Our Trip to Florida, Part 1: The Journey

Greetings from Florida! As I write this, I am not at my usual home computer location. I am currently visiting relatives in Florida! My, how the hot weather here is a stark contrast to the chilly November weather I am accustomed to in Pennsylvania! We lived in Florida many years ago. In fact, I was born there, but now we live way up north.

My Mother's parents and almost all her siblings live in Florida, mostly in the Sarasota area. My parents, brothers, and I are down here now to visit these relations. I am pleased to see my Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, and cousins once again!

My Grandparents

Packing for a big trip like this is always a tough job. Well, actually, the tough part is packing the van with all of our bags and luggage. It takes some real organizational genius to pull it off, but we seem to manage every time!

Our drive down was quite an experience. My Mother made a scavenger hunt game for us to play on the way down. She gave us a list of things to find while we drove and we would mark down the items as we saw them. Some of the things on the list included: wind mill, wagon wheel, horse, cow, palm tree, fire hydrant, church steeple, tractor, and many more. It was very enjoyable and challenging! Shad was the first to complete the list and win.

We left Monday morning and drove into the night. Dad and I took turns with the driving. One would sleep while the other drove. There were only a few times when we both needed to sleep at the same time. The longest stop we made was about three hours. It's difficult to drive for that long, but we made it safely.

Yesterday, we stopped to look at our old house in Sarasota. The people that live there now were kind enough to give us some grapefruit from our old grapefruit tree. We plan to take them home and use the seeds to grow our own tree back home in PA (indoors).

There is much more to this trip which is currently in progress, but it'll have to wait until later. I'll write more and post some photos in the days to come!