disneydream06

Time to wrap up my vacation story.
I got up Saturday morning on got on the road to Ft. Myers. I was tempted to stop and say goodbye to Mary, but I wasn't sure if everybody would be up that early and didn't want to wake anyone.
It is a LONG drive from Milton which is just outside of Pensacola down to Ft. Myers. It's not really longer than my other drives, but it just really feels like it. I don't think it helps to lose an hour with time zone change.
My biggest challenge on the drive down is to not get caught in the outside lane South of Ocala because it quickly turns into an off ramp to the Turnpike back to Orlando. My last two trips through there I nearly got caught there and had to make really quick lane changes. Thankfully safe ones. :p
Anyway I made it safe and sound to Ft. Myers and got checked into my hotel. It was no longer a Howard Johnson, but a Red Roof. I headed out to Angie's place. Made one wrong turn, but quickly figured it out. I can never remember the right turn to make. :p
It was really good to see Angie and her parents again. :) We spent the evening just chatting and catching up since I was last there. They fed me supper which was very nice of them. Grilled steak. Yummy. We chatted late into the evening, but eventually I had to head back for the hotel. I was getting sleepy. :p
The next morning I went out to pick up Angie. We were going to bum around. The first place we were going to go was a flea market place. We got a little lost and ended up at the wrong one. We got back on the road and finally found the right place. It was HUGE!!! It even had a map to help you find your way around and a food court area. Angie found a few things. She even bought me my Christmas present, a Disney Monopoly set. She is going to mail to me later because I have no room in my suitcase. I got her Christmas present, a little angel figurine that she collects. From there we stopped at a Cracker Barrel for a late lunch. It was yummy, and they have a fun store at the front of their restaruants. In one area they sell "old fashion" candies. They had Moon Pies which are like a cold version of a Samore. I found out the will ship things and I was tempted to have them mail some home for me, but I finally decided against it. Not being sure about the weather and all. Chocolate and heat is not a good combination. :p Plus there is one Cracker Barrel near the Twin Cities back home. I have since found it. lol...
From there is was back to Angie's for a brief stop, and then we headed over to the mall. Angie was in the market for a new camera. We did a lot of window shopping. Stopped in the Disney Store, but they are really getting pathetic. Either sprouse them up or just close them all down and have it over with. The best Disney Store outside of the Parks is the one at the Orlando Airport, and I am guessing that is owned by Disney still. Anyway I picked up some calendars. Angie got some Yankee Candle candles and even gave me one. The Radio Shack at the mall didn't have the camera Angie was looking for, so we headed out to one of their other stores. Of course it wasn't the one they called to see if they had one, but they did have one. They proceeded to give her the hard sell to buy extras. UGH...
From there we headed back to Angie's to have supper. Tonight we had chicken. Do they know me or what. Loves me some chicken. lol......... Again we spent the evening just sitting around and chatting. I didn't stay too late though because I need to be up early the next morning to get the rental car back to Orlando.
The next morning I was up and checking out with a little trouble. I was under the impression when I book the room that I had paid for it to get the lower price, but he charged me now when I was checking out. I finally said whatever and I would look into when I got home. I got on the road and headed for Orlando. It was an uneventful drive and I got the car back to the rental agency.
From there it was back to the airport. The shuttle bus really threw me off for a bit the clock in the bus was an hour fast, and I was like is that right? Where did I lose an hour? :p Got to the airport and checked in. Of course I had to make a stop at the Disney store. lol... I was careful with my shopping there. Mostly because I HAD NO ROOM in my suitcase. :p Got through security with no trouble again. YAY me. :p
Then it came time to sit around and wait and wait and wait. As I waited I heard that another NWA flight headed for Atlanta was delayed for a couple of hours because of maintenance problems. Glad that's not me.
We finally got boarded on the plane, they backed us up and.. The right engine wouldn't start. So they pushed us back up to the gate and we sat there so maintenance could check things out. It got nice and warm in there and we sat for about 40 minutes before they fixed things and pushed us back out again. We finally go in the sky and the Captain told us he was going to keep the seatbelt sign on for awhile because the weather part way through Georgia was a little rough. No problem... We got up over Georgia and we did hit some turbulence. Still no biggie. Then..... We must have hit an air pocket or whatever and the plane dropped fast enough and far enough that it lifted me right off my seat. Thank goodness I was wearing my seatbelt. :o After that it got better. Then we started to get closer to Minneapolis and the clouds started to thicken up again. I thought, Here we go again. Surprisingly, the landing really was no biggie.
I left Florida and it was in the 90's for temps. I landed in Minneapolis and it was raining and in the 40's. I was so ready to turn around and go back to Florida.
Hmm... With a third baby on the way already, I wonder if my brother could use a live in nanny? I would only be about 8 hours away from Disney. lol........................
The End. :(