New Jersey/New York

We arrived in New Jersey, to stay with Elyse and Lowell at her condo there. She had arranged 2 parking spaces for us: 1 for the trailer and 1 for the car! Not too shabby for big city life! Elyse's place is in Upper Mont Clair in a nice little neighborhood with all the shopping, parks and public transportation to New York nearby. Her place is small, but very nice. They were so kind, they even gave us the bedroom!

Elyse has very nice Golden Retriever named Micah, who is a service dog. He is trained to work with Autistic kids and he is a dear. Colin had decided a while back that when we got home, he wanted a dog. This was his opportunity to prove he was dog worthy! Any time Micah needed anything, Colin was there! He even volunteered to pick up the poop on walks! He was VERY convincing! We still haven't made any decisions about a dog joining our family, but we're giving it some thought.

Also near the condo, is a pet store that has several cats that they are trying to help find homes for. We walked by the store many times when it was closed and then Elyse took Derek one day while it was open, and that boy spent several hours at the place petting and playing with all the cats. He got his cat fix! He misses his cat, Jill tons, so this was nice for him and the cats.

It was time for haircuts for all of us again, and we were even in a neighborhood where we could walk to get it done! We all headed over and had a guy named Mike cut all of our hairs! It was a family affair.

Now that our hairs were cut, we were ready for some serious sight seeing! We headed by ferry to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty! We had to pass through the most rigorous security screening I think I have ever been through! They made us remove watches, and even belts (not shoes?!) Lowell thought that was a bit overboard, and argued with the TSA folks. They were pretty insistent. Lowell decided to express his displeasure with the system by encouraging his shorts to fall down. They DID make him remove his belt, and how were his shorts supposed to stay up without a belt?! The security folks were not so impressed, but we were allowed to continue onto the ferry, so I guess that's something! The views of New York's skyline were pretty incredible on that ride! At Ellis Island, Colin and I took an audio tour, while Derek and Marcus watched a long film, and Lowell and Elyse took a self guided tour. It was pretty amazing to see how huge the building is and to imagine it full of people all with luggage, speaking a variety of languages, all needing to be processed. And the processing!! They had to pass a long list of criteria in order to be allowed to enter the USA. All of this brought back memories of my own immigration to the States from Canada. While I didn't enter through Ellis Island, it was still a big deal. I was only 5, but I remember parts of it.

As we took the next ferry to go see the Statue of Liberty, we enjoyed the view that must have greeted many immigrants over the years. There was the statue herself in the mouth of the bay, facing Europe, and symbolizing freedom and liberty to all who live here. Colin and I took another audio tour. Colin learned a lot! He is a good listener to those things! Derek and Marcus met a ranger and started a ranger led tour. It was just the two of them at first, so they got quite the chance to ask questions and interact with the ranger. That was great for Derek because he was in history overload, and not fully engaged until the ranger tour. Elyse and Lowell ended up joining them. We were not able to go up into the statue because that sells out months in advance, but just seeing it up close and personal, was a powerful experience!

The next day we took the train and then the subway into New York to see if we could get tickets to any good plays on Broadway. The boys and I really wanted to see Wicked! We stood in a long line for last minute tickets to plays available for the next day's matinee. There was a list of what shows were available, and Wicked wasn't on the list. We were trying to figure out what shows we would want to see, when a scalper walked by offering tickets for Wicked for the next night! They cost more than we would have liked, but we were going to get to see Wicked on Broadway!! The guy wanted cash, and who carries that kind of money with them? Marcus and the guy headed to a nearby ATM, where Marcus took out scads of cash (we were kind of surprised the machine would give us that much at one time!) We were also worried that the tickets might not be legit! Despite all of that... we bought them!

While in The City, we also went to Ground Zero to see where the Twin Towers used to stand. Then we met Elyse's son, Mark for lunch. I had a lovely buffalo burger! I am so adventurous, don't you think?! The boys were on their best behavior! It was all good! We walked around town a bit and showed the boys Times Square. On our way back to Elyse's place, we decided it would be more efficient to take a bus. Trains, subways and buses oh my!

We headed by car into the city the next day. Now we were on our way to see The Empire State Building, Central Park, Wicked and Times Square at night with all the lights! Lowell and Elyse dropped us off to park(they didn't feel a pressing urge to go up into The Empire State Building) while we joined the throngs of folks in line to go up. It seemed like the lines just kept going!! There were lines to buy tickets, lines for security, lines for elevators... Eventually, we did summit the building. The views of the city were incredible-when you were lucky enough to push through the plethora of tourists to get to the edge! It was very high up there! This was one of Colin's must sees! After reading the Percy Jackson series, in which Percy goes to The Empire State Building, Colin was intrigued. If I haven't made it clear, it was crowded, but in hindsight, I'm glad we did it! Thanks, Colin!

We met Lowell and Elyse in Central Park. On our way, we saw another Statue of Liberty. That was kinda fun, we didn't realize there were two (see above photo). We didn't have much time to spend in the park, but it was nice to get the idea. There were several wedding parties trouping through the park with photographers leading the way and stopping for ideal photo stops.

