Thursday, December 27, 2012

3 Weeks in Review

It's so nice to be home and to get back to a normal routine again. This will be my last post on this blog for a while. I only update it when something newsworthy happens. I'm pretty sure no one wants to read about my adventures cleaning the toilets or walking the dog. hehe Although, I was greeted with a summons to jury duty when I got home. That actually could make for some interesting news. (I report on January 15th, so if anything of interest happens, I'll add it here!) Thanks for following along on our cross-country journey. I have to say I think it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience because I don't plan to drive that many miles ever again. The car is now resting comfortably in the garage and wants to stay there for at least a little while longer. I pressed the trip counter on the way out of my mom's neighborhood in Orange Park, Florida, and I thought it would be fun to show a photo of it now. We traveled 3500 miles! Actually we traveled about 150 more than that from Orlando to my mom's house, but that mileage isn't included.
And here's a photo of Scott & I by the Pacific Coast. (I wish I had taken one of us at the Atlantic Coast, but the day we went there the wind was blowing so hard I don't think I could have held the camera steady.)
The photos posted during our trip were taken with the tablet, but now that I'm home I can post some from the camera. Here's a recap of some of the fun we had along the way.
Till Next Time....

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Merry Christmas!

It's great to be home! We picked up our dog, Baron, from the Pet Hotel a little while ago and he is very excited to see us. He said we were the best Christmas present ever! We had such a great trip. We're watching the Disney Parks Christmas parade and reliving all the things we did there. Of all the experiences of the trip, however, we most enjoyed spending time with my parents. It's hard to be so far away from family, but that means you make the most of the time you do get to spend together. Here we are on a holiday sleigh ride through Ft. Wilderness to see the holiday decorations.
Merry Christmas everyone!

Monday, December 24, 2012

From The Redwood Forest...

To the gulf stream waters (or backwards in our case,) ... I still can't believe we traveled from coast to coast! We saw so many parts of our country. Today the redwood forest really was spectacular, as was the Pacific coast.
But as they say, "there's no place like home" and I'm ready.

Sunday, December 23, 2012

What We Really Did In San Francisco

Despite all the wonderful things to see and do in San Francisco, we had our own agenda. Our stay here has revolved around food. We literally ate our way through Chinatown today. I ate things I've never seen before and Scott revisited things he had not eaten for years. Our tummies are full, we have big smiles on our faces, and we have some snacks for the road.
This was my first taste of fresh lychee. They were expensive, but oh so good.
These sesame cookies are crisp and flavorful and I'm not even a fan of sesame seeds.
Mmmmm....bakery buns. This assortment includes scallion, red bean, and coconut varieties. We're eating those egg tarts tonight. Hope they are yummy. Tomorrow we'll be traveling North up the coast of California. If we have wifi at the hotel I'll post an update tomorrow night. Meanwhile say a prayer for me driving up these hills to get out of town.

Saturday, December 22, 2012

The 13 Hour Tour

I think the downside of being in San Francisco for only 3 days is that we feel like we have to do and see as much as possible in a short time. We were out of the hotel by 8AM and we dragged our tired feet back at 9PM. It was a great day of sightseeing with mostly dry weather. More rain is expected tomorrow, but that won't put a damper on our day. More to see tomorow...
Scott at Fort Point
The wind was blowing hard when Scott took this photo of me at South Vista Point.

Friday, December 21, 2012

If You're Going To San Francisco...

Oops... I forgot to wear flowers in my hair. San Francisco was a welcome sight after traveling thru Los Angeles yesterday. We spent the night in Stevenson Ranch and left there at 5AM to avoid rush hour traffic. The drive was fairly uneventful until we got to the Oakland Bay Bridge with hundreds of other travelers.
Then the AAA trip planner failed to get us to the hotel, so we had to rely on the Garmin which seemed to forget we were traveling in a stick and wanted to avoid hills. I actually cried as I rolled backwards on a hill at a traffic light and then the tires skid on the wet road. We did eventually made it to our hotel, which is fairly nice to be an old motorlodge with free parking. I can even see the Coit Tower from our room.
Now we're off to Chinatown for some lunch.

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

The Dust Bowl

We left El Paso with me thinking we were in a hurricane. The winds were so strong and that continued on and off until we reached Arizona. Huge tumbleweeds attacked our car all along the drive. I think we might even have to have scratches buffed out when we get home. We are spending the night in Chandler, Arizona. The hotel is in a nice location in front of big mall. It was fun to just walk around. Today we passed the halfway point in the trip at 1800 miles. Tomorrow we'll be in Southern California.

Down In The West Texas Town Of....

El Paso. We made it to El Paso right in time for the evening rush hour. The drive was uneventful up to that point. There is nothing between San Antonio and El Paso. Every time we saw a gas station or rest area we would stop since we knew the next stop might be 200 miles or more away. I think the most interesting thing we saw in 600 miles was the Border Patrol. They not only had a truck, but also a 4 wheeler, and horses. They are serious about stopping illegal immigration here. El Paso is right on the Mexican border. We also saw quite a few cars with Mexican license plates. Sorry I have no photos today. Maybe today's drive thru New Mexico and Arizona will be more interesting and photo worthy.

