Life Without Running

The plan on the way home was hopefully to stay for the weekend in Colorado Springs but like many plans these had to be changed at the last minute. The first night my oxygen levels were going down and at one point was in the 80’s. I only wound up with three pictures. 🤷‍♂️ The first was one of Charlie that Joe took when he came by with pizza and beer to hang out the first night.  I checked my O2 in the middle of the night and it was 86 at one point and decided unless there was a dramatic change in the morning I would meet with Ron Payton for breakfast and then leave for Fort Collins which is what I did. Ron and I had a mediocre breakfast but a good visit at IHOP. My BLT was maybe the worst I’ve ever had. Apparently Charlie felt the same way about his hard boiled egg at the hotel. 😂 After meeting with Ron we headed to Fort Collins where I was going to stay a night and see if 1200 or so feet of less elevation would help my O2 level. With the kids moving there next year I’m hoping to ...

I stopped on my way back at Macon, Georgia the first night and iced down the last two beers from Cocoa Beach. 🏝️  Then back to Joe and Judy’s in Tennessee for a couple of days to be back among sane anti-Magas and eat some more outstanding food prepared by Chef Joe. Charlie is obviously a big fan. 😂 While the food was also outstanding in Folkston, the political views were disgustingly MAGA.  Then it was back to Stacie’s for more family and sanity.  The plan was to stay a couple more weeks in St. Louis but then Chase got a preseason tournament so I wanted  to stay a few extra days to see him play. He dressed and played a lot and very well the first game but didn’t dress for the second. Since it started at 9:20 and I was leaving the next morning I stayed home with Stacie and visited with Tom’s mom Donna who arrived that day.  Stacie and Tom worked their butts off getting the yards ready for outdoor pictures while everything was still green. Then cleaning the gara...

This was my mileage and driving time from home to when I got to Motel 6 in Cocoa Beach. 🏖️  Motel 6 turned out to be a big disappointment. With a 3:00 check in we were early when we showed up at 1:15 to see if we could get in early. The lady told me she’d see if the room was done but it would be $20 extra. I just shrugged and said whatever I was ready to get settled and rest. Short version the room wouldn’t be ready until 3:00 so Charlie and I went to the dog park. It was hot and humid but fortunately there were chairs under some big shade trees and there was a good breeze off the ocean.  After a while we went to Long Doggers to kill some more time and had a Bud Light on the patio.  When we returned to the motel at 3:15 the dog and pony show continued and the room wasn’t ready. I asked, “Since I would have had to pay $20 to get in early do I get $20 back for checking in late”? Of course the answer was that it didn’t work that way. I waited another 30 minutes and then to...