{"id":1172,"date":"2012-01-03T21:12:21","date_gmt":"2012-01-04T04:12:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bezaires.com\/blog\/?p=1172"},"modified":"2012-03-11T11:14:27","modified_gmt":"2012-03-11T18:14:27","slug":"blastoff-2012","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bezaires.com\/blog\/post-id\/1172","title":{"rendered":"Blastoff 2012"},"content":{"rendered":"

While loading our RV on New Years Day, we experienced a fine example of Ohio\u2019s motto, \u201cif you don\u2019t like the weather, stick around for the next change\u201d. From glorious blue skies as I drove from the storage lot to our house, to the rain that soaked me 45 minutes later as I re-installed the batteries, to 3 or 4 more similar cycles that had Susi proclaiming, \u201cIt\u2019s me. I cause the rain. Every<\/em> time I carry something out there it pours again!\u201d, to the dusting of snow that fell in the late afternoon, we felt our motivation and excitement building to get on the road. With snow showers threatening, we got underway at 6:30 the next morning to try and stay ahead of the storm. So, while family and friends hunkered down around TV with subs and pizza to enjoy an orgy of six college football games, we ran south full blast until\u2026<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

the road totally iced up between Cincinnati and Louisville, slowing traffic to 20 mph. Fortunately, the threat was far worse than reality, and a few miles later we were in the clear again. Though we hit a few more squalls of flurries and slick roads, it was the relentless wind that kept our attention glued to the road. The nastiness did push us to extend our first day\u2019s drive for thirteen hours to ensure better conditions thereafter.<\/p>\n

About 520 miles out, we sought a Walmart store, our familiar overnight refuge from the road when when we are simply trying to cover a lot of miles. As Susi turned left into the parking lot in Jackson, Tennessee, she exclaimed, \u201cOh, damn\u201d, and we heard a sickening crunching sound. Fearing the worst, I jumped out to check the Forrester we tow, thinking it had been dinged by another car. Relieved to find not a scratch, I came back to the RV looking puzzled, until Susi explained that we had hit an overhead bar. It turns out that this Walmart is posted \u201cNo trucks\u201d\u2014which they enforced with a barrier hanging 12\u2019 4\u201d above the driveway\u20143\u201d lower that our required clearance. <\/p>\n

We took a few moments to get our adrenaline levels under control, then pulled close to the gas island where there is plenty of light. I climbed up on top for an inspection and found myself crawling to keep stable against the wind. Fortunately, it appears that the crash was more noise than damage. The tallest appendages are two air conditioning units, which showed minor scrapes but no cracks. With temperatures around freezing, we have not yet tested the A\/C, but I\u2019m guessing that it will work just fine. All that we lost is an insignificant \u201ctoy\u201d of a solar panel that isn\u2019t really large enough to help charge the batteries anyway.<\/p>\n

Susi and I were happy to get out and walk about a 1\/2 mile to stretch our legs and get some dinner at Chili\u2019s, which proved to be full on this holiday Monday, so we jumped up on stools at the bar. With a friendly, attentive bartender we settled in for a relaxing dinner. We really didn\u2019t expect any different when a sprightly senior citizen sat down next to Dave. Of course, the Rose Bowl game between Wisconsin and Oregon was on TV right over our heads, and Susi soon responded to one of his quiet mumbles, asking, \u201cDo you know a bit about football?\u201d. Well, did he ever! Buddy Patey, a regular according to the barkeep, proceeded to regale us for the next hour with story after story of his joys as an official at both the college and pro levels. He proudly identified three of \u201chis boys\u201d who were officiating the Fiesta Bowl as it came on TV, since he\u2019d finished up his career supervising all the officials in his beloved SEC conference. Among his favorite memories were six bowls and even a couple national championship games he had worked. Some of the titles on his calling card included SEC Technical Advisor, Retired; OVC Supervisor Emeritus; TSSAA Supervisor, Retired; College Football Hall of Fame; TSSAA Hall of Fame; Ohio Valley Conference Hall of Fame; and CCA Commissioners Officiating Hall of Fame.  Buddy worked in human resources, was Vice Mayor of Jackson for a time, and knows everyone<\/em> in football, as he punctuated his stories with names of one famous player and coach after another, including many glowing remarks about Jim Tressel. This vital, dynamic, 86 year-old has obviously enjoyed his \u201cblessed life\u201d, and we are thankful for the chance to enjoy a delightful dinner with him.<\/p>\n

Susi and I are thankful, too, for our own blessed life, that allows me to write this as we roll across Arkansas toward Hot Springs National Park with Susi chiming \u201c33, 34, 35\u202644, 45\u201d, counting out the hawks roosting along the road.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019d like a visual of our progress, take a look at our Tucson 2012 Google Map<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While loading our RV on New Years Day, we experienced a fine example of Ohio\u2019s motto, \u201cif you don\u2019t like the weather, stick around for the next change\u201d. From glorious blue skies as I drove from the storage lot to our house, to the rain that soaked me 45 minutes later as I re-installed the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-people","category-travelogue"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bezaires.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bezaires.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bezaires.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bezaires.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bezaires.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1172"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/bezaires.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1172\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1718,"href":"https:\/\/bezaires.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1172\/revisions\/1718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bezaires.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bezaires.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bezaires.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}