Vacation With Sid - Photo's of a Party Animal

Sid was a gift from Michael. I'm not sure how Sid became our travel companion but he has. This year Sid went on vacation with us to Florida and here are a few photos of his activities. 

Sid flew to Florida with our friends. From the photo below you can see he had a pretty good time on the plane. 

Sid is wearing a muffin bag since he forgot his coat. 

The photo below shows Sid passed out after a little too much drink. The sky Marshall threatened to put Sid in restraints but Sid was out like a light before that had to happen. 

Sid sleeps with his eyes opened. 

It wasn't long before Sid started feeling a little sick to his stomach so he spent the rest of the flight in the bathroom. The suction on the toilets is way too strong for a little guy like Sid. He had to use shoestrings to hold himself on the toilet just to be safe. 

. 

Sid spent his first day sleeping of the plane ride bender. He said he had jet lag but the 

time is the same in Florida and Indiana. 

The next morning Sid was ready for a day on the beach. Before he headed for the sand he put his sunscreen on. 

Sid uses SPF 8, his fur and fungus really keeps him from burning.

Quick snack before we head to the beach. Sid needs a lot of fiber in his diet. 

Once we hit the beach Sid wanted to pose for a photo; he was trying to blend in with nature.
Can you see Sid?

The fungus on Sid's fur causes him to be really quite sticky. Volleyball is not a sport for Sid.

Once Sid finally decides to hit the stand he has a blast and made several friends. 

 Sid's new friend Carlos. Well friends until Carlos tried to put the moves on Sid.

Sid vomiting after he realizes he just swallowed a jellyfish.

Sid worked for an hour on this sandcastle. One little kid later it was flattened. We had to hold Sid back! He was going to beat the kid like a four year old in K-mart. 

Sid wanted us to bury him in the sand. Honestly he was being a pain in the ass so we left him there for an hour and a half. 

We felt guilty for leaving Sid buried for and hour and half so we treated him to some ice cream. 

 The end of a fun day on the beach.

Sid goes exploring around the area.

Sid can climb extremely well as a three toed sloth but he slip into this palm and was

wedged there for three hours. 

Again, Sid is stuck in this tree. This time it was his head. We had to call the 

fire department to get him free. 

Sid made a few more friends while exploring:

This is Little Arnold the Terminator.

Sid spent several hours with his new friend Cathy. They went back to her condo.

He said they were playing Parcheesi.

The trip to Key West.

Sid is like a little kid, he has to be where he can 

see out of the car or he gets car sick.

We stopped at a service plaza on the toll road. Sid's baggy of dandelions fell

 out of his pocket and he was arrested for carrying a controlled substance.  

Sid in the squad car! We were able to get him out of jail in a matter of minutes. 

Sid has an oder that the jailer wasn't fond of.

Sid looking out on the Bay of Florida.

Sid and Jackie on the Beach in Key West!

We took Sid fishing on Lake Okeechobee. Here are a few photos. 

Sid never stopped running his mouth! 

Sid wouldn't shut up so I started using him as the bait. 

Sid riding in the boat.

A day at Gator Park. 

Sid in the air boat. Sid thought the earplugs were marshmallows and ate them. 

Sid waiting for the famous animal show to start. 

He is a sloth so he is slow. Lucky for Sid he has a horrible fur 

fungus and the gator 

spit him out. 

We found Sid at the duck pond. Yeah that right it is a duck pond because 

there is only one duck otherwise it would have been

a ducks pond. 

A day at the pool with Sid.

Sid sat on the edge for a long time...he was too scared to get in the pool. He thought

the chlorine would kill his fur fungus. 

 Finally in the pool and everyone else got out! Sid tinkled in the pool. 

Sid laying on his Spider Man Beach towel that he just had to have. He only

used it once but he hounded us for an hour to buy it for him. 