I need to put in a little aside here. For those of you who know Marcus, you may have noticed, he has a bit of a unique walk. It is more of a bounce if you ask me. One that seems to launch him forward. This gate seems to run in the family. His father and Derek have the very same stride, making it quite amusing as you watch the three of them launching their way through the city. It seems to make them fast walkers (or I am a slow walker, or a combination thereof). As we walked about the city, bobbing and weaving our way through the crowds, I felt I was almost running to keep up. I felt like I was missing photo ops and various sights as I was concentrating on not losing them. Ah well, I'm not sure who was more annoyed, the slow walkers or the fast walkers, but surely there is a compromise to be had somehow?!

Our next destination? Broadway and the musical Wicked!! Wow did we enjoy the show!! The music was great, the sets were great, the experience was great, and the story puts quite a fun twist on The Wizard of Oz making for great conversations with Colin! What a fun time! I am so glad we did it, expense and all!

As we walked back to the car, we went through Times Square. This time the kids got to see it in all its glory: lit up like a Christmas Tree! It always amazes me when we go to places like that, when there are SO many people walking the streets that late at night! We are not city folks. The crowds bother us, transportation gets complicated and somewhat expensive, and we are not much into nightlife, but we were glad to have had our little time in New York!

More History: Philadelphia/Valley Forge

We headed to Philadelphia and a KOA outside of town. We asked for a spot right by the river, because that was the wooded area. The problem was we arrived during a downpour and there was no gravel only dirt, so we were setting up in a mudhole. There were several tent campers in the area, and we figured they must have had a terrible night's sleep! The next morning they moved their tents into the sun and had their sleeping bags all hanging on the pool fence. That morning we drove into Philadelphia for more history. We started with a tour of Independence Hall. We had a great guide that made the tour fun and interesting. While on the tour, I remembered I hadn't turned off my cell phone. I thought about it and decided Marcus was the only one that would call me and we were together plus the phone makes quite a bit of noise when it powers off, so I was better off leaving it on. Sure enough, it rang! The guide made some comment, and I felt a bit like a dork. It turned out it was the first day of school, and Graystone called to see why Colin wasn't in class. Too funny!

After the Independence Hall tour, we decided to have Authentic Philly Cheesesteaks for lunch. We asked a security guard where we could find such a thing and he sent us walking several blocks. We didn't even like them!!! Very sad.

Next we went to see the Liberty Bell. I thought it would be much bigger than it is. Turns out the thing broke almost right after they got it, and the attempts to fix it failed. Not sure how it got to be quite so famous, but it seems to be the symbol of choice for many causes from women's rights to civil rights...

After taking the requisite photo in front of the bell, we headed toward Elfram Alley. This is known as the oldest continuously inhabited street in the US. It was fun to see! I'm not sure I would want to live there as I'm sure it must be swarming with tourists much of the time!

At some point during the day, we found out the Giants were in town and thought it might be fun to watch the game. We spent quite a bit of time trying to find tickets online, to no avail. We ended up going to the game and buying scalped tickets. We had a great time during the first part of the game. The Giants were ahead, and we were loving it. The Phillies ended up pulling ahead, and someone behind Derek spit in his hair, so we figured it was time to go. What a disappointing way to end a fun evening!

The next day we headed to Valley Forge. We learned a lot at the Visitor's Center! A Ranger there was VERY helpful in suggesting the best way to get the most out of our visit! It was interesting to read about what the Brits were up to the same time as the colonists. We went on a road tour of the area. Valley Forge is in the beautiful rolling hills of Pennsylvania. There is a wooded hill that was a big part of the defense. We saw the house Martha and George Washington called home during that miserable winter. There were many wooden huts built in groups for regiments. When they first got there, they held a competition: Those who built the first sturdy hut, would get 10 dollars to encourage the men to work hard and fast. Still, it was a very tough winter for the army. It is hard to think that so many men died there because of illness due to inadequate supplies. It was hard to imagine so much hardship in such lovely country!

Ready or Not Here We Come!!

So, we arrived in Berryville around 5ish on August 9th. This changed our plans a bit (not that we had any official plans, but still). The yard was so nice! Lowell has designed quite a spectacular garden, both flower and vegetable. We had limited time and tons that we would have liked to see. We had to be brutal and cull it down to a reasonable amount for 2 kids, 2 adults, 2 seniors (with more spunk than the rest of us) and 1 service dog.

I think we made some good choices!

