In the past we have stayed at decent hotels, the ones with breakfast down in the lobby, and would head out at a comfortable time, like maybe 8 or 9 a.m. The lobby breakfasts are a great convenience. We don't have to stop someplace on the way out of town.
The camper trailer is the same, with just a touch more work thrown in: Bernie generally puts something together for breakfast, like eggs and toast. If we have cereal, the trouble is not even noticeable. We check email on our new Verizon MiFi wireless connection. I read the news and finish my coffee, and we begin to break camp and suck in the camper's popouts. All this is complete and we are on the road by 8 or 9 a.m., pretty much the same as the hotel life.
We like it.
That's the way it happened Thursday when we headed out of Georgia for an uneventful drive to Plant City, FL. We pulled into the driveway of our friends, Amity and Jan Kokochak, in the early evening, and laughed and ate the rest of the evening.
Jan and I had already discussed protocol visits a friend pulling a camper. Do you stay in the friend's home, as you did in the past, or in the camper? I told him as far as I was concerned I have a room dedicated to my comfort in his house. We stayed in the house.
I-75
Many years ago I went to Atlanta for a convention. There around the hotel, of course, were working girls. Every city has the stroll. Nobody can get rid of it. All you can do is ignore ladies, unless they attach you, then you punch them.
Georgia has solved the problem, I believe. The girls got rich, bought land along I-75, and are erecting garish billboards every 300 to 500 feet. The stroll has moved from downtown Atlanta to I-75.
It's obscene to see this line of billboards driving I-75 south of Atlanta.
Georgia has allowed the prostitutes to ruin its beauty with those horrible signs. I don't care if I ever take I-75 through Georgia again, but that could be the state's goal. To reduce traffic.
When we crossed into Florida the signs disappeared. Ahhh, nature. Pleasant views. Florida has it right. But wait. After passing the Joseph O. Striska Official Florida Welcome Center the signs reappeared. Florida also has allowed the girls to work I-75 there, also.
What ever happened to federal regulations or laws that prohibited bill boards within 1,500 feet of the interstates? We need it back. I don't recall seeing this many billboards in other states. Maybe I wasn't paying attention. I will have to check later.
Shame on Georgia and Florida. What a way to welcome travelers.
The Information Center
Florida has done its welcome center correctly. It is fabulous. How can a welcome center be fabulous? It is an attractive building, extremely well-maintained landscaping, and rest rooms that are cleaner than some medical facilities I have been in. It is worth the stop.
The interior is spacious and airy, and Florida actually offers you a couple couches to rest on. A couple of young children were lounging when we passed through. They were enjoying themselves.
I'm glad we stopped there.
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