Archive for January, 2019

Tampa

Thursday, January 24th, 2019

picked up Paul’s sisters from their cruise ship and spotted this little piece of art.  It was in a small park near the railways and the ports.

 

From there we we found a little park and had lunch before dropping Nancy for her flight.  Cindy has a later flight so we checked out downtown St. Petersburg.  Lots of galleries and expensive yauhts.

A cool old hotel right near the harbor.

St. Pete’s Beach

Tuesday, January 22nd, 2019

Our first Air B&B so that I can get out of the Minivan!  It’s not fancy and at first look it felt a bit creepy but it is a block from the beach and walking distance to Waffle House so it will work for this week while Paul works and Duke and I enjoy the sunshine and some space.

Fun in the sun

A little different than the west coast

The shells are abundant! How do you pick just 1

More feet, loving the sand and surf

Dining out is not usually our first choice but when they offer spectacular 360 views, and you can see forever from your seat how can you resist?

Spinners, dining in the round

First we had a cocktail on the beach after a beautiful 1 mile walk along the shore.  Ok, not Paul’s favorite thing but he is really trying to keep me happy in the Minivan so I get time in the sand.  Then we went upstairs to a fantastic view and then a beautiful dinner.  Yes the cost was our weekly food budget but we can eat peanut butter for a few days!

The view from Spinners

the sunset as not the best because the sky was so clear with not a cloud anywhere!  But just wIt a day and here you go!

Tuesday evening after another perfect day at the beach

so far Florida has delivered a pretty good visit!  The weather has been great and Paul is getting to do so work so everyone is happy.  

Sunshine, Sand and Waves, Perfection

Friday, January 18th, 2019

New Smyrna Beach is your typical east coast beach;  people sunbathing, splashing in the Atlantic Ocean and CARS!    There are people sunbathing and playing frisbee while cars pass right by.  Very interesting.

When it looks like a catch everyone stops

Taking a walk along the beach I found the most interesting jellyfish.

 

Cindy and I played a round of golf at Hidden Lakes Golf Course near New Smyrna Beach.  And I got my first Birdie!  Yeah me

Par 4, 265 yds! BIRDIE!

And now we are off to the Gulf Coast,  and more beach time

 

We made it

Thursday, January 17th, 2019

3000 miles in 5 days!  We wont be repeating that again.  The weather is still a bit chilly but I’m wearing capris and a tee shirt so it’s looking up.  We arrived in New Smyrna Beach just in time for dinner with Paul’s sister Cindy.  I’m going to spend a couple days at her time share and Paul is off to work.  We will meet up Saturday in Tampa where Cindy and another of Paul’s sisters, Nancy will be sailing on a Carnival cruisefor 5 days.  Paul and I will be chillin on the beach in St. Petersburg where I have booked us a cottage for the week!  It’s a good time to ditch the van for a few days and spread out.

Today Cindy and I visited the cute little town of DeLand.   A very friendly town with many unique shops.  We found a brewery and sat a bit, enjoying some craft beers

Persimmon Hollow Craft Brewery

Drink Sensibly, But Get Weird  

That was their label,  it was fun to sip some local beers while chatting g with some locals and wAt hi g the crafter working with the hops.

Local artist painted these wings in an alley way. Everyone loved them and started taking photos and now the artist has 5 sets around Florida and has all kinds of merchandise to go along. I’m glad they still let us take photos without paying.

After a nice lunch in a local diner we headed to the Blue Springs Stars Park where we watched the Manatees enjoying the warm waters of the spring.

 

 

 

They are beautiful to watch and the water is so clear.  There was all kinds of other fish to and watching the interactions was amazing.

Tomorrow is the beach and golf!

 

 

I’ll say it again…. El Paso to Houston takes a REALLY long time!

Tuesday, January 15th, 2019

You can’t do it in one day,  and there isn’t much to see.  Sunday was a very long day;  we started near Buckeye Arizona at 7:45 am and finally stopped somewhere in west Texas about 11:30 pm.  The good news is we lost an hour entering central time so we were only in our seats about 14 hours.  We never even left the van through New Mexico.  I did manage a few photos.

And we get 5 cents per gallon discount with our Flying Jay card, plus our cc gives us money back

Welcome to Texas! I missed the others.

 

Walmart, Fort Stockton, Texas

Now that’s an RV.  A fire truck with an 18 wheeler cab with a car and towing a 25 ft trailer.  I guess you use what you have.

 

Buc ees has so many billboards and all are creative

We always stop into Buc ee’s when in Texas-  you can get gas, buy mom a gift and have lunch in under an hour !

We made it to my sister Karol home east of Houston in time for a wonderful dinner and some catching up.  Tuesday we are driving again.  We will be in New Smyrna Beach Wednesday for some well earned beach time as well as some golf !  I’m hoping I get to put the shorts and sandals on!

Winter of 2019

Sunday, January 13th, 2019

Let’s go to Florida!  That’s the plan so we bring in the New Year with great friends and then New Years morning we head south, stopping to visit mom, dad and my brother then to Los Angeles to work.  Things are going great, we finish up work in El Cahon Friday afternoon and head into AZ.  The next morning…………… back to San Diego

Midway

We are headed back to Roseville.   We arrive in Roseville at 7 pm Thursday, Jan 10, had an MRI and went home!  It’s a long story, I’ll spare you the details.  The good news is the following day I got the all clear and by 3:30 we were on our way to San Jose to see the kids one more time before heading to Florida!  Yep, we are determined to get to the Florida Keys later this month.

One more hug!

We are going to do the express trip and try to make up some time.  Saturday we traveled 600 miles to get us into AZ.  Today will be another 700 miles to get us to Texas!  My ass is killing me.

Good morning from the rest stop outside of Phoenix

East of Tucson

So far so good!  Looking forward to some beach time !