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

"Toto, I Don't Think We're In Kansas Anymore"

Traveling in Texas is an adventure. Traveling thru major cities is a hassle. Arriving in San Antonio at rush hour is insanity. Our arrival here was delayed by an accident in Houston which turned 6 lanes of rapidly moving traffic into something that looked like a Wal-Mart parking lot on Black Friday. That meant we arrived in San Antonio at 5:15. The gps didn't mention our exit until it was way too late and we missed it. We ended up in an area that I think normal tourists never see. We drove thru neighborhoods with bars on every window, animals in the street, and where young people are skilled at making art using cans of spray paint. Scott said, "I don't think we're in Texas anymore." At least he could blend in. My pale skin stood out and made it painfully obvious that I was from out of town. We took a chance and stopped at a gas station for restaurant recommendations. Of the 3 employees, only one spoke English. We were directed thru another interesting neighborhood on our way to what turned out to be a really tasty Mexican restaurant. While our plans to see the Alamo didn't work out, we did get to see Mission San Jose, which is the largest mission here and it has been completely restored. It was beautiful and I regret not taking pictures. We also saw Mission Conception, which is the oldest unrestored stone church in America. I did however take a few at the Texas welcome center. I'm sitting on a stone alligator snapping turtle. It was on a elevated walkway over a swamp. Scott had fun poking his head thru the state outline.

Monday, December 17, 2012

4 States In 1 Day

600 miles after leaving my mom's house, we arrived in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Traffic here stinks. It seems this I-10 is the Autobahn of Louisiana. That combined with strong winds and heavy rain made for a scary drive. Along the way we made a few stops.... In Alabama we stopped to buy official Univ of Alabama gear....Roll Tide! Also in Alabama we went thru the George Wallace tunnel that took us under the Mobile River.
In Mississippi we stopped at a rest area where I thought all the toilets were dirty. Seems that the toilets were clean. It's that the water is yellow. We declined the free coffee made from that water.
In Louisiana we fought traffic to make it here and we're intentially leaving later this morning to avoid the rush hour. (If Sunday afternoon traffic was that bad, I don't want to see the rush. lol)
We're heading to Texas. Maybe I can talk Scott into getting a 10 gallon hat. hehe

Saturday, December 15, 2012

A Stampin' Up Sale

I logged on to check my email this morning and noticed, to my delight, that I had some Stampin' Up orders. Woot! Then I noticed what people were buying.... CLEARANCE RACK stuff! So folks if you want some cheap craft products, you can find them and buy online from my website. Happy Shopping & Hopefully I'll be back with another update on my trip on Monday.

Friday, December 14, 2012

A Short Break

We made it to Orange Park after stopping in St Augustine earlier today. It was SO windy and cold. This weather has been crazy. We're only here until Sunday, so I'll be taking a break from blogging for a couple of days. Back soon...

Goodbye Boardwalk Villas

After being here since last Thursday, it's now time to move on. We had a wonderful Walt Disney World vacation. We enjoyed the attractions, shows, rides, fireworks, and all the yummy foods. I think we ate more in the past week than we did the entire month of November. lol We'll be traveling to my parent's house later today.

Thursday, December 13, 2012

A Different Kind Of Day

Yesterday was not a typical tourist kind of day. We went to the movies to see Lincoln (which was very good) but mostly to get out of the rain. Then Scott spent some time learning to drive my car. He was surprised that driving a manual transmission was so tricky. I think he's getting the hang of it. He practiced pulling out for about 30 minutes and only stalled a couple of times. He'll need more open road practice later since he couldn't go past 2nd gear in the parking lot. We did eventually make it to a park and went to Hollywood Studios last night for the 2nd time this week to finish up what we missed. We didn't take photos yesterday, so I thought I'd share some from earlier in the week. These were taken in the Polynesian Hotel. I especially like the one looking thru the window.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Lions, Giraffes, And Zebras...Oh My

Yesterday we got up early and went to the Animal Kingdom. The animals were fairly active and the attraction lines short. It was a great day! Last night we went back to EPCOT 4 dinner in Germany. I love EPCOT and it's good our hotel is within walking distance since we've been going there every night. More rain and humidity in today's forcast, so we're going shopping at Downtown Disney and to the movies. Tonight we may return to EPCOT. hehe

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

The Rains Came

It's looking a little more like Oregon here, but much warmer. Unfortunately there was also a tornado in Orlando yesterday. Since bad weather is expected later today, we're going to the Animal Kingdom early. Yesterday we intended to spend time at the Magic Kingdom, but the crowds were heavy, so we went to EPCOT instead.
This was a huge gingerbread house we saw at the Grand Floridian hotel. Yummy!

Monday, December 10, 2012

It Looks Like Christmas

Yesterday we went to several Disney hotels to look at their Christmas displays before checking into our hotel at the Boardwalk. We then went to Hollywood Studios to ride fun rides, watch live shows, and see the Spectacle of Lights. That light display was just awesome! I told Scott he needed to decorate our house like that next year. hehe
Today we're going to the Magic Kingdom. It's going to be a hot day with 84 degree temps and very high humidity. We'll be smelling pretty by the time we get back to the room tonight. lol

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Goodbye Fort

Today we'll move out of the motorhome and into our room at the Boardwalk Villas. I will miss the calm of the wilderness. Actually last night was pretty lively here. We went to the campfire to watch the Disney movie, Brave, and to roast marshmallows. There was me, my husband, my parents, and about one thousand excited children. What was that I said about peace & quiet? After the movie we saw a golf cart parade. Wow these campers go all out for Christmas. Not only are the campsites decorated more than our neighborhood, but they also decorate their golf carts. Our favorite was one that looked like a box with the word "Fragile" on it and a leg lamp on top just like a Christmas Story.