Did I mention that Sid tinkled in the pool? The only problem was he was standing on the edge while he did it. man that was embarrassing. We said we didn't know him. 

Other random Sid photos.

 Sid ran out of tequila so he licked the blender clean. 

Sid was going to go sailing and thought he needed to look like a pirate! 

 Sid couldn't go sailing. He vomited just sitting on the boat. 

Last morning of vacation. Sid watches the sun rise

or so he said, we think he was really asleep. 

Day 8 Exploring the Area

Jackie and I had a condo in Pompano Beach. Our condo was on the beach, there are two identical buildings on the property. We were staying in the North condo and in between it and the south condo was a great pool area.  It was a cool place except we had pretty much nothing but blue hairs in the complex. The following week started spring break for many colleges and universities around the country so the area would fill up with a younger crowd at that time. At 44 years old I was probably the youngest person at our complex.

With the exception of all the keys and driving through the South Eastern side of Florida this was my first extended stay in that area. From the pan handle to Naples from Key West to Jacksonville I have seen the entire state now.

Back up: after the Gator Park on day seven we went to a little shopping area south of our condo. We parked and starting walking around. There are a lot of vacant commercial properties in this area. You can see the area has suffered from the recession. Anyway, we came across this little Italian bakery called Pan’e Dolci. I had a fruit tart which was the best! Jackie had tiramisu that she said was good but I don’t think it was great.

On the eighth day of vacation we decided to explore the area more. 

For lunch we ate at a Greek restaurant called the Greek Islands Taverna. I like Greek food. Having spent a lot of time in the Clearwater Florida area we always make a trip to Tarpon Springs to visit the sponge docks and eat at one of the little Greek restaurants along the dock. The Greek Island Taverna was a pretty busy place. The parking lot was filled high end autos such as Bentleys, BMW’s, Mercedes, and so on. My little Japanese sports car convertible really looked out of place.  

As we walked around to the front of the building in our flip flops and shorts we noticed that most of the people were pretty well dressed. We decided to sit out on the front porch area. The waiter saw us but pretty much ignored us for a while. Finally he brought us a menu and asked for our drink orders. Honestly, I don’t care that I don’t have the money that some of the patrons had. I’m sure next to the wait staff we were probably the poorest people there but my money is still green and still spends the same as everyone else’s.  Our waiter was really kind of stand-offish when it can to us. He was clearly kissing the ass of the folks with the money but acted as if we were an inconvenience. We didn’t complain even though we didn’t get any pita bread with our saganaki and honestly I was afraid to ask. I wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone if the attitude and service we received is SOP for the place. I have had much better Greek Food in Indianapolis and Chicago.

Our condo was located on Ocean BLVD which is the main drag or A-1A which runs along the beaches. Ten miles south of us on Ocean BLVD is the Ft. Lauderdale beach area. We had been in Pompano Beach for a week before we went down to this area. As I said above, this was the first time I had really spent any time in the South East part of Florida so I didn’t know what to expect.  There is a lot to do in this area and I think Jackie and would have spent more time in this area had we found it earlier in the week.

We explored every shop on the strip. Jackie was looking for a hoody and finally found one at an open air two story mall. We ate at the Hooters in this mall area. I like Hooters…wings because they are breaded. They also serve buffalo shrimp which is another favorite. We stayed in Ft. Lauderdale beach until after dark before heading back to the condo.

This was our last night in Florida. Morning would arrive and we would pack things up for our trip back to Indiana. Vacation would be over. 

Vacation Day 7

Every Florida vacation you have to go to at least one cheesy tourist trap attraction. From a crappy museum to a dirty animal park, I would be whiling to bet the majority of us have been to one these places. This trip to Florida was no exception. We or should I say I chose Gator Park. This place has a Miami address but it is way out on the edge of the Everglades.

Okay, so the top on the car is down. We are driving along the edge of the everglades on hwy 41 yes, it is US highway 41.  It is a beautiful drive, the sun is shining and we are on vacation headed for a Alligator park and an air boat ride in the everglades.

