Hi Gram,
I’m back on the road again and wanted to tell you about all the amazing sights and experiences I’ve been having.

I was in Illinois, and I was miserable. Well maybe “miserable” is a strong word, but I wasn’t enjoying myself, and I was getting stressed out. I had only been in Illinois for a couple weeks, the final stop on an enjoyable road trip where I visited wonderful people and saw beautiful sights. I was going through the flotsam and jetsam of my garage and life that had built up over many years. As I’ve learned is common to the human condition, I had accumulated a lot of stuff without meaning to do so. Many times over the past 20 years – and in reality over my whole lifetime – I would find myself standing in my garage, something in my hand that I needed to do something with. It was in my way in the house, or I was cleaning to entertain guests, or I was doing some spring cleaning and wanted to de-clutter. In any case, I needed to do SOMETHING with the “this or that” in my hand. In some cases, I’d recognize that I needed to throw it away or donate it, but most times there was some emotion tied to it, or I pondered its future utility, or it was a gift that I felt too guilty to let go. Instead of making the hard decision, I would just find a box to shove it into or a shelf to rest it on. Out of sight, out of my way, and a problem for “future me” to deal with. Many years later, “future me” had finally become “now me” and it was time to go through it all.

Anyway, I had made some progress on the clutter and was feeling anxious. What I really wanted to do was get away from the clutter and the work and go spend time with people that make me happy. I had friends in Illinois that could distract me from the chores and help me build memories, but I always found myself back in the garage with the weight of the job ahead of me. What I needed, and really wanted, was to be back on the road exploring, and spending time with friends away from the environment that just reminded me of all I had to do. My mind immediately went to visiting two new friends. I had visited my friend Monica on my way north from Florida a few weeks ago, and had left wanting to spend more time together. Our conversation flowed without effort, she has a positive outlook on life, and is just the kind of person I want to spend more time with, ya know? I also have a friend, Annie, that I have spoken to almost every day since we met in January. She’s one of my biggest cheerleaders in life, always has great stories of living her life passionately, and I wanted a chance to spend some time in person absorbing that joie de vivre. I made the easy decision to leave the stress and weight of Illinois and take a road trip to experience more joy and vibrancy.

Heading south towards Georgia, I was planning to stop in Nashville for the night. As I approached the city I was still awake with energy and wasn’t attracted to the flashy razzle-dazzle of music city, so I kept going. I grabbed a hotel in a small town about an hour outside of Nashville, then headed to Chattanooga in the morning for some hiking. I had driven through this city a number of times and was always curious about it, and I felt a need to stretch my legs a little more after my previous day of driving, so I asked Google Maps for a path to walk. I don’t remember the name of the path, but it started in a neighborhood with a nondescript gate. I would have driven right past it without the phone navigation telling me to stop, and wondered if this was going to be a dud. Curious, I parked on the street and started up the hilly strip of gravel. I was blown away by how quickly the city sounds faded away and nature surrounded me. I stopped to rest at a few benches along the way and saw a couple other people walking their dogs or taking an afternoon stroll before coming to an outcropping with a gorgeous view of the city!

The path wound around for a while longer before looping around and heading back down. As I was starting this walk, I had my earbuds in listening to a podcast and thought it was curious how the birds all seemed to be on the left side of me. After the trail looped around, the birds all seemed to move to the other side of the trail, still on my left. It was then that I realized that my new hearing aid was creating this illusion! The microphone sits behind my hear and pipes the sound directly into my hear, bypassing the earbuds. My right ear was hearing the earbud louder than the birds in the distance, but my left ear was getting the amplified birds before the sound from the earbud. This realization kept me smiling as I finished the trail and started looking for some lunch. I found a cute little Cuban cafe not far away, where I had a delicious sandwich of toasted bread, turkey, raspberry jam, and pickles. I washed it down with a minty beverage and soaked in the surroundings as the proprietors chatted in Spanglish. With my belly satiated by the sandwich and my ears satiated by the lively background music and conversations, I bid the owners farewell and got back on the road.

A few hours later, after driving through downtown Atlanta, I arrived at the hotel I had chosen from the travel app and was grateful that I hadn’t reserved a room. Delighted. Elated. Gleeful that I didn’t have a reservation there. Now let me be clear that I’ve stayed at some less than optimal hotels. I’m not picky. As long as there’s a bed, a bathroom, and it feels mostly clean, I don’t care if it’s dated, seems rundown, has rude staff, or offers zero amenities. I’m usually just looking for somewhere to lay my head for the night, get a shower, and continue my adventures. This place, though? There were windows boarded up, the surrounding buildings looked abandoned, and the lobby carpet looked and felt greasy, even through my shoes. I turned around and left, heading back to my car to find another option. I found a hotel about 10-15 minutes away and headed there. This next hotel was rundown and felt past its prime, but I found the room to be clean and I didn’t get the heebie jeebies just looking at it. I booked the place for the next 6 days and had no problems, although I later found out that they’ve had problems with criminal activity and police being called often in the past. While I was there, though, it was exactly what I needed. Well, I need to get on the road so I’ll continue my adventures next time.