It was hot and humid here too (was the heat stalking us?) so we headed for the Shenandoah River, near Harper's Ferry, for some swimming. We hiked down a hill, followed a train track for a while, and then scrambled through some brush to the river. The water was great and the scenery was too. There was a little waterfall to play in, lots of clam shells to find, and heat to avoid. We were there for a few hours when Derek started itching. He asked me to scratch his back, which I didn't think much of at first, but he wanted me to scratch it hard. Soon welts developed all over him. We decided it was time to go and get him out of the water in case that was what was causing the reaction. We had to hike back through the brush, and along the railroad tracks. While on the tracks Derek started wheezing and having difficulty breathing. It was about that time that a train came along. We scrambled off the tracks and realized that our car was on the other side of the tracks. Meanwhile, Derek was struggling to breathe. I noticed that his neck was quite swollen and began to get quite worried! Once the train passed, we continued our hike up the tracks. Once we got to a secondary road, Lowell took off ahead while we sat and waited for him to come back with the car. We piled in and hightailed it for Walmart for some Benedryl. We grabbed a package and opened it on the spot, giving Derek 2 pills to take right there. After paying for the pills, Marcus called his mother who is a nurse and his sister, Sheryl who is a midwife and very knowledgable for their advice. I called our neighbor Tami who is also a nurse for her advice. By the time we were well advised, the medicine had done its job and Derek was breathing normally again. We decided we could avoid the emergency room, and took him home to shower off all remaining river water. We still don't know what he was allergic to, but it was quite a severe reaction! His Dr. says it is unlikely that an allergy test will find the cause. He figures it will be something very obscure, but that Derek should carry an epi pen. We are so relieved that he is well! What a scary experience!

After seeing The Kennedy Space Center, and Kitty Hawk, we decided to go for a trifecta and visit the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. There is a new hands-on area for kids that teaches about gravity and flight that went nicely with what they had learned at Kitty Hawk. Colin was really enjoying it, but Derek felt it was too young for him. He was frustrated saying that there was stuff for us old folks to see and stuff for the little kids to do, but nothing for his age range. He is a tweener, isn't he?! We went and saw a presentation in the planetarium about Black Holes. The boys enjoyed that, but I slept through most of it. Next door to the Air and Space Museum is the American Indian Museum. It is fairly new. The building is designed to look kind of like the Cliff Dwellings. There were structures outside depicting the various types of homes the Native Americans lived in. Inside, there were sections describing many tribes, where and how they lived, their contributions, how they were impacted by the influx of Europeans, and their unique creation stories. Very interesting.

That evening we went out to a little Chinese Noodle place for dinner and then headed to the Capitol building for a Concert on the steps. We saw the President's Own US Marine Band. We were right on the front row so we could really see everything. They were great!

In all my trips to DC, I had never been up in the Washington Monument. That was one thing I wanted to do. So, Marcus and Lowell got up really early and drove in to DC to stand in line for tickets for that and for the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. The rest of us headed into DC after breakfast. We enjoyed the monument. The views of the city were incredible! We learned that they first commissioned a statue to be built of George Washington in a Toga, but then decided they didn't like it and agreed on the obelisk instead. Next we headed to the American History Museum. We didn't have as much time there as I would have liked, but we did go to a reenactment of the Greensboro Lunch Counter Sit ins. It was very well done, and went well with our Montgomery visit. For our grand finale for the day, we were off to see millions of dollars in the making. We took a tour of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. They were in the process of making 50 dollar bills. They were showing us all the new technology that they have developed to protect from forgeries. We headed out of DC by 3 that day in an attempt to get out before the traffic got going. We were marginally successful.

The next day Marcus and Lowell took off to go pick up the trailer while the rest of us went into Berryville for breakfast and some shopping in the little downtown area there. When the menfolk were back from their trip we headed to DC to the National Zoo. I love the National Zoo. I love the pandas, I love the aviary, and I love that it is all free! I did indeed enjoy the afore mentioned animals, but some additional highlights were the Sloth Bear, the baby Gorilla, and the River Otters that were waiting at the gate to be fed. Very cute! I forgot my camera that day, so you will just have to trust me!

I had really wanted the boys to see a full blown plantation on our trip so they could see the dichotomy between the slaves and their owners. We never made it to one, so we chose to go to Mount Vernon while we were in the DC area, to try to show both that, and where George and Martha Washington lived. We had heard that they were focusing on how the slaves lived. Unfortunately for us, they were in the process of renovating the slave quarters, so much of that was unavailable to us. We toured the house and saw most of the gardens and outbuildings, but what the boys were the most interested in was the blacksmith!

The numerous day trips into DC resulted in many late dinners and even later bedtimes. It made for some tired Smiths but we were happy to have some elbow room!

The last day of our time in Berryville was spent doing laundry and various repairs. We got a lot done and were ready for our next stop: Philadelphia here we come!

