Finally, after a year of not seeing Mom, I was able to make it back up to Panama City, FL for a couple days. It's not that I haven't wanted to go up. It's simply that my overly protective wife, Pam, has been reluctant to let me make the trip, even tho' my cardiologist said it's okay.
Mom had an infection that was taking a toll on her. Taking antibiotics for it didn't set well with her body and she couldn't hold down her lunch or dinner. Playing the sympathy card, I was finally able to get Pam to set me free for a few days. I drove up on Monday, a very beautiful day for driving. The only hangup I encountered was crossing Tampa Bay between St. Petersburg and Tampa. The rush hour was pretty much over, but traffic came to a crawl. A ride that would normally take about the minutes ended up taking a half hour. Having to take the airport exit to get to the Veterans Expressway, as I got up to it, I then found out what the problem was--an accident that blocked one of the two exit lanes.
Once I made it past that, it was clear sailing. I had packed a sandwich to eat along the way and I was on a 40-mile stretch of highway between Cross City and Perry, FL. I knew there were no rest areas along the way, so I was hoping for someplace to pull off--a church; a ranger station; a gas station; anyplace. Unfortunately, such was not to be or about 25 miles. Finally, I came upon the Salem, FL post office which sat next to a derelict gas station--no doors, windows, or roof. Of course there was no place to relieve myself, so I went inside the station, walking over the crackling floor tiles and weeds which had taken over the floor in order to take care of business. After eating and getting back onto the road, I had an uneventful remainder of a trip and spent a couple hours with Mom when I got to P City.
Tuesday morning I stopped in to see her and plan the day. We decided that I'd return around noon and we'd head out to Carrabba's Italian Restaurant, a place she had never been. As I had picked up quite a few lovebugs on my way north, I knew I had to go to a car wash, so I did that before going over to visit my sister who also lives there (more about the car wash later). I picked up Mom at noon and we headed out to Panama City Beach and Carrabba's. Unfortunately, they weren't open for lunch, so we continued on to Pier Park, a large shopping center, to check out what might be available there for lunch. We spotted the Hofbrau, a German Bier Garten, so we decided that looked like a good place to eat. The weather was so beautiful--in the low 80s--we decided to eat on the patio. Mom had a couple of sausages (she could only eat one) and I had a weinerschnitzel. Each of us washed lunch down with a half liter of a great dark German bier. Neither of us could eat dinner that evening.
Wednesday was an off-day, as Mom was afraid she was catching a cold, as she was sneezing her her head was stopped up, so she just stayed inside and rested all day long. I killed the morning exploring a couple of large antique stores in beautiful downtown Panama City and polished off a chili-slaw dog (one of my college-day favorites) at Tom's Hot Dogs, a local institution. The rest of the day was spent, just chilling. That evening, after dinner, I stopped back at Glen Cove Nursing Pavilion, where Mom lives, and visited with her for a while before saying our goodbyes.
Thursday, heading back to Bradenton, I was reaching for my digital voice recorder, which I keep in the car to make notes. I couldn't find it in its usual spot, so I waited until I had a break to look further for it. I still couldn't find it, so I tore the car apart looking for it once I got back home around 5 PM, or so. No doubt it had been copped by one of the young persons who had dried off my car at the carwash, since it had been in its spot on the way up and only Mom and my brother, Gene along with his wife, Regina, had been in the car. I was a bit pissed because I've never had it missing when going through the local carwash here in Bradenton. I wrote a review of Waterworx Car Wash, which was not flattering at all, as well as calling the manager this morning to let him know of my experience and how pissed I was. I know he can not do anything about it, but at least I got to vent.
I'm now back in my usual routine and so very happy I was able to get up to see Mom. I had called her when I got home and she told me she was feeling great and feels it may have been her allergies kicking up. She stays inside, for the most part, and I suspect her problems stemmed from being outside for an extended period of time on Wednesday. After lunching on the Hofbrau patio, I pushed her around the shopping area in her wheelchair, and I imagine all that time outside took its toll on her sinuses. So happy she's feeling good once again.
