | Comments (0) | Author: Tom | Published: December 18, 2019

Older posts

Newer posts

Tom Flanders World

1/2/20 – Patriots Fan in The South

1/3/20 – Hard Winter Rain

1/4/20 – Is is still Friday? No It’s Saturday.

1/5/20 – Task Day

1/6/20 – Fall in Florida

1/8/20 – Back in Perry

12/26/19 – Alabama

11/27/19 – Biking to Florida

11/28/19 – Baby Yoda is Safe (for now)

12/29/19 – Forgotten Travel

12/30 /19 – Got my files back

13/31/19 – Bay St. Louis

1/1/20 – Happy New Year

PIX

12/18/19 – Panama City Beach

12/23/19 – Star Freakin’ Wars

12/25/19 – Merry Christmas, You’re under arrest

PIX

12/5/19 – Dolphins

12/6/19 – Orlando

12/7/19 – Hot day in December

12/8/19 – Hospitals don’t like me

12/9/19 – Lucky Again

12/10/19 – It got hot today.

12/15/19 – Fun Park Names

PIX