Virginia Beach Fiasco

After our wonderful day at Hatteras, we headed to Virginia Beach. This was to be our down-time, relaxation between visitors and us visiting Marcus' dad. We tootled into First Landing State Park right around 7 feeling very good! It was a lovely campground and we were looking forward to some carefree frolicking on the beach for the next few days. We all got out and sprung into action. First, we unhooked the trailer and got all chocked and situated. Next, Marcus and Derek took the bikes down from the top of the trailer while I readied the trailer for the raising. I unclipped 3 of the 4 side clips, but Marcus was in the way of the 4th with the bike thing, so I put down the pads as I waited for my turn to get at that corner. Then... I had a senior moment, and forgot. I told Derek all was ready for him to crank the trailer up. He cranked. Apparently it felt a bit stiffer than usual after a few turns, but since it had just been worked on recently, he assumed that was why. He cranked a bit harder. Suddenly we all heard a big snapping sound. Very disturbing! That last clip was still clipped and while 3 corners were being lifted, the 4th was held fast. We had broken the cable in the lift system. We tried valiantly to lift it manually with me cranking and Marcus and Derek lifting, but it was too heavy. We even tried taking off the bike rack and trying again, but still no. We finally had to realize there was no way we were going to be able to sleep in it that night. We had an additional problem in that the trailer has a carbon monoxide detector that beeps if it senses the gas. During our trip, it kept getting knocked funny in the put down process, causing it to think it was almost out of battery. This would initiate a rather loud beeping every 30 seconds to warn us to replace the battery. Well, this was going on at the same time, but we couldn't get the trailer up enough to get to the thing and disconnect it. We were going to have to leave it and hope the battery ran out soon. We spent a long time calling around trying to find a hotel, but they were mostly booked and very expensive. We finally talked to someone who told us they would give us a deal and we headed over. As we were almost there I got a call from the place saying that someone else had booked that room while we had been on the phone, so it was no longer available. We were stuck again. We stopped at a Holiday Inn Express and while they didn't have any rooms, they were very helpful and called around finding us a place. We were told it wasn't nice, but it was clean. True! It was a huge room. It was a cheap room. It was a clean room. It was a smoking room. Ah well, by this time it was 9 at night, we were tired, depressed and hungry. We wandered around town looking for food. We decided on Pizza Hut. It was the longest wait I can remember for a while! What a fiasco! We went back and slept in our nasty motel room. In the morning, Marcus worked his fingers to the bone between internet and cell phone, trying to find a place that could fix our trailer. After all, now we were homeless! No one could fix it for 2-4 WEEKS!! We were left no choice but to load up, and head to Grandpa Smith's place in Berryville, Virginia and try to find someone on the way that we could drop it off with so they could fix it during our stay with Grandpa. We went back to the campground, where we were greeted with cheerful beeping every 30 seconds. The thing went all night. I'm sure those camped around it were mighty pleased! We put our bikes back on the trailer, loaded up and headed off. We were well out of town before we even realized that we never once looked over the dunes to see what the beach looked like! Bummer. After more than an hour of calls, Marcus found our guy! We dropped the trailer off there, and he helped us raise it enough to get our necessities out before we headed to Berryville. We were 2 days early, we were NOT relaxed, nor rested, but we had a place to go.

Lowell and Elyse were in the midst of a major clean up for our arrival. They just needed 2 more days to be ready. We didn't give it to them, poor things! We called them, told them our sad tale and said ready or not here we come! They put us up anyway and we were very glad they did!

Cape Hatteras/Kitty Hawk

As we headed toward Cape Hatteras, we thought we could just board any ferry. I had done a little research, and hadn't found any site where I could make reservations, so we assumed we didn't need any. WRONG! As we got closer, we saw signs with phone numbers for ferry info. I called and found out we couldn't get the ferry that day! We had to drive around and go in from the north.

First we went to Roanoke. This was Sir Raleigh's Fort of the Lost Colony. We heard a Ranger give a presentation on the theories of what happened to the colony that had settled there and Colin got another Jr. Ranger Badge.

We stayed at a KOA on the Cape. After setting up camp, we headed over the dune to check out the beach. The wave action was very cool! We enjoyed playing at the water's edge for quite a while. I even found a shark egg case on the beach. That is what is in my hand in the above photo. That night Colin and I joined the karaoke activity. We sang a duet, and he sang a solo! Go Colin!

The next morning Colin and I woke up early and headed to the beach to watch the sunrise. Marcus was up, just didn't know where we had gone, he was sorry he missed it. After breakfast, we went up into the lighthouse. It is the tallest brick lighthouse in the world. There were 267 steps, along with great panoramic views. Colin finished another Jr. Ranger badge there. He's getting to have quite a collection! We checked out the beach there where the lighthouse had been originally. Apparently, the sand is ever shifting there, and they were worried about the sea encroaching and causing damage. While at that beach, we saw an Osprey swoop down and catch a good sized fish, not that far away from us. It flew away, with the fish still struggling a bit in its talons. Very cool.

Next we were off to Kitty Hawk. This is where the Wright Brothers had their first flight. Marcus and I didn't remember there being that much there, but they had improved it in the last 25 years, and the kids loved it! We watched a movie that helped explain all the set backs the brothers had to work through. They were quite the guys! They had to design their own engine, since there wasn't one out there that would do what they needed it to do. We were impressed at two brothers having worked together so closely, after being in the car with two brothers ourselves and hearing all the bickering! It turns out the Wright Brothers bickered a lot too! But still managed to work together and work things out. Maybe there is hope for our set of Smith brothers too?! Let's hope so! The boys also participated in a ranger led activity, that explained more about how things fly. They made their own simple kites as they learned about thrust, drag, pull... They enjoyed that!

