Sunday, April 20, 2014

The Epic Journey Begins


We left Tennessee on Monday, March 17, 2014. Everything for this trip was packed in 2 large black suitcases we bought brand new for the trip, two small backpacks, camera bag and a computer bag. We also carried a small cooler with Steve’s medication, a bigger cooler with left-over perishables from our refrigerator and a pink umbrella stroller. We left at 8:30 AM and followed I-26 through the Carolinas and then got on I-95 through Georgia. We arrived in Macclenny at Aunt Sally’s and Uncle Otto’s house at around 6:30 PM. The kids did really well on the long drive. It rained the whole way and got much heavier as we got to Florida.
 
The "Blue Hole" swimming area, 2miles from our home in Tennessee

 
Life in Tennessee reminds me of how great we had it growing up in Florida, back in the day.
 

We spent the night with Aunt Sally and Uncle Otto, had breakfast with them in a restaurant the next morning and drove to Jena to visit Uncle Albert and Aunt Vivian. They made us a nice lunch and we played cards for a little while. Later that afternoon we continued our drive all the way to Center Hill to mom’s house.

We did a little bit of shopping in Bushnell – we got some groceries for the next few days as well as sheets and an air mattress.

We spent the next few days with mom, either at her house or taking her to doctor appointments. On Wednesday, 19th, Steve had a doctor appointment to get a prescription for the next 3 months.

On Friday, March 21st, we went to Legoland since we still had 4 free tickets I won at the homeschooling conference last year. All that Stevie wanted was to go to the pirate show. We arrived just on time for the first show but got there too late to get to one of the water cannons. Stevie was very upset but we decided to go to the next show at 3 PM (there were only two shows that day) and try again. Steve talked to one of the employees to see if he can help us get to the water cannon – with his help, Stevie was able to get to the cannon during the second show. Stevie had a blast. We went on a couple of other rides but pretty much went home after the show.
 
 
 
 
 
Mission Accomplished!!!

On Sunday, March 23rd, we went to Typhoon Lagoon as it was still in the 80s but cooler weather was expected in the next few days. This was our last opportunity to use our season tickets from last year. They will expire while we are in Europe. It was very enjoyable. Both Hannah and Stevie swam in the lazy river by themselves without anything.

Stevie also wanted to go to the wave pool. He and Steve went through the big wave several times. Hannah was on the big kid slide while the boys played in the waves. This was the first time Hannah was able to go on that slide. It was a wonderful afternoon.

Our second week in Florida was very much like the first. Mom had several appointments at home and in Clermont that we took her to. We also shopped for the last few items for our trip. On Tuesday, the 25th, we met Jana in Clermont. She met us in Paradise Park where the kids played for an hour or so. After that we went to the Olive Garden for dinner.

On Wednesday, 26th, Steve dropped me off with the kids at Krista’s while he went to a doctor appointment. The kids were happy to see each other. We got to see Madisen, Morgan and the rest of their family on Thursday as well. We met for dinner and then went over to their house for one final playdate. Stevie and Madisen played Digger’s Garden Match together. It was the first time Stevie has played a board game with another child all by themselves. Pretty cool.

We had a little cook-out at Mom’s on Friday. We made hamburgers on the grill and Steve, David, Stevie and mom did some target practice. Stevie was really enjoying this as well.

David drove Steve to the Orlando airport on Saturday, March 29th, to pick up our rental car. While we enjoyed nice weather the whole time in Florida, a large storm system was moving through and we were leaving in heavy rain. It was a bit challenging to get everything into the rental car without getting soaked but we were soon on the way. We took the Turnpike south all the way to Fort Lauderdale. We arrived at the hotel around dinner time.  Thanks to all of our family for helping us make our retirement vacation a reality.  Thank you Sally and Otto for giving us shelter and fellowship on our trip down.  Thanks Albert and Vivian for the lunch and friendship during our brief but overdue visit.  Thanks to Mom for our 11 day visit at your house, food and company.  Thanks to David for all of your help while at mom’s house, driving us to get rental car in Orlando and checking on our property in Tennessee.  You have all helped to make our vacation possible and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts.  We will keep adding a little more to our blog every day or so until it is caught up.  Love Steve, Kat, Stevie and Hannah…..

 

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