You have to understand that I have a fascination with alligators. I wouldn’t have an alligator for a pet but I think they are really cool.  These are one of the most amazing creatures on the planet. Example: did you know if an alligator eats something but its body temperature isn’t high enough it will die? The reason is that the meat or whatever the gator eats will spoil in the alligator’s stomach therefore poisoning the gator. Also, these things can live to be 50 years old!

Okay, back to Gator Park. I’m pretty excited as we pull into the parking lot. To my left are several airboats lined up with the airboat captains standing under a small shelter. Each captain is sporting his or her safari garb looking uniform including hat.  The airboats are sitting on a narrow canal that looks as if it disappears into the “wild” everglades. This gives us the perception that once we leave on the boat we may never find our way back!

We have to buy a ticket for the park in the gift shop. Surprise, they always find a way to get you in the gift shop. The guys behind the counter have the same safari garb type uniforms one which takes away from the mystery of the air boat captains. Anyway, we buy or tickets which are $22.00 a piece for the air boat ride and the animal show. When they give you your tickets they also hand you disposable ear plugs which add a new level of excitement when you think “I must have ear protection!”  Oh, we had a coupon book so we got a “buy one ticket get one free” which made me happy after the airboat trip but we’ll get to that in a minute. The boat doesn’t leave till 10:00 a.m. so we wait.  

Time to get on the boat and we are the last two on. The boat has five rows of bench seats and each seat holds five people.  Jackie and I get on the boat so there are twenty-six people on the boat, one captain and twenty-six dumb ass tourists. The captain gives us a few cautionary instructions intended for our protection but also with a low level of theatrics for additional effect. Everybody is instructed that alligators can jump up to three feet in the air so keep your body parts inside the boat.  We are also told that we will be told when to use our earplugs.

The captain unties the boat and jumps in. The engine revs to life and slowly moves forward to a small area that we can turn around and head down the canal. The engine dies and we cost a few yards were the captain points out the first alligator named pork chop or something stupid like that. It is obvious this alligator is tame and probably been raised by the people at Gator Park. This aside,  I’m still pretty excited because we will be heading into the “wild” everglades.

The boat roars to life again and ten seconds later it is shut off so the captain can point out a tree and in the tree is a bird. Boat roars to life again and ten seconds later it is shut off again so the captain can point out s turtle. This happens several more times and each time it is to point out something I have seen before. I’m really getting pissed off because I want to see wild alligators not a tree, turtle, bird, plant or frog.  Boat engine running, boat engine off and BINGO an alligator, the first alligator and all you can see is his head but that doesn’t curb my excitement to see one in the wild.

The boat captain asked us if we want a crazy or easy boat ride through the everglade. Everyone in the boat yells crazy so he tells us to put in the earplugs and off we’ll go.  The airboat engine winds up and we pick up speed down the canal and a turn out into the open everglades. We are moving pretty fast when the captain turns the boat and it gently jumps to the side throwing water over everyone in the boat. Turn, gentle jump, water over the boat, turn, jump, water, this goes on several times before the engine stops and the boat coasts to a stop. Our “crazy” boat ride lasted about two minutes and I’m pissed off because I have swamp water on my glasses! The captain jumps out of the boat, talks about the everglades for about five minutes and off we go again.

Turn, gently jump, splash, turn gently jump, splash. Damn the captain, while we were stopped I dried the swamp water off my glasses and now I have swamp water all over me. I hate getting wet with water from a lake or stream. Do you know what kind of germs, bacteria and pathogens are in swamp water? Have you every watch the survivor guy on Discovery Channel, he never drinks water like this without boiling it first…do you know why?  Because he doesn’t want to get sick and I’m in an airboat getting sprayed with dirty swamp water!