On our way off the Cape we found a ferry with room for us!! It was very small and we took up a good portion of it with the tent trailer. We piled out of the car to enjoy our trek back to the mainland. There were posts in the water to mark the ferries' route along the way. Several of these posts had been taken over by Ospreys for nests. We saw one nest with mom and dad sitting on it watching us go by. Too fun.

It was a big day, but we thoroughly enjoyed our short time in the Cape Hatteras area!

The Never-ending Ride to Wilmington

Thursday, August 5th we headed to Wilmington, Virginia. We left our camp site around 9am. On our way out, we stopped at an auto place to have the battery looked into. We were lucky that the battery was still under warranty, and this place used only our specific type of battery. They had to test our battery to see that it was really the problem. That took a while. Sure enough, the battery was not holding a charge. They replaced the battery and just charged us for the labor. Yippee! Our stop there put us on the road a bit later than we had hoped. We all sat in the car through the whole thing, thinking it would be done any minute. It was 11:30 before we were back on the road again. By this time we were all getting hungry. We got part way out of town and found a Subway to stop at. It was not a great stop for Eric, but he made do. Finally, we were on our way!

Along the way, there was a complete downpour, making it hard to see where we were going. We had experienced this before, but Suzi was new to this, and not liking it too much. We stopped at a grocery store during a lull in the storm to buy groceries. By the time we were done, it was coming down again, and hard. Suzi parked her car up under the eves of the store and we loaded the car there in the relative dry. By the time we got to our KOA, it was dinnertime. What had happened to our little 3 hour drive?! It had taken all day! Poor Suzi had been in the car by herself, with the miserable driving conditions! If we had known the drive would take so long, we would never have done it with the Colvins. Not the most productive way to spend their last bit of time. Suzi had yet to dip her toesies into the Atlantic. Not good! That night we tried to find a restaurant on the beach to try to replicate our earlier experience, but no go. While we were doing that, Suzi found a beach she could step on, just in case it was her only chance! We felt so bad!! We dined together, and then Suzi went to stay at Lynn's sister's place.

The next morning, we went to Carolina Beach State Park to walk a loop trail where carnivorous plants grow in the wild. We were in search of the evasive Venus Fly Trap (found only here in the US). We found a nice big bunch of Pitcher Plants, but no Venus Flytraps. Next we headed to the beach very close to where our friend Lynn's sister lives. The beach was great! This time Suzi was able to join us for a while. The boys body surfed, and the adults waded and chatted. The Colvins had to go to get to the airport where their flight would whisk them off to their cruise. We stayed at the beach. We were having such a great time, we didn't want to leave. We sent Marcus off to hunt us some lunch. Not long after he left, Colin came screeching out of the water, saying his leg hurt. I looked at his leg and didn't see anything. At first I assumed he was making a big deal out of nothing as he sometimes is known to do. He kept on and on, though. I checked out his leg several times and couldn't see anything. I was beginning to think jellyfish, but wasn't sure they were common there. I was trying to think what to do. Meanwhile, Colin was still in pain. Finally, several big welts popped up in a half circular pattern on his leg. Something had indeed gotten him! I decided to go look to see if there were any signs warning of what might lurk in these waters. Just as I was heading up the beach, a lifeguard came by on an ATV. I asked him about Colin's symptoms and he said: jellyfish! He got out his handy dandy bottle of vinegar. First he told Colin to go rinse his leg off real good in the ocean. Then he poured some vinegar on his leg and told him to take some sand and rub the sting vigorously. Then he poured more vinegar on the sting. I told the guy how glad I was that he was there and had vinegar with him. I remembered learning with Derek from one of his merit badges, that for a jellyfish sting, you treat it with beer, meat tenderizer, vinegar, or urine. Since I didn't have the first 3, I was worried I was going to have to find a way to pee on my son's leg. That didn't appeal to either one of us, so thank you thank you dear life guard for saving us from that experience!! Just after that was sorted out, Marcus came back with some sandwiches. We were enjoying these as a major thunderstorm blew in. The sky grew VERY dark, and rain started in, and soon there was thunder and lightening, so we headed back to the trailer.

A couple of things we have noticed: When not raining, it has been cool enough in the evening to be outside!! A novel idea! The ocean temperatures are definitely dropping significantly as we go further north. I do better with blogging when we are not driving, and not visiting. This seems to be a bit limiting. I was able to catch up a bit at this site.

Big Guns!

Wednesday, August 4th we were off to Charleston North Carolina. We found an amazing County Park there that was bigger than many state parks! It was very nicely done, with laundry facilities, and even a water park, and climbing wall for a fee.

