A Winter Trip to Orlando

More than likely we had too high of expectations for this trip, but then again, maybe things just were not nearly as smooth sailing as they should have been? There were some high points with more than we would have liked, low points. 

A week ago, at 7:30 in the morning, we left our sweet little Campbell Street house to begin our journey to Orlando. The temperature was 27 degrees with snow remaining in the back yard. John and Laura agreed to feed the birds, a task that they took to heart, even filling them up yesterday morning in six degree weather!! 

Right away it was challenging with a dirty inside windshield and no cleaner in the car, the sun blaring in our eyes and some funky action on our dashboard. What did it mean we wondered? Nothing in the manual gave us a clue and when I called Subaru not long after we left, the answers were unsatisfactory. We only hoped that we could make it without incident! Then there is the matter of Blood Mountain to traverse.

I get it, we are not talking the Rockies here, but still it is a bit nerve wracking with all of the dips and extreme curves, not to mention wet areas that we wondered if what we were seeing was black ice. Finally we were out of the mountains and eventually came to some green pastures.

Because the days are still quite short, we stopped in Valdosta, GA and were so glad that we discovered the Drury Inn. After a stressful day, we were so happy that they not only served a free breakfast, they served a free evening meal as well, allowing us to relax and put the day behind us. Much to our delight, the food was fantastic and ample as well. So marvelous that we are staying there again tomorrow night on our way back. 

The morning drive was mostly uneventful and after a little over four hours, our exit came up. 

We were home for only a short time and friends and family began coming by for a visit. I had let David know we were on our way and he came right over and it was so good to see him. Should you not know who David is, he is one of our beloved sons. We met Nancy at Hawkers for an early dinner and I am sad to say that Bruce was disappointed in the food, something Nancy had warned us about. One of our favorites, that dinner was a harbinger of many disappointments to come. The company was good though as was the company once we returned home when Mary came to see us.

Bruce went to his 8AM appointment at Subaru and I cleaned house. Apparently in the last week or so the air conditioner quit working properly and all of the hard surfaces (!!!) were covered in mildew. Nancy, bless her heart, cleaned it all but it needed a second cleaning. So what I mean is all of the dining tables (3),  and all of the beautiful walnut floors, covered in mildew!! Bruce was at Subaru for 6.5 hours and while that is not easy, the good news is that the problems he was encountering were known and part of a recall that we were unaware of. Thank goodness because the bill would have been $1, 000!

The good news is that we got to see our first grandchild on Saturday afternoon and holy cow is he a cutie!

We spent time inside with masks on, followed by a neighborhood walk. Grandpa was doing what grandpas do and that is having them grab a finger. Actually, when I took the photo it so reminded me of my dad doing the same with our boys.

When we returned we sat beside the pool and their first "baby" joined us. Actually that sounds sort of creepy to me, but as we all know by now, I am old fashioned. That is Winnie on Bruce's lap.

Which gives me the opportunity to brag on her as she has been quite good at being unseated as the queen of the roost! We had a wonderful visit with Bill by the pool. Fallon and Christian made an appearance and that is all we saw of him on this trip. 

As a new mom, and I do remember being one, ever so slightly but I have not forgotten everything, protecting your child comes naturally. That said, had we waited another month or so things would have been different because not only would some of the horrible viruses that are going around settle down as the winter winds down, Christian will be vaccinated so she will have a much greater level of confidence that he won't get sick. 

We did not wait because we wanted to attend the memorial service on Sunday afternoon. Here I am with my remaining siblings. 

Gail, Nancy, Pat and Lisa is the line up these days. Some of you don't know that we have lost two sisters which is one reason we are doing our North Carolina adventure. "Doing all that we can, while we can!" The lineup used to be Pat, Maureen, Gail, Carol, Nancy and Lisa. 

Lisa and her best friend Greta who helped her through the many years of Danny being unwell. The blonde wearing glasses is Lisa and Danny's youngest daughter, Emily. She and her sister Amanda were also fantastic. It was a group effort!

A retired firefighter, many of his colleagues were there including a woman that we are related to in a round about way. Margie is the sister to our sister-in-law Judy who is married to Bruce's brother.

She was a young policewoman who spent a lot of time at the firehouse and knew Danny before Lisa did. She had some funny stories to tell as did lots of folks, including those he worked with at the Pride of Paramore when he was a fairly young man. I especially felt sad seeing the truck when we arrived.

We used to spend most Christmases at Danny and Lisa's spacious home in Longwood. He was a very good man who will be missed.

Sunday morning I was so hoping to go to one of my favorite birding spots but unfortunately God had other plans. Rain, rain and more rain! I just heard from Karen a friend who lives here who said what a miserable week it has been, to which I agreed, and also how sorry she felt for tourists who spent so much money to come here only to find it cold, damp and dreary. I seconded that idea!

We spent a considerable amount of time going through our things and looking for things that will be useful on Campbell Street. And then it was Monday and looking back on things, I realized our schedule was far too ambitious. Nonetheless, I had a 7:30 teeth cleaning followed by Bruce doing the same. I was telling Matt how much the office where we have gone for nearly 40 years has changed. There is no way in hell that Dr. Arenz would have ever agreed to something like this.

I should be celebrating that all was good but I have to admit, I left there thinking what the heck! Before I go though, I had a new hygienist who displayed this cool map in the room. She and her current husband have been to all the parks shown.

Not only did I learn about her travels, something else in her space prompted me to ask about the photographs. Oh my goodness, I was so unprepared for her sad story of an abusive policeman husband who not only killed himself but their two children, aged 8 and 10, when she went to work!! She told me it made the national news and who is surprised? 

What in the name of heavens do I have to complain about?

Which sounds really noble and all but more complaints are coming and I'm not proud of that!

For years we have gotten our glasses at Costco because not only do they have a wonderful selection they have a lot of value for your dollar. As such, since the nearest Costco to Murphy is about two hours away, I made an appointment for both of us to have an eye exam on Monday evening. So far so good. Until we learned that unlike what we were expecting, they cannot mail progressive lens glasses to us. Bummer, bummer!

Time to get moving....see you again real soon.

your friend,

Gail