So 2 minutes later we head down another canal and off goes the engine. The captain points out another weed, turtle and bird. Engine on and ten seconds later engine is off for the captain to point out an alligator.  I don’t even try to look for this alligator because I just don’t care, I have swamp water on me and I can think about now is some kind of swamp sickness.  The rest of the airboat ride is boat on, ten second and boat off, boat on and ten seconds later boat off, on, off, on, off until the ride is over and I thank God it is over!

Now before we could get out of the boat the captain informs us that he works for tips and everything is appreciated. People start getting out of the boat but we wait a little for some of the folks to clear off the dock. Some of the older folks were still on the boat. The captain made sure he positioned himself so no one could go by him without looking at him, probably to maximize his tips. 

Anyway we are on the dock and a gentlemen seated in from of us is having a hard getting out of the boat. Our captain move toward us to make sure he gets his tips from us but ignores the guy trying to get out of the boat. I hand the captain a tip and head over to help get this guy up onto the dock. I reach down with both of my hand and grab his hand to steady him. He pulls up as I lean back and he steps up with no problem. He thanks me and hands the captain his tip.

Now…there is a rather large older lady who can’t get out of the boat, same process but she doesn’t have enough strength and I don’t have enough weight on me to pull her onto the dock. Boat captain is watching as she hands me a tip that was intended for him. The lady then gets on her hand and knees on the boat seat and crawls onto the dock. She still isn’t to her feet yet and I’m trying to help her, the captain is trying to help her and both of us combined cannot lift this lady to her feet. Another park employee comes over to help and I get out of the way. She finally uses a post on the dock, the captain and park employee to help her to her feet.

The next part of or Gator Park adventure is over to the live gator show. Again, thinking of how much I like alligators I’m excited again. Everyone sits down and the show begins. A “Jungle Jim” type guy starts talking to us about the Florida Wildlife such as alligators, snakes and such. He shows us a toad, a raccoon, a bird, and then the alligator in the pen with him. He actually has Jackie kiss the toad, you can see the photo of this on her facbook page. 

At the end of the 10 minutes show Jungle Jim tells us he works for tips so out comes the wallets again. He also tells us we can have our photos taken with a 4 foot alligator named Larry, oh and tips are encouraged and appreciated for this opportunity too. A four foot alligator has reached the level of maturity that affords him the luxury of being at the top of the food chain in the Florida swamp. So holding a four foot gator is really kind of cool.

Okay so here is my summary of Gator Park. The airboat ride was horrible, too short and finished with me helping an old man and overweight old lady out of the boat. Who knows what type of bacteria was sprayed on me by the boat captain’s “thrill” driving. The “Gator Park Famous Wildlife Show” was cheesy and really pretty weak. I was disappointed. The Gator Park website promised so much more. I was glad we got a 2 for 1 ticket deal.

So if you want to be disappointed by a short bacteria filled airboat ride and the “Famous Wildlife Show” then Gator Park is for you! Here is the web site: http://www.gatorpark.com/

By the way, we did get our photo taken holding Larry the alligator. 

Vacation - The Florida Keys

Day six is our trip to Key West.  The Florida Keys, from Key Largo to Key West is about 100 mile drive. I have been in the keys a couple of time but no farther North than Key Largo. A 100 mile trip is normally a pretty easy drive but on the keys it takes three hours.

US-1 runs through the keys. Most of the trip is single lane in each direction with a few dual lane areas. The speed limit is 55 mph or lower. Each Key you cross is the equivalent of small town with stop lights and lower posted speed limits.

Remember that we drove my convertible to Florida and with this drive in mind. The weather is perfect, 85 degrees and sunny! It is about 9:30 and we stop at a small local dive for breakfast. Our table is under the front porch opened to everything and just about 8 feet from the convertible. The name of the joint was Mrs. Mac’s Kitchen. There were only four tables across the front of this place. Inside the place is a small counter and a few small tables in the front area with a few more in the back. There are over 700 reviews online for this restaurant and almost all of them are good. The food is what I would expect from a dive in the Midwest.

