A drive into Connecticut

I made a trip back to Walmart this morning to see if they could still do a CD with my pictures that were developed a couple of days ago. They can, but I will have to pick up the CD tomorrow, so I decided to take another drive into the country.

I retraced some of the route I took to get to Rudd Pond Campground earlier this week, but I turned off into Connecticut. I have always thought there is a distinct difference when a border is crossed into another state, and Connecticut is no exception. Like eastern NY state, CT is beautiful especially on the back roads, and I was definitely on the backroads. I decided to follow the Garmin's directions because I hate the way this new one says "recalculate". I like the newer GPS with its larger screen, and the look and feel is the same as my old unit. But the voice! She speaks in a posh accent that reminds me of the woman who sometimes hosted classical music programs on NPR. That accent is fine when she's talking about Brahms, Beethoven, and Mozart, the as for giving directions it gets old very fast. If there is a way to substitute another American voice I haven't been able to figure it out yet. I am wondering if I could understand directions in Spanish - better not try, I suppose.

I drove through a gorgeous little town of Millbrook (NY) and thought I would like to live there if I had enough money to live in NY, which I don't. Then into CT, there were so many cute little cottages that would suit me perfectly. The whole area looks exactly like what you would expect rural New England to look like. I continued on to the land of Canaan. Canaan, CT, that is, where I turned back southwest for NY. I took the Taconic Parkway back since I was tired of the winding little roads and the construction that is everywhere. I can understand that road repairs have to be done while the weather is good.

Speaking of the new Garmin, I noticed that when I drive above the speed limit my speed is shown in red. I also found some options for time, distance,elevation, direction, etc. They were no doubt available on the old unit but I just didn't explore it enough to find them. There were a few features I discovered about the old one just before I switched, so I guess I should be more eager to see what's there. These are things I would have found if the GPS came with a manual. I really dislike online manuals, so I'm not likely to learn much from that source.

I think Lady is going to love riding in the Highlander. I put the wide section of back seat down and spread out the colorful fleece blanket to cover the carpet and hopefully catch much of the dog hair. Thanks Rae (Travels with Miranda) for the tip, and I'll let you know how well it works. She couldn't (or wouldn't try) climb in the back hatch so I had to let her jump in the side rear door. From there she knew exactly where to go. During our travel this morning she changed positions a number of times, and had the luxury of standing up and being able to turn around with plenty of room. I like the fact that even with the back seat laying flat, the floor space in front of the seat is still available to stow cargo, such as a small cooler or duffel bags, etc. I think I'll be able to get everything into the Highlander for the travel back to CA in Aug or Sept. I will definitely go back to CA to see my eye surgeon the end of September, and have a cornea transplant on my right eye. I hope the next one goes as well.

I will possibly try to return to NY early next spring to continue the dental work I've started here. I like the dental practice which also has an oral surgeon, so I don't need to go to a different office for different treatments. The one thing I dislike, but maybe it is for my own good, is that they insist on dosing me up with antibiotics before any kind of dental work. This is because I have a stent implant in one of my arteries, and has been standard practice for some time. I recently read on the internet however, that they no longer recommend mega doses of antibiotics for dental procedures. At least I can tolerate Amoxycillin fairly well, but don't really like to take it as often as I've had to lately. Sometimes you just can't win!

If you can stand one more health related issue (and just quit reading if you can't), I've been monitoring my blood pressure whenever I go to the grocery or Walmart, and it is still quite low for me. The systolic is well under 100, like around 89, and the diastolic is in the 50's, which would be great if I was an athlete, But I'm not an athlete and it just makes me dizzy. So I'm going back to my old meds which haven't returned me to my normal bp yet but have certainly kicked up the leg cramps at night. Grasping for any relief, I bought a 6 pack of tonic water today and plan to have a vodka tonic every evening, without the vodka! Along with the V8 juice I drink every evening something should help, shouldn't it? Who knows what the combination might be doing? I'm determined to find a cure that doesn't involve another prescription!