What’s Next?

Sometime last December I started rewatching The West Wing again. Donna and I used to rewatch the series every couple years, hey we like the show. I got about to the end of Season 6 or the first couple of episodes in Season 7 before I disappeared for 2 months.

I didn’t miss it on the road trip and figured maybe when I got back I’d just stop and not do those last 20-25 shows. Then COVID hit me, so I really had nothing to do, but, watch TV so I picked it back up. As I’ve done the last few times rewatching the show, when I get done with the TV episode I listen to corresponding episode of the The West Wing Weekly podcast.

I was doing fine just watching one episode a day, but when I got down to the final 6 episodes of the show I accelerated. Two days ago I watched two episodes and yesterday I binged the last four. I’ve still got the last 2 podcast episodes to finish. I might listen to one of them when I get finished here.

The post title of “What’s Next?” comes from the show, it was President Martin Sheen’s catch phrase for when he was done with one problem and it was time to start solving the next problem. It is also how Josh Molina and Hrishikesh Hirway sign off at the end of a podcast.

So what’s next for me, TV-wise, don’t know, but reading-wise, I’m waiting on my copy of What’s Next: A Backstage Pass to The West Wing, Its Cast and Crew, and Its Enduring Legacy of Service to arrive from Amazon.

Trying To Get Back On Track

East Salish Pond


 
When I went on the 2025 Jumbo Road Trip I blogged every night and for the 49 days prior to going on the trip I posted on 48 of them. In the 12 days since I’ve been back, today included, I’ve posted 7 times, so I’m having trouble getting back on track of the everyday posting.

Can’t really blame it on the COVID, because after a 3 days I’ve felt normal. I just keep testing positive. Including today because I had a dentist appointment tomorrow. I have been out walking a mile or two for almost every day. The picture above was from Friday as well as the first two below and the third image is from Sunday.

I walked again this morning, but didn’t take the phone/camera out of my pocket. Before I took these last three walks I stopped in at the Stomping Grounds and picked up a 16oz Salted Carmel Latte to carry with me. Hypothetical question: Does my walking 2-1/2 miles in an hour, while drinking that latte, do I manage to burn enough calories to offset that tasty coffee consumption?

6 Out Of 7 Ain’t Bad

Mount Hood & Miata


 
It was a beautiful morning for a top down drive and I had a nice little loop planned. Go due east on I-84 until Hood River and then turn south OR-35, following it down to US-26 where I would turn west towards home. This enclosed Mt. Hood inside the loop and there were seven Post Offices along the way. Trouble is that there were two real close together and in my excitement I drove off after taking photos of just one.

Maybe next Sunday if the weather is similar I just might drive that loop again. It was a very scenic drive and maybe I’ll wear my hiking boots and stop at one of the many trails along the route.

Roadside America States & Corrections II

I have previously mentioned how many states I drove through on the 2025 Jumbo Road Trip (more on this later) and I wanted to really count how many states I took Roadside America photos in. So I went back to the start, April 18th and wrote down the name of every state where I took a RA photo all the way through June 17th. I came up 26 states. Wait a minute, when I did the Power Point presentation to put on Instagram the other day, one slide read: 70 ROADSIDE AMERICA PHOTOS IN 25 STATES?

So, I pulled up an image of a map of the lower 48 states and retraced my route filling in each state outline that I’d driven through. When I was done, I had filled in 31 states. Wait a minute, when I did the Power Point presentation to put on Instagram the other day, one slide read: DROVE THROUGH 31 STATES & 1 CANADIAN PROVINCE? Okay, I got that one right.

I looked at that filled in map. And realized that that when I visited Monument Valley I was in the north east corner of Arizona and although I didn’t count it in the RA photo count, it does have its own pin in the Arizona map on Roadside America. That means in fact that I took 70 Roadside America photos in 27 states. And I probably need to go back and add at least one more to that 70 total to make up for not counting Monument Valley.

I think that seventy figure came from me counting just how many Roadside America photos I posted to Instagram. Of the Roadside America photos I posted on the web page, that total comes to 82. If I count all the photos I took in total it is probably closer to 100, but I can’t give an exact figure because I’ve already gone through and deleted the ones I thought were crap.


 

Miatas Servicing

Yesterday afternoon I drove the Blue Miata over to Tonkin Mazda to get its 15k mile service. Because I got an oil change just before I left my Service Advisor was a little surprised that I was back with such a high mileage figure. 🙂

Today it was the Black Miata’s turn. This service is going to take a bit longer than yesterday’s 2 hour time frame. It’s getting a new clutch disc – Bucky Earns His Name

Where Did The Weekend Go?

I’m going to blame it on COVID. I did a lot of sleeping. Yesterday I started to feel a little better and managed a one-mile walk. Today I made it over to the DMV to get a title, a lien-free title, for the ’24 Miata. Now I need to start working on getting Bucky all registered and titled. And get the clutch issue fixed so it can not only be legally driven but also be fun to drive.

Yesterday I edited the Jumbo Road Trip Wrap-up. It seems when I mentioned all the states I passed through, I totally forgot about the one Canadian province I went through. The other correction was on how much the sixty-one-day trip cost. I at first figured it was over twenty thousand dollars. Boy, was I wrong. Somehow when I added up all the cash-out figures, I came up with $10,400. I just added an extra decimal point; it was actually $1,040. And I combed through both months credit card bills, eliminating the normal living stuff that hits the card, and the grand total turned out to be a touch over $7,900. That’s not nothing, but I think it was well worth it.

Welcome Back To Real Life

I don’t know what’s worse, coming to a complete stop after 2 months on the road or testing positive for COVID the day after.

Somewhere along the line the Miata picked up a star crack in the windshield; it is not in my line of sight, but I want someone to fill it in. I have to go to the DMV to get the official title without a lein for the car too. I also have to start work on Bucky the Miata, it too needs a title, a registration, the clutch disc changed, and maybe figure out why the shifter is not vertical.

I need some work too. I’ve still got the infected, failed root canal that needs fixing. Then there’s that COVID thing; last time it took like 6 weeks before I was virus-free. And that’s just barely enough time to get to Switzerland to visit Sally.

One thing at a time, I’ve got a DMV appointment on Monday where I’ll get the 2024 Miata title taken care of. I’m going to bring the the 2001’s title stuff with me too and see if I can get 2 for the price of 1.