ANTS - THUNDER SHOWERS - RECORD MILES

DAY 8

718 Miles

Monday, July 28, 2014

Fayettevillel, NC to Lantana, FL through Jacksonville and Palm Bay, FL.



Fire Ant biting

FUNNIEST STORY TODAYApparently, Son (Jason) parked his bike over an ant hill last evening.  However, he really didn't know about the ants until he was on the road heading south toward Florida. Ouch! Yow! The ants were everywhere; in the engine, on the handle bars, windshield, tires...up in his helmet! He has bites everywhere.  Because he is an "animal" he just slapped and tolerated most of the morning. First, he felt a bite on his leg and then his other leg and then his arm and then his back. Ouch! Ouch! He nearly lost his mind with the helmet and the ants. 

GOOGLE:  Below is the definition of Fire Ants:


Look Really close and you will see an
ant on the dash board

Anyone who has ever been unfortunate enough to have an intimate encounter with fire ants understands why they are such unwelcome pests. They sting and it hurts! Fire ants bite as well, grasping the skin with their mandibles to anchor themselves and better insert their sting. The bite is of no lasting consequence, but the venom they inject through their sting is quite potent, especially in relation to their size. Unlike the sting of the honey bee, the sting of the fire ant is not barbed, and an individual worker can sting repeatedly and still survive to return to her normal duties.

Ant bites on Son's leg (one, two
three, four, five, six, seven, eight)


 HARDEST CHALLENGE TODAY
We saw it coming; dark, nasty-looking clouds, full of rain. We decided that we would be happier without the hot rain gear because it was 97 degrees and rising. All of the sudden the temperature dropped to 77 degrees and we got dumped on for about 5 minutes.  We were totally soaked. The rain stopped, the sun came out, the temperature rose up to 95 degrees and we were dry in no time. CAR WASH AT 65 MILES PER HOUR: An hour later, it happened again! The dark clouds moved in - drowning us for 10 minutes but we perservered and rode the storm out.  We were in a car wash going 65 miles an hour. You would think that the ants would have been taken care of at this point; Not!

WILDLIFE

Non-squished alligator

One Florida alligator (squished)
4 wild turkeys (not squished)
1 mink (for sure it was a mink because Jase knows mink - years and years of doing surgery on mink for his doctorate has made him an expert)

 

PEOPLE WE MEET

We are still getting thumbs up by the people we meet on the freeways. Everyone is so friendly in the North Carolina and South Carolina states. 

EAT WHAT THE STATE IS FAMOUS FOR
Yesterday we had North Carolina Chicken and Dumplings and today we had South Carolina sweet pork barbecue with cornbread at Sunny's Pit Barbecue. The meal to the left was a Fiber-Re-Stock. There was a great need for some roughage in our diets.  Dad felt bad because he flew past Charlotte, South Carolina and missed his favorite; shrimp and grits.

 RECORD MILES: No traffic jams, no slow-downs, no contstruction. Today we made it to Lantana Florida after 718 miles. We logged 13 hours in the saddle on Highway 95 South. We are headed to the Florida Keys where we plan on having what the area is famous for; Key Lime Pie! Just-as-a-note: We stop about every 90 miles to rest and then we go 90 more miles before we get gas. We are chipping away at our trip All Around The USA!

RELIGIOUS UPDATE

• Dad finished the Book of Mormon and felt so bad that he had skipped these chapters so he listened to 1st and 2nd Nephi this morning. Son gave some great tips on understanding Isaiah.
• Son is moving along on his reading with a very uncomforatble ear piece. He should finish the Book of Mormon this evening.

 

Mill Hollow First Ward Motivational Message from Bishop Hunt

 

"How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because, someday in your life, you will have been all of these." -George Washington Carver