Learning to LOVE to Drive

It all started with the decision to drive my Xterra back to Florida this winter. I knew that I was going to need my own transportation around DeLand when I was visiting my parents. I knew that to get around Clermont, a personal vehicle is the only way (riding my bike to and from the pool and the grocery store was NOT an option!). If I wanted to go up to Gainesville and watch my brother and the rest of the Gator swim team, I would need my own set of wheels.
So, the decision was easy (especially when my Dad agreed to fly out to COS and help me drive home:) and I'm very thankful and glad for my decision. I would not have been able to do one-tenth of the things I've done during the last month and a half...go ride the Wednesday night airport ride, drive back and forth between Koren's place in Clermont, the pool, and the grocery store, take a quick trip home to attend the Plan B Bike Shop's Swap meet in December, etc...the list goes on.
Well, now, the list REALLY does go on...once a week for this month of January, I will be climbing behind the wheel and heading from Groveland to West Palm Beach to see Dr. Keith and get treatment on my foot. If you would like to MapQuest the distance and time between those two previously mentioned places you will see that I'm not lying when I tell you that it's a 3 HOUR drive, ONE WAY! Yep, and I just did the drive down there on Wednesday afternoon (after swimming solo and biking with the team). It was BRUTAL! I had to eat my way from Orlando to West Palm Beach in order to stay awake and not drive off the road:)
It was great to see Dr. Keith at his offices (Advanced Wellness) and then he had kindly invited me to spend the night, check on the foot in the morning, and then send me back on the road to Groveland. His offices in WPB are just the hopping place...people were in and out and around and doing all sorts of rehab and treatment stuff. After he was finished for the day, I got to meet his beautiful family (wife, Colleen, and two adorable boys, Zachary, 8 and Ethan, 5), eat a fantastic dinner (even after eating my way down there, I was still plenty hungry for Colleen's amazing dinner), play some Wii baseball (I stunk and got beat by an 8 year old:).
This morning I checked in, ate some breakfast and hit the road before 8am. I was in a time crunch to get back before 12 noon when the team here was rolling out for a 3-hour ride. Fortunately, I made it back to Villa 27 with plenty of time to grab a quick bite, fill up my water bottles, and hit the hills of Clermont for 3.5 hours (68 miles total)!
By the way, Jasmine arrived in Florida last night and it was great to see her today when I finally got back. She's my roommate for the month...we've got two little twin beds here in the 'kids' room. I guess I've already shared enough info in the previous post about the beds not being the greatest...but I'm on my way to the department store in a few minutes to pick up one of those 'egg crate' things that I used in college. It will be just like my solution in S. Korea...pull out the padding in my bike box and lay it under the sheets...except I don't have my bike box with me and I can just go get some real bed pads this time:)