We weren't sure we were interested, but Craig Colvin said we had to go to Ft. Sumter, and so we did. Once there, we were glad we went! We took a ferry over to the island. The ferry was air conditioned, and Suzi said she was collecting her goosebumps, and putting them in her bag to save for later! Yes, it was STILL hot and humid! Ft. Sumter was the location of the first shots of the Civil War. You could still see cannon balls embedded in the brick. There was a ranger who led a brief tour that was very informative. We wandered through the fort and headed back to Charleston. We raced back to our trailer to have lunch so we could get to the water park. Then we remembered our sunburns. So, we investigated movies instead. We found 1 we were interested in seeing (the Cats vs. Dogs sequel: I wouldn't recommend it!) We took off for that which turned out to be almost back by the ferry! The movie theater was called Cinnebarre. We have never been to anything like it! It was set up in rows, with long counters in front of the seats. There were rolls of paper towels under the seats and menus on the counters. You could order a full meal with beer, wine, margaritas... We were sorry we had frantically shoved our meal down to get there in time. It would have been a fun place to eat! We think we need a theater like this at home. After the movie, Marcus took Eric and Colin to the water park, while Derek stayed back with his sunburn, and I started in on the laundry. The washers and dryers were in full sun, but there was a lovely bench swing in the shade nearby where I sat between laundry tasks. At one point Suzi joined me and we had a lovely chat! We barely hit the tip of the iceberg in things to catch up on, but it was a nice start! I had driven the laundry over to the washers, and when I went to drive back over, the battery was dead! Marcus came and tried to jump it with Suzi's rental Prius, but that didn't work. Finally, a good Samaritan came by and jumped it for us. I'm not sure what happened, I don't think lights were on, or doors open. Very weird! The next morning when we got up, Marcus checked on the battery... DEAD. Again, we found a helpful sort to jump start us. On the way out to Wilmington we would have to get that looked into.

Orlando & Li et. al.

July 27th... We made it to Orlando, dropped off our trailer to have all the little annoying things fixed, and stayed in a hotel near Universal Studios. We were foot loose and trailer free! The hotel had a separate bedroom, a full kitchen, and a washer and dryer right in the room, let alone a full bathroom

with a jacuzzi tub! We have decided hotels can be nice... Very nice! That first night we met Li and her kids at the Olive Garden for dinner around 8ish. Li found Marcus' beard different! Survey said... it was time for the beard to go, even if Mary Ellen in Mennonite country thought it made Marcus FINALLY look like a man! We had a very enjoyable dinner! It was good to see friends again! By the time we met for dinner, it was already the Smith's bedtime, so we didn't dally afterwards. We drove Li and family back to her hotel, said hello to Li's parents, and headed back to our hotel to get good and rested for our big day at Universal Studios the next day.

Wednesday, the 28th, we got up and had to wake the boys up in time to have breakfast before getting the 8:30 shuttle to Universal. Poor things! What mean parents! Marcus decided to shave the beard that morning. He had had his experiment, now he knew what he looked like with a beard; he was done. It was itchy anyway. It was so funny, we didn't think we were used to seeing him with a beard, but once it was gone, it took us a few days to get used to no beard! When we got into Universal, we headed towards Harry Potter World. We stopped to ride the Jurassic Park ride, which was delayed. The ride was fun, but by the time we were done with that, we found the line into Harry Potter World to be over 2 hours long!! We asked a guy that worked there if it ever tapers off and he said if we waited until 3 we could walk right in, so that was the plan. We played a lot of phone tag with Li to hook up, but once we finally did, we sent Matt and Derek on their merry ways to go have their fill of wild roller coasters, while Sydney and Colin went with us adults to Seuss Land. Sydney and Colin started by changing their wardrobe. They purchased Thing 1 and Thing 2 shirts, and caps. They were the dynamic duo! We explored Seuss Land, riding on rides etc. I have to say it was very well done! I enjoyed the Lorax with the Truffula trees! Later that afternoon we met back up with Matt and Derek (who had only managed 2 rides in 2 1/2 hours due to lines) and headed into Harry Potter World. As promised, there really was no line!! I have to say, WOW!! They did a fantastic job putting it all together, even down to the Butter Beer! Whose job was it to invent that drink based on the book? This is a butterscothchy, non alcoholic drink served frozen like an icee during hot weather. Very yummy! The Hogwarts ride had a VERY long line. The castle was well done and the ride was cool, but wow, there were a lot of people! It was difficult to fully enjoy the place with so many people around! I guess we shouldn't have been surprised, since it had just opened, but still! Oh, and may I point out that it was very hot and humid?! That evening, we headed to Li's hotel where we made dinner. While we were cooking, Li's dad took the boys to the driving range. Apparently, Derek has quite a natural swing!