As you drive through the first few keys such as Plantation key, you lose sight of the water. When you get to Upper Matecumbe key you’ll cross a bridge about a half mile in length. The bridge between Upper and Lower Matehumbe is about 2 miles long. From Lower Matecumbe to Long key crossing the water is a combination of bridge and causeway. Long Key to Grass Key is a couple miles but you cross Conch Key and pass by Duck Key.

Grass Key, the speed limit is 45 mhp during the day and 35 mph at night. There are signs warning of deer crossing along the road. The deer on the keys are a subspecies of the same whitetail we have in the mid-west. They look like large dogs…maybe 60 to 70 pounds. They are on the endangered species list. I guess large numbers of these deer are killed by cars. Anyway…The Grass Key leads to Marathon Key, part of Marathon Key is a large state park. Again, Marathon key has the same speed restrictions due to the deer.

So…Marathon key leads to the seven mile bridge. This is the coolest part of the trip. Nothing but water on the South side of bridge and parts of the old or original bridge on the north side. I read that the original seven mile bridge was part of a rail road bridge. The rail road was the only way to get from Miami to Key West other than by boat or plane.  At the end of Seven Mile Bridge is Big Pine Key.

The cool thing about Big Pine Key is that is was named by Pirates who would anchor in the channel to the south of the island. Anyway, the rest of the trip is across several more keys over 20 miles or so. When you get on Key West it is wild how almost every square inch of the island has something on it. The homes have that island bungalow look. The streets are narrow and crawling with people. It is nice to visit but I wouldn’t want to stay there for more than a few days. It is too confining.

Part of what makes the drive through the keys so pleasant is how much ocean you see. The water color from key to key changes from a blue-green to green to bright blue; it’s absolutely incredible. Being from the Midwest it is always a pleasant site to see palm trees, beaches and the ocean. On the keys you are surrounded by the palms, sand and water. It is a drive everyone should experience once in the life. 

Vacation Day 5

Day 5

Day five starts out very early. We  hired a fishing guide to take us out on late Okeechobee. We are to be the before 7:00 a.m. and it is about an 85 mile drive from our condo. The drive is easy, I-95 to I-595/I-75 then north on highway 27. The trip north on highway 27 is partially through the Everglades and then it is sugar cane fields on either side of the road. There is virtually no civilization between I-595/I-75 and the town or Clewiston which is our final destination. The thing that struck me as we traveled north was how dark it was. No street lights, no little towns, no houses! There was nothing for miles and miles until a Domino Sugar Processing plant and then a lot of nothing and darkness until Clewiston.

I have GPS on my phone which I used a lot during the vacation but I had just written down the directions to the marina in Clewiston. Now Google map is pretty good but when it is off it is way off, usually it is off in rural areas. In this case Google maps was off by a few blocks and it had our turn off the main street onto the street the marina was located on but that wasn’t the case.  We had to stop and ask. While Jackie was getting directions I entered the address in my phone so we had clear directions either way.

We arrive at the Roland Martin Marina just in time and our guide is waiting.  Jackie and I use the bathroom, buy or fishing license and a cup of coffee. The sun is just starting to come up so in the boat and off we go. We start in a small marina area, to get to the main lake we have to go through a lock because the lake is surrounded by a large dyke and the lake is also part of an intercostal water way. Once we pass through the lock we have an idle zone. Once out of the idle zone our guide takes off maintaining a speed that Jackie has never experienced on the water prior.

Side note:  Now, I had never fished on Okeechobee so this would be new water for me. The name Okeechobee means big water and this is the biggest fresh water lake in Florida, seventh largest in the US at 730 square miles. The average depth of this lake is only 9 feet so in any wind it will get rough fast.

