Orlando trip

June 24th, 2008---I left work early today so I could come home and get some laundry done and things like that to prepare for our trip. Tomorrow we leave at zero dark thirty for Reagan Nat'l airport for our flight to Orlando.I always keep a trip journal--so--look for updates while we are in Florida. I love Florida. I love saying the word Florida. I just love it!!!

6-25-08--We had to leave for the airport at zero dark thirty this morning, but we are in Florida now--so, the early start was worth it. We arrived at Washington Nat---sorry--Reagan National airport around 6--we breezed through check-in and security. We found a place to get breakfast. After breakfast we went to our gate. I set down my carry-on for a bit, Bob was working on his computer, so I was able to leave my bag with him. I walked a bit, bought a book and walked some more. Then I got a yogurt and sat for a while. We heard an announcement that our gate was changed. No biggie--we just took our stuff and moved.

When I sat down, I looked around at our fellow passengers. Shorts and sandal clad, my guess was they were like us, on vacation, and I bet most were Disney bound. We took off on time and landed early--couldn't start a vacation any better than that. We hopped on the shuttle that sped us to baggage claim. As we sped along, I looked out the window, I noticed the palm trees--a telltale sign you're in Florida.

As we waited for the bags, I made 3 quick phone calls. I left Mom and Dad a message, spoke briefly to Sarah and Russ. We will be seeing Russ, Mei-Fen and boys tomorrow for dinner.

After picking up our bags, we had to take another shuttle to the car rental pick up site. Once we got our car, we headed out for lunch. We were starved and ready to eat. We have checked into our hotel and that is where we are right now. We are going out for a walk soon--I need to have my exercise.

Tomorrow, we check out of here after breakfast, head to Downtown Disney for some shopping and lunch. After that we check into our other hotel.I will add more to my travel journal as I have more to add.

6/26/08--Thursday morning I got up early and used the treadmill in the fitness room then got back to the room and did some ballet, pilates and yoga. I felt terrific afterwards. Then we got breakfast, packed our stuff, checked out and went to Downtown Disney for some shopping. We had lunch, spoke to Russ about our plans to meet them for dinner. We got to the Marriott Grand Vista to check in. We hung out for a bit, went to get our groceries for the weekend, then headed out to meet Russ, Mei-Fen and boys for dinner at the Pirate Dinner Adventure.

That was great--I highly recommend it. So entertaining--the performers were fantastic--the acrobatics were great--it was a lot of fun.

Afterwards we went to a Prime Outlets mall to walk around. Had a nice visit with everyone and we made our plans for Saturday. We are going to their house Saturday. After that, we're going to a park to see natural springs--maybe go on a boat ride.

When we got over here, we strolled around the property a little, found all the pools and got to enjoy the fireworks that came from Sea World.

6/27/08--Friday. I woke up early and went "pool hopping." The pools here at the resort are fantastic. They kept the trees--palm trees--when they built the place--gave it a real tropical feel with the plants and flowers. Latin music plays and is a great combo with the Spanish style decor of the buildings. I'ts like a huge apartment complex here. Tennis courts, golf course. The pools are fun--fountains to play in. They have a white sand beach. I walked across that. They have a rock climbing wall set up and a net for beach volleyball. Lounge chairs everywhere. A lake separating the sections of the resort. A long footbridge you can walk across to the other 2 pools. I loved it. I did swim for about a half hour--then just played in the other pools and walked.

Today we are heading out to Kennedy Space Center and Russ, Mei-Fen and boys are heading to Wet-n-Wild.

We are ready to go--more later!

6/27/08--Friday. What a great day. We left around 10:30 and got to the Kennedy Space Center around 11:30. As we approached the visitor's complex, we entered the National Wildlife Preserve. Just as soon as we saw a sign for that we spotted 2 (brown) pigs on the side of the road and saw a lot of birds that neither of us recognize.

We highly recommend the Kennedy Space Center. It is well worth the money. The first thing we did was get in line for the bus tour. Our first stop was the LC-39 Observation Gantry. We could see Launch Pad A and B from there.

Our 2nd stop was Apollo/Saturn 5 Center. We saw the actual control room used for the Apollo launches. We went inside and saw a short film on the Apollo program then we saw the Saturn 5 rocket.