Thursday we went to the other part of Universal Studios, while Li and family had down time. Boy, this side was WAY less crowded! We split into two pairs. Marcus took Derek to go ride the wild roller coasters, while I took Colin to ride the more reasonable roller coaster over and over to our hearts' contents! In a few hours we had seen and done all that we wanted, so we headed back to our hotel for lunch. After lunch we napped, and headed to Li's hotel where Colin, Marcus and I sneaked into the pool there, and Derek went with Dick and Matt to the driving range. It was another hot and humid day!! The golfers came back all hot and sweaty and joined us in the pool. Again, we made dinner at Li's hotel, and headed back to our place for bed.

Friday morning, we were heading for Kennedy Space Center. We were to meet Li and family along the way. I was having technical difficulties with the GPS, as it didn't seem to like any addresses or points of interest that I put in. There was quite a fiasco, with trying to find Li. My family likes to describe it as the time mom had a hissy fit over directions! I think that gives you an idea of how well I handled the situation! We DID finally find them and headed off to Kennedy Space Center. We had a great time there! We took a bus tour, that took us all around the property. We learned a lot! We also were lucky enough to have Doug Boling(from San Jose) and his 3 brilliant young sons meet up with us. They happened to be going to the Space Center that week as well, and arranged to be there the same day as we were. That was very cool! As we were leaving the space center to head to the Astronaut Hall of Fame, a major downpour hit, with tons of thunder and lightening! By this time it was about 7pm. We weren't sure whether to head back or go into the Hall of Fame, but with the downpour, we decided it was best to go in! We were practically the only ones there at that hour, and we closed the place down! Then we had the drive back to Orlando. Our GPS was programmed to avoid toll roads, so we found every stoplight along the way. We have since changed that setting!

Saturday the Smith Family headed to Universal's water park. We slid, we frolicked, we were lazy on the Lazy River, and then we headed back to our hotel for lunch. It was Li and family's last day, so we went back to her hotel, to hang out by the pool. Derek, Matt and Dick went back to the driving range, then joined us at the pool, since it was so hot and humid! We again dined with Li et. al. and said our goodbyes. It had been nice seeing them, now we were heading for new adventures!

I must say, we have been told that it has been the hottest summer on record in Florida. Even so, we have wondered why anyone who has the knowledge, experience, and half a brain, would go to Florida in the summertime? Florida is beautiful, and there are terrific beaches! The water is warm and clear, but, I mean, how sweaty do YOU really want to be? I would prefer to be not so much sweaty most of the time, thank you very much!

Key West

July 23rd. Ahhh... Key West!! The beach, the sun, relaxation! NOT!! Mosquitoes!! They were out in such force that we were afraid to go outside for much more than a RUN to the restrooms. It seems our preconcieved notions about Key West were a bit off. We were dreaming of beautiful white beaches with seashells by the ton. There was a decided lack of pretty beaches. The ones that we DID find had a decided lack of seashells! We still went in the warm clear water, but we were a bit disappointed after the gulf coast!

We camped at a KOA on Sugarloaf Key, not quite on Key West, but almost. This place was quite amazing. I am sure during peak season, it must be quite a happening place! There is an open air pub with multiple tv screens, and video games. They even have a few iguanas that live somewhere on the premises that like to visit in the early evenings on an awning inside. I think they must be people watching. So were we!

That first day, we drove through Key West to see what was there... while we were driving around, a major storm came through, dumping 3 inches of rain in a very short period of time. It was all over the local news! The streets were quite flooded, and there were many soggy tourists wandering around. We drove back to our trailer, though it was raining so hard, it was hard to see where we were going.

On one of the days, we spent the afternoon in Key West itself. We went to the beach and hung out for a few hours, and then wandered the town. We window shopped and came up with a few pressing questions: How many t-shirt shops does one town really need? How many crass sayings really need to be put on t-shirts? We had been planning on hanging out in town all afternoon, having a late dinner and watching the famous sunset, but it was hot, and we were done, so we had an early dinner instead. We found Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville. Colin ordered a Cheeseburger in Paradise and the song came on just as it arrived. He thought that was pretty cool! When we got back to our tent trailer, we went up on the bridge to take some sunset photos. There really wasn't that much to see, but I have them as proof!

Here are a few questions Colin came up with:

How many keys are there?!

Why are they called keys?

And one from Marcus: How can we get a new Toyota key?

Key Largo

July 24th was a sunny day. Bonnie had run her course, leaving the keys pretty much untouched. We packed up and left the hotel, hooked up the trailer and headed to the Everglades. We saw alligators, crocodiles, vultures, anoles, a red shouldered hawk, grasshoppers, spiders, vultures, Green Egrets, and butterflies to name a few. We went to the visitor's Center where we learned where we ought to go and planned our day. There was a ranger lead hike along a boardwalk. As we walked along, we saw a big alligator out in the water. Then, when we went over a bridge, Colin saw a small alligator hanging out under it. The little guy came out for us and I got a pretty good photo of him if I do say so myself! Derek found a green anole (a type of lizard) and I got another pretty good photo. There were amazing grasshoppers that were so colorful, they were actually pretty! We saw bromiliads growing in the trees, and little dainty orchids also, just sprouting out of the treetops. There were signs in the parking lots warning us that the Vultures may cause damage to our car. Apparently, they like rubber. After that hike, we headed further south to the coast and took a boat trip into the bayou there. Here we saw some crocodiles. We learned that crocodiles live in salt water and alligators live in fresh water and where we were boating was one of the only places on earth where both alligators and crocodiles live in the same place together. We learned about how Mangrove trees "walk" across a river by sending roots down from its branches. Once the root gets established, a whole new tree is born and when it gets big enough, it will send out its own shoots, thus making its way across the river.

