Touring the (amazing and kitschy) sights

Most of the trip to Ohio featured pretty cruddy weather, so I had to cancel my planned bike rides. But that left more time for tourist attractions.

I expect this photo to get me mad street cred in the right crowd. This was in Columbus, Ohio, where one family from the Star Trek Group lives, and they were amazed that they had never seen it before.

This Giant Atomic Mouse lives in Cordele, Georgia, on the property of a pest management company. Who will prevail? Only time (and the inevitable comic book adventure) will tell.

Pigs and pancakes. As my friend M said, they are so happy because you are eating pancakes instead of them.

Muffler man turned out to be not that exciting. He was about the size of me, and I´m not that big.

But the final attraction did not disappoint... an actual centaur skeleton! Housed in a tasteful wooden display cabinet, like those used by Victorian gentleman collectors, it is displayed in the center of the University of Tennessee University library. 

Adventures while waiting

I have now been waiting six weeks for the next document that I need for my visa application, which is coming from the US State Department. According to their website, I'll need to wait at least another five. That's okay, though, because all this waiting is good practice for when I have to start dealing with the Spanish bureaucracy.

To fill my time during the wait, I decided to take a longish road trip. I'll be gone for about a month, but I won't be coveting that much territory. Long drives make my back hurt, so I'll do short drives, paired with long visits.

If I have planned this right, I'll greet every current member of the Star Trek group in person, visit with my undergrad physics mentor, and do a lot of bike rides. Oh, and take some photos of roadside attractions. After all, I have to fill the blog with something.

Yesterday's highlight was a decommissioned Titan nuclear missile. It was pouring rain, so I didn't even get out of the car to take the photo. I drove quite close to read the informational plaque and learned that the government has only *loaned* this missile to the local Rotary club. But there was no explanation of why the Rotary Club thought this was a good idea. Still, the existence of the missile meant I drove through Cordele, Georgia and bought a coffee, so I guess it worked to attract at least one tourist.

Today I did a traffic bike ride in Franklin Delano Roosevelt State Park, near were he vacationed in Warm Springs, GA. The 8C/46F weather was apparently too cold for Southerners because the entire path was deserted. I also spent the evening with my good friend T and his family. In-person visits are about to become much harder for me, so I'm really glad I can do them now.

Visitors

I hear that if you move to a trendy vacation spot, all your friends and family will visit you. I think they mean places like Aspen and Hawaii, but it turns out to be true for Gainesville too. As a result of recent visits, I can now tell you the hot spots all tourists must visit. The three best:

•  A sinkhole. For real - you can see lots of geology and nature at the Devil´s Millhopper state park. but I like just telling people that they are going to a sinkhole. 
• Repurpose Project, my favorite thrift store. It´s like a giant garage sale and sells everything - broken bicycles, dinner plates for 25c,  and half used rolls of wrapping paper. Anything that they think someone will use, so that it won´t end up in a landfill.
• Satchel´s pizza, known for it´s artistic flair and homemade sodas. They have bunting made with hair curlers and no wall is left un-mosaiced. 

It was cold when my parents visited for Christmas but still warmer than the rest of the country, so we didn´t complain. 

The cold was so unusual that everyone wrapped their poor little tropical plants in blankets. 

My friends L and CA visited from DC on their way to a financial workshop. They enjoyed the sinkhole, but were more impressed by the alligator we saw on the University of Florida campus. 

I expect to be here for a few more months as I work through all the paperwork needed for the visa application. So act soon if you, too, want the Gainesville tour! VIP tours include the world´s biggest bat house and a1924 manually-operated elevator.