July 26 - Back after my road trip. Some planting is done.

I made a whirlwind trip to Pensacola this week to deliver my '92 Mustang to my son Frank. I drove 1000+ miles in 2 days without any air conditioning! Driving a 21 year old car that has been sitting in a garage or storage for the past several years all that distance was a bit of a gamble. All went well for me. Drove 570 miles the first day and stopped in northern Mississippi for the night.

The 2nd day was a 440 mile jaunt and an overnight visit with good friends Gary and Maggie Campbell in Foley, AL. I never did put the top down. I put a wet rag on my neck and sipped on the biggest fountain drink I could buy to pass the miles.

My 3rd day was spent in Pensacola to meet up with Frank and Crystal. We had something to eat at McGuire's Irish Pub before they went to an evening 311 concert at the Bay Center.

I flew home on Thursday morning. Pensacola to Dallas to St. Louis to Kirksville, MO. Kirksville is only about an hour drive from our house. I got off of a very nice American Airlines Boeing 757 in St. Louis to board a twin engine Cape Air 8-seater for the last leg to Kirksville. Let's just say that it was an interesting finish to my journey. They had to ask me how much I weighed before I could get on the plane. There were 5 passengers on the plane. One pilot sporting a handle bar mustache.... who turns sideways from his cockpit seat to tell us the preflight instructions. Needless to say there was no in-flight beverage service. This all reminded me of the Ron White routine about a short flight in a small plane that was losing oil pressure. Glad all went smoothly.

After Frank dropped me off at the airport, he soon discovered that the electric fan on the radiator had stopped working sometime during my drive south. The car overheated a but when he got to Destin but nothing serious. After letting it cool down, he made it to Southport and has already installed a new fan. He admitted that part of the attraction of owning the car will be wrenching on it. Nothing like getting a quick start on that!

I'll miss having the Stang in my garage but am pleased that Frank and his family wanted the car.  Here's wishing them many, many miles of top down fun in the future!!!

Now, back to our landscaping. Here are some pics of the plants and mulch recently added.

Earlier this week, they added some stepping stones from the deck stairs around to the back of the house.

Here's the patio area on the north side with some plants and mulch.....

After being gone for a few days, you can see it's time for me to get some weedkiller out once again to clean up our rocked shoreline. You can also see that we have new grass popping through on the hillside already.

Tomorrow, we work on the bubbler rock in front of the house. Once that is done, the crew will plant some more grass before packing up for their next job next week. The end is near!