For those of you just joining the series, back in 2008 my friend Diana and I celebrated our retirements by taking a 65 day road trip. The plan was to take secondary roads only from Michigan to Florida and back. It didn't take long to realize there were three personalities in the car! There was Diana, myself, and Gertie GPS!
Our first stop was to be a Pioneer Settlement in Barberville, Florida. Gertie GPS didn't want to go! She refused to acknowledge Barberville even existed!! We had to resort to the old fashioned "Map on the Lap" to find our destination! True, it was a burp in the road with a population of 400- but Gertie should've known it was there!
On our way Diana mentioned that she wasn't cooking on her front burners and Gertie was irritating! ! I sang "Heavenly Sunshine"....(I never asked Di if she liked my singing, but she had never stopped the car and told me to get out, so I guessed we were okay!)
The Pioneer Settlement for the Creative Arts in Barberville is a walk into the past! We started at the schoolhouse where a sign said "The youth of today are our priceless resource of tomorrow". Our guide had a personal history with the place. There was a covered bridge she remembered crossing to go to Girl Scout camp, and her mother was a member of the "Muddauber's Pottery Group" who made pitchers for one of the famous restaurants near by. All the guides and workers were dressed in outfits that were of that era! Even the farming was done with equipment of that time! Beautiful horses pulled plows and wagons.
I got a kick out of one of the items in the barn! It was a bike with a lawn mower for front wheels- called "Granny's bike. We saw many historic buildings and learned the history of each. We ended at the Methodist Church that was built in 1890. During restoration they found an old gin bottle in a wall! It was speculated that the pastor used it for a bit of inspiration from time to time! I found out about "Shot Gun" houses! (You could stand at the front door and shoot a gun straight through the back door!) It had two rooms with the only wall paper or insulation being newspaper. One of the volunteers use to live in a house just like that! Her mother was a mid-wife for the area!
On we went to Lakeland. Overcast skies gave way to patches of blue and sunshine overhead, with white fluffy clouds hanging low on all sides! It gave the illusion of being in a fish bowl of fluffy clouds with nothing but blue overhead!
We went to the Sun 'N Fun Air Museum! It wasn't Diana's thing, but she graciously came along to take notes! I've been in love with airplanes for as long as I can remember, so this was my bag! There was a rich variety of aircraft, many home built. They also had aircraft covering the first 100 years of flight!!
Once back in the car- Gertie GPS refused to leave! She had us circling the airport several times- then attempted to put us on the runway!! So -Diana was yelling "No You Don't" while Gertie stubbornly repeated "Recalculating- make a U-turn!" We finally found our way out of the airport, just to have Gertie send us to dead ends, and lastly to a cul-de-sac! Diana and I were both "talking" to Gertie at this point! By the time we were in the cul-de-sac the air was turning a bit blue! (Language!) Diana finally reached over and turned Gertie off!
And off we finally went to Dundee, Florida! (Again, map on the lap!) We arrived a bit late- tired- hungry- but happy that the last part of the ride was QUIET! We later figured that Gertie was an airplane "wan-a-be" or perhaps even a distant cousin to some of the aircraft electronics! We thought a time out would give her a chance to regroup! We had to admit that Gertie gave us a few added adventures we wouldn't have had otherwise!!
Until Next Time, Dear Readers!
The Adventures Seem To Never End With Gertie As The Navigator!!
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