After our boat trip, we walked, or should I say ran along the Mahogany Loop Trail aka Mosquito run. Note the photo of Marcus slapping at mosquitoes above. The giant Mahogany was very cool, as were all the bromiliads and orchids. Unfortunately, the Mosquitoes cut our viewing short.

On our way out of the park, we noticed a Panther Crossing sign. I'm sorry it is so blurry, but I had to include it anyway. We found that so amusing! The Panther is Florida's state mammal, and I guess unlike California, they still have some of their state mammal.

Once we left the Everglades, we headed to Key Largo and John Pennekamp State Park and Coral Reef. The campground would have been nice enough, but the mosquitoes were out in earnest. I asked what repellent was the best and was told the skin so soft, by Avon, but it didn't seem to deter the little devils! Who knows, maybe we would have been doubly munched!

The next morning we left early for a snorkel trip. We took a boat out about 5 miles to a living coral reef. The water was a bit rough, but Marcus and I had taken Dramamine, so we were ok. Colin and I started the snorkel trip together with Marcus and Derek as buddies. Colin and I spotted 6 squid lined up in a row when we first got in. Next a good sized Barracuda. . Derek and Marcus spotted a spotted Eagle ray, and a sunken Canon. I saw a spiny sea Urchin. After a while in the water, we switched buddies. Derek and I spotted a Giant Barracuda and Derek saw a fish as it was being cleaned by a shrimp. Marcus and Colin saw a ginormous spiny lobster. We had a great time!

Once back from the snorkel trip we packed up and headed up to Key West. Boy were we looking forward to the laid back lifestyle we associated with the keys!

The 3 B's... Birthday, Breakdown and Bonnie!

July 22nd... Marcus' and my mom's birthday!! The day started with me going off to get a massage while Marcus and the boys put down the trailer. I know!! How wrong!! I am off getting a massage on HIS birthday! Believe me, I pointed it out more than once, but he insisted. Off I went for a massage. When I got back, the trailer was down and Marcus and the boys were in the pool. We finished hooking the trailer up and set off for Key Largo. I was so looking forward to the Keys and hanging out on the beach and the laid back lifestyle! As we got started, it seemed that Marcus was in a bit of a mood. That was too bad, since it was his birthday and all. We drove for quite a while, then heard a funny sound and smelled burning rubber. We pulled over and one of the trailer tires was mangled... see above photo. Marcus proceeded to change the tire in the sweltering heat on the side of a busy freeway on the outskirts of Miami. He had never changed a trailer tire, nor had he used the type of jack that was in Rob's car, but he managed. I tried to go out and help, but Marcus wouldn't let me. He said it was too dangerous, and to get back in the car. That made me feel even worse! Here is my wonderful husband out there in the heat, risking his life while I sit inside with the ac on. Hmmmm. It felt very wrong!! Happy Birthday honey! Anyway, we got the spare on, and Marcus discovered that the other trailer tire was about ready to blow as well. So we asked Jack, the gps to locate a tire place for us. We were fortunate that Jack found one within a couple of miles. When we got there we were also fortunate that the place had the tires that we needed in stock! Meanwhile, I had been hearing about a tropical depression headed for the Keys. As I got further into the research, it seemed that this storm had grown into a tropical storm and been officially named Bonnie. Bonnie was headed straight for Key Largo was the prediction. Our trouble was, we were also headed there. We decided to go to a hotel instead of going to Key Largo for the night, and were again fortunate in that there was a hotel nearby right where we were, so we checked in for the night. We went out to dinner to try to end the day with a better celebration for the birthday boy. Finally we had a nice time. Thank goodness!! As we sat there, Marcus pointed out how lucky we were that as each of the difficulties came up, the solution was easily available. He's such a glass is half full kinda guy! You gotta love him!

There were perks with staying in a hotel! There was constant cool air, no bugs, inside bathroom... oh the joys! Not only that, there was tv again!! On the 23d, we found ourselves in Kendall Miami. As we watched the weather predictions for Bonnie, we realized she was headed straight for us! I think she was stalking us! We watched as the palm trees shook and swayed outside our window. The rain came down quite hard. When most of the storm had passed us by, we headed out for a movie. We watched The Sorcerer's Apprentice. It was really, really good in Colin's words.

When we headed back to the hotel, I wasn't feeling very well, so I read and napped, while Marcus researched our future. I was still not feeling well at dinner time, so Marcus took the boys out to dinner.