We are in Florida, and the weather is perfect - warm and only slightly humid and different enough from Wyoming to remind me that we are on a FOUR MONTH VACATION. Granted, we'll do some work during those four months, but mostly, we're on vacation, and it is so good.
We got all settled in today after driving in at about 5pm yesterday. Instead of unpacking, we just decided to visit with Jason's family, and after a slow start this morning, are unpacked. The Hummer is getting new tires put on it (it was time, and we had budgeted for it), Jason changed the oil on it, and Indy's chasing Bugs and Frogs and Lizards and Cats around the screened in pool.
It's great. I'm still having trouble accepting that we really are ON VACATION, but I couldn't ask for a more different change in climate to help me accept that. Life is so good.
Back to our road trip:
Monday, we drove 900 miles from the Ranch outside of Cody, Wyoming to Lincoln, Nebraska. Home of the cornhuskers. At dinner that night, Jason was sitting next to a wall of Nebraska Cornhusker memorabilia, wearing his MICHIGAN long sleeve. Welcome to the Big Ten. I tried to get a photo of him, but he was REALLY tired after driving so far and wasn't in the mood. Not that I can blame him!
Tuesday, we slept late and didn't get started until about 8am (late compared to our 5am start the day before). We drove ANOTHER 900 miles from Lincoln, Nebraska to Manchester, TN (about an hour Southeast of Nashville). Basically, Missouri was a lot like Nebraska, but with a lot more trees and more roadkill than I ever thought possible! We drove in Nebraska, across Missouri, down through Illinois, cut the corner of Kentucky (in the dark - couldn't see any of it!), and finally into Tennessee. With the exception of Illinois, all of the states we hit that day were new ones for me! We also managed to drive through St. Louis and past the Cardinals stadium the day before the World Series game, and I got to see the arch. Since we were stuck in traffic (hello, culture shock!), I was able to get a photo out the window for my dad. Cool. :) We also crossed over the Mississippi, but I was too busy looking at the arch to notice it. All good - we'll be driving back and forth across the country several times, and I'll be able to give the river my FULL attention next time!
Wednesday, Jason was so excited that he woke up at 5:45 and was ready to roll. I was not thrilled to be woken up from a sound sleep, but totally understood his excitement and put my game face on. We drove through the Smoky Mountains at Sunrise headed towards Chattanooga - incredible. Interesting fact - the Smokies look so Smoky because the warm, humid air travels up from the Gulf of Mexico and as it cools over the mountains creates a fog. They are always foggy, and the effect looks like smoke - hence, their name! Anyhow, they were SPECTACULARLY beautiful and worth the early rise to see them. Then it was South through Georgia (also a first for me - I'd only ever flown through the Atlanta airport on layovers, so this was my first actual trip through the state), and then even more south into Florida. 600 miles and about nine hours later, we were in Orlando. It felt like it took forever, probably because the end was in sight.
Anyhow - we are here! Vacation has begun! I get to wake up to this view every morning for the next ten days, until we head to the Caribbean! Wish you were here with us? Indy thinks you should be - he just killed a lizard.
No comments:
Post a Comment