We arrive at the spot we are to fish. The guide drops an anchor from the front and has some type of power pole “thing” on the back that drives itself into the lake bottom which holds the back in place. The first cast for me yields a 6 pound 3 once largemouth. Jackie caught a 3 ½ pounder, I caught 4 ¾ pounder, we both catch several other 2 to 3 pound fish. Overall a very productive day on the water.

The rest of the day was pretty predictable. We lounged around the pool. Both Jackie and I took a nap and we went out for diner. Day five was over! Day six is a trip to the Alligator Safari Park/Airboat Ride tourist trap!

Vacation Day 3 and 4

Day 3

I can’t sleep in. I suppose it is from years of getting up early. I tried sleeping in but kept waking up every few minute so I got up and made a Greek Frappe. This has been my morning choice for a coffee drink for years. After breakfast a walk on the beach and we would hang out by the pool.

I brought up the fact that you always over pack for trips like these. If you stay in a condo like we do you always end up doing laundry so most of the clothes you take with you aren’t even needed. Take underwear, I have to make sure I have one clean pair for each day plus a couple of extra. Socks is the same, need extra socks. Extra shoes too. We still ended buying some t-shirts at the beach shop and a department store on day three. So more than half the clothes I took didn’t even get used and then I bought more!!!

So the afternoon is spent around the pool or on the beach which brings me to the sun. If I spend 5 minutes in the sun I burn. I wear spf 50 for crying out loud! One of my facebook friends made fun of my white legs, they would have been whiter if I had not spent some time in the sun already. Anyway, my head was sunburned a couple of times. After being in the sun for 45 minutes I will be burnt and  for three days  my chest will be red. My head, face, nose and arms are pealing. I had to cautiously spend my time in the sun. Jackie spends 5 minutes in the sun and is immediately tan.

The evening of the third day was spent at the Hard Rock Casino. First of all I hate this casino; not because I lost…I always lose. This casino is the most confusing place I have ever been in. I’m sure some expert designed the layout for the purpose maximizing the amount of money gambled by people.

A side note: When we eat out I usually order ice tea, unsweetened and with NO lemon. When I receive my ice tea it almost always has the lemon wedge ( I didn't ask for) on the glass. They get the unsweetened part correct but can never get the lemon thing right. Second, I order a Caesar salad with no croutons and the dressing on the side which they can always manage to get correct. So why is it so damn hard to forget the lemon wedge in my case? Anyway, we ate at one of the 18 restaurants at the casino. It was a Tex-Mex kind of place. It was very pricey and really wasn’t that good.  

Day 4

Day four and our friends are meeting us at our condo for a day on the beach or around the pool. Again, me being the original white man I needed to be careful in the sun. The first thing I do is put SPF 50 on while Jackie puts on accelerator. Day four was also the day we were reunited with Sid.

Now at 11:00 a.m. we have to sit through a time share sales pitch. Jackie’s mom gets some kind of points for us sitting through the damn thing and hey what is hour out of your life anyway? First we sit through the first sales person trying to convince us that the time share thing will fit nicely into our lifestyle. Second we have to sit through her boss trying to sell us on the same idea only at a reduced price and third is the final “Guido” type guy making an even better offer and then tell us goodbye since we didn’t buy the timeshare. This was a painful process but we got a $100.00 AMEX gift card and free weekend at another timeshare where we will be subjected to the same sales process all over again! 

Before we head back to the condo, where our friends are lounging around the pool we decide to stop and get some fried chicken for an easy lunch. We head back to the closet store which is the Winn Dixie where we first encountered the plastic surgery queen. Now in the Mid-west you can encounter rude people but for the most part I consider this one of the friendliest areas of our country. Not the case in south Florida where I think it is a prerequisite that you be an ass&%$#! In general I found the people that worked at the stores and the shoppers to be pretty rude. Well, we bought our chicken and heading back to the condo.