The 3rd stop is the International Space Station Center. But we didn't do that tour, we went back to the visitor's center. Over there we got to walk into the Explorer space shuttle. They have a lot to do there. You need to plan to spend the whole day there if you want to do everything.

While riding on the buses, we saw the current launch control center, the official countdown clock, vehicle assembly building and much more.

We left about 3;30 and headed to Cocoa Beach. As you know, I love the ocean. Being so close, I wanted to see the ocean. We only stayed about and hour--or hour and a half. But, it was worth it to me--i had a chance to enjoy the water and the beach. The first thing I noticed was that unlike Ocean City, MD and Virginia Beach, they don't have one unending row of hotels along the beach and they don't have a boardwalk. They were smart and some of the land right along the beach is state parks. That way everyone, locals and tourists alike, can have a place right near the beach to park and enjoy the beach. In Ocean City and VA Beach, you only get close-to-the-beach parking if you are staying in a hotel there. A lot of families can't afford those expensive places and end up parking blocks away and have to haul all their stuff. This worked out nice for us to be able to park right there.

We came back to the hotel and have been just sitting here relaxing. Bob just left to pick up some KFC and after that we are going to walk around the resort again--maybe even catch the fireworks again.

Tomorrow we head to Russ and Mei-Fen's. Weather permitting we will get a ride on their boat.


Saturday, June 28th. Just a little past 7 this morning. Today I went out for a nice walk around the resort. It felt so tropical--with the birds chirping and the fountains flowing. Hardly a soul out at 5:30 a.m. I saw a few people on treadmills in the fitness center. Otherwise, I didn't see anyone. They keep the property lit up, so, no problem walking in the dark.

Today we head to Russ and Mei-Fen's. More later!

6/28/08---Ok, we went to Russ and Mei-Fen's and spent the day on their power boat. Omigosh! What a great day--make sure you stop to see them if you're in Florida. They took us almost to the Gulf of Mexico--it was right in front of us.

We stopped at Shell Island, right near the Crystal River.

On our way back we went to a restaurant called Crackers at Devon's request--we pulled right up in the boat. We sat outside--that was fun.

Nicholas did most of the driving. Devon did some, too. They both did a wonderful job.

When we got back to the resort, we bought our Epcot tickets for Sunday.

Long day--that's it for now.

6/29/08 -- Sunday. Bob and I went to our appointment for the presentation on the Marriott Vacation Club. As soon as we walked in the door, we were greeted by a very attractive young lady. Later on, we learned from Chris, our salesman, that she's a former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader. She only did it for one year--from 89-90. We lived there at that time. Our presentation was only supposed to be 90 minutes. Ours turned out to be 4 hours--because we bought a membership. I'm so excited about this. We own a vacation home! The best part is that unlike other vacation homes or time shares where you go to the same place every year--we can travel all over the world. The price was good. I'm so excited about it. We can either get a 2 bedroom/2 bath place once a year or take a one bedroom/1 bath place once and a studio another time. And if a studio is not available--or if the smallest room a hotel has is a one bedroom--then we can get that. To top it off they have an affiliate company in which we can book rooms with non-Marriott hotels around the world. We can book a 2 bedroom/2 bath place and take Sarah, Keith, Shawn and Megan with us and let them enjoy a vacation with us. If they were able to pay for their own airline tickets and souvenirs, we'd get the room, and buy groceries. S&K could get their own rental car and we could figure out a way for S & M to get around--because some rental car places don't allow anyone under 25 to rent a car. The main thing is they'd be able to have a cool vacation without too much $$ out of their pocket. I'm so excited about this. Something good will happen so we can pay for it. I know we can do this.

After we were all finished, we headed to Epcot for the evening. We went on one ride then headed to World Showcase and strolled from country to country. We got to the UK and it started to rain--you know, the usual afternoon thunderstorm that is a daily occurence in Florida in the summer. We ducked into a store--like everyone else--until it let up a little. Then we walked to the Future World for something to eat. After dinner we went back to the UK for more shopping until around 8. At 8 it was time to line up near the lagoon for the nightly fireworks display called Illuminations. I love it. They do a great job. It was the one thing I really wanted to do.

That wrapped up our trip to Florida. We went back to the hotel and packed.

Our trip ended on the same perfect note as it started--with a flight that took off on time and landed early.

We came home and all was well--the kids did a great job taking care of the cats and the house.