On the beach we people watched. Again it was a freak show. Next to us were two men that I never was able determined their county of origin but their sexual orientation was never in question.  A few spots down were a group of “booty-luscious” ladies. Next to them was an older couple. On the other side of us were a mother and daughter who were whiter than me, yes it is possible for someone to be more white than me.

First to the old couple, it was windy and the waves coming in were pretty rough. The old man decided to head in to the water where he was hammered by a wave and knocked down into the water. This guy couldn’t get up so several people rushed to his aid. This was when we first notice the “booty-luscious” ladies. These ladies were not dressed in the normal beach attire; no, no, no! These ladies had on halter tops and black spandex shorts. As far as the two gents, all I can say is that they were posing for each other as they took photos of one another. 

Almost forgot the mother  and daughter. These two were also not wearing the normal beach attire. They had sun dresses on and they were whiter than me. Now every day these balloon looking like jelly fish kept washing up on the beach. The girl in the mother daughter duo was trying to help one of these jellyfish back into the water. This went on for a long time. She would move it close to the water and the waves would push it back up on the beach. Back and forth, back and forth! 

To finish day four Jackie and I ate left over fired chicken and watch a little TV. We had an early and long drive so we had to get to bed early.  

Vacation: Day 1 and 2

Driving to Florida in my convertible was going to be fun, or so I thought. To pack the car we had to use small suitcases and wedge a few things in the spaces in between. There was no room for anything extra. We packed a few things in the back seat which is a seat in name only, no one could ride there so the car is effectively a two seater. After all, you never wear everything you take. If you are like Jackie and I you will do laundry in your condo and buy at least a few t-shirts while you are there...this trip was no exception. I think I bought 6 t-shirts and one pair of swimming trunks and Jackie bought a couple of pairs of shorts, a halter top and a few t-shirts.

We were packed; everything was ready so I had the bright idea to just leave Wednesday night. I thought we could drive through one tank of gas then stop for the night. The first problem with my idea was that my car gets better gas mileage then I though. The second problem; that it was not as easy to find a vacant hotel room. Regardless it turned out okay.

Vacation, you always forget something… We forgot Sid! Sid has traveled with us on a number of trips and felt as if we couldn’t leave him behind on the trip. Sid flew down on Friday with some friends and we hooked up with him on Saturday. This is Sid on the airplane:

Sid is the original Party Animal and you can see he had an enjoyable time on the airplane.

Now, I have to admit that after 3 hours in my car I was beginning to realize how absolutely uncomfortable the thing actually is. Thursday we spent about 10 hours driving in the car which made me even sorrier we had driven it.  Actually, I was sorry I had driven the convertible until we were about 75 miles into Florida. I put the top down on the car and we drove to our hotel, 80 degrees and sunshine.

The drive to our final destination on Friday was only about 250 miles. We could take our time, see the sights and drive with the top down. I’m now glad we drove the car, we had to put up with a little discomfort but it was worth it.  …my head got sunburned too! I decided to head through the country but bailed on the idea of seeing the country when we realized that the most exciting site was “Yeehaw Junction” which was just a junction in the road. I found a way back to the interstate and we headed on to the condo.

We had checked inn to our condo, kind of unpacked and headed to the Winn Dixie for a few supplies and staples for the week. We had no intention of cooking for ourselves so we purchase a few snacks, coffee, etc. Winn Dixie is where I saw this lady who had obviously had been through several different surgical procedures. My guess is that she is one of the those people who are addicted to plastic surgery or she was one hell of an ugly lady to start with and what you could see was an improvement; I really don’t know which it is but she was not a pretty lady.

I found myself staring at her, I couldn’t look away! If I could describe her look it would be one of recent nose because there had to still be some swelling, eye work, the face lift that pulled her lips taught combined with some kind of lip implant or Botox that gave her a Neanderthal look. Add to this her stringy hair, breast and butt implants and she was a sight to see; freakish sight to see.

Once back at the condo we ordered a pizza and settled in for the evening…and that was the end of days one and two.