I’ll start with my California vacation and then move on to Florida. I’m quite the jet setter lately. As some of you may know I went to California for Easter to visit the family. I am the worst at taking pictures on vacation!!! I only took a few pictures in Santa Barbara of my nephew’s BMX practice and that was it. We had a great trip though. It snowed all the way out of Oregon on the way there, but Santa Barbara was beautiful as usual and I enjoyed a long walk by myself at Goleta Beach. I forgot what it feels like to have sunburned shoulders because it has been so long! Even that felt good. After spending a couple blissful days at the beach we drove to the inland empire for the last part of the trip. Easter was a busy day full of family visits. It was so nice not to have to bundle up every time I walked out of the house. Visiting reminds me of how much I miss my family and makes me want to move back to Santa Barbara. If it weren’t for the expense we’d be back in a heartbeat. I promised myself to take better pictures on the Florida Vacation. I did take more pictures, but not nearly as many as I should have.
Dom and I went Florida for a week and it was great to get out of the cold weather for a while. We flew into Orlando and spent just a full day there. We did not do the amusement park thing because we didn’t want to wind damage Dom’s eye, but we kept busy with miniature golfing, go carts, and Wonderworks. In Key Largo we checked into our hotel and walked to a nearby Wendy’s for lunch. On our way back to the hotel Dom stepped on my flip flop and broke it, so we got into the rental car and decided to drive up to the Kmart we passed coming in. I made him go with me instead of relaxing because he broke the shoe after all. On the way there a Honda Accord side swiped us! I was upset that this happened in a rental. It was a minor fender bender though, so I cannot complain too much. I was just worried that the rental company would charge us an arm and a leg..and maybe another arm. So far though things have been going well and thankfully the other driver had insurance and they are paying it all. When we got back from Kmart we went immediately to the pool for relaxation time. Dom had a Pina Colada at the poolside tiki bar and we listened to the poolside entertainment. While in Key Largo we did a whole bunch of nothing really. Dom did go on a fishing trip and we took a glass bottom boat ride together to see the Molasses Reef. I had the best fish tacos ever at Sharkey’s. I got sunburned at the beach and am still peeling and scaly from that. Halfway through our trip we got a call from our neighbor at home who was watching the cats for us. She asked if someone else had a key to the house because the cats hadn’t eaten or used the litter box in a couple days. I hoped that maybe they were just depressed and would get hungry enough to eat soon. The next day I hoped for a phone call to let me know all was well, but when we finally broke down and called her before we went to bed she said that she still had not seen them. She did ask if we shut the upstairs bathroom door before we left and I didn’t think we did. She tried opening it, but it wouldn’t open all the way. The cats had been playing in the bathroom and while they were wrestling they shut the door behind them. In a panic to open the door to get out they opened all the drawers under the sink and barricaded themselves inside. My neighbor had to get a butter knife to push each drawer back in. Thankfully the cats are okay and I was very relieved to hear this. The last day of our vacation we stayed in Miami. It is so beautiful there. We went to the Miami Sea Aquarium and then walked a block from our hotel to the beach. I love that city, but people are up ALL night there. That was annoying since we seemed to be the only people in town that wanted to go to bed because we had to get up super early to catch our flight home. I thought I could sleep on the plane, but that didn’t work out well either since there was a fussy baby a few rows up from us (I’m not mad at the baby, but felt badly for the parents). We also sat in front of the exit row, so we couldn’t recline our seats the few inches they allow. When we got home we did a deep cleaning of the upstairs bathroom because the cats had to use it as a restroom for a few days…yuck. Then I had the best sleep I have had in a very long time. It was wonderful.
Here are some pictures. :)
Dom and I went Florida for a week and it was great to get out of the cold weather for a while. We flew into Orlando and spent just a full day there. We did not do the amusement park thing because we didn’t want to wind damage Dom’s eye, but we kept busy with miniature golfing, go carts, and Wonderworks. In Key Largo we checked into our hotel and walked to a nearby Wendy’s for lunch. On our way back to the hotel Dom stepped on my flip flop and broke it, so we got into the rental car and decided to drive up to the Kmart we passed coming in. I made him go with me instead of relaxing because he broke the shoe after all. On the way there a Honda Accord side swiped us! I was upset that this happened in a rental. It was a minor fender bender though, so I cannot complain too much. I was just worried that the rental company would charge us an arm and a leg..and maybe another arm. So far though things have been going well and thankfully the other driver had insurance and they are paying it all. When we got back from Kmart we went immediately to the pool for relaxation time. Dom had a Pina Colada at the poolside tiki bar and we listened to the poolside entertainment. While in Key Largo we did a whole bunch of nothing really. Dom did go on a fishing trip and we took a glass bottom boat ride together to see the Molasses Reef. I had the best fish tacos ever at Sharkey’s. I got sunburned at the beach and am still peeling and scaly from that. Halfway through our trip we got a call from our neighbor at home who was watching the cats for us. She asked if someone else had a key to the house because the cats hadn’t eaten or used the litter box in a couple days. I hoped that maybe they were just depressed and would get hungry enough to eat soon. The next day I hoped for a phone call to let me know all was well, but when we finally broke down and called her before we went to bed she said that she still had not seen them. She did ask if we shut the upstairs bathroom door before we left and I didn’t think we did. She tried opening it, but it wouldn’t open all the way. The cats had been playing in the bathroom and while they were wrestling they shut the door behind them. In a panic to open the door to get out they opened all the drawers under the sink and barricaded themselves inside. My neighbor had to get a butter knife to push each drawer back in. Thankfully the cats are okay and I was very relieved to hear this. The last day of our vacation we stayed in Miami. It is so beautiful there. We went to the Miami Sea Aquarium and then walked a block from our hotel to the beach. I love that city, but people are up ALL night there. That was annoying since we seemed to be the only people in town that wanted to go to bed because we had to get up super early to catch our flight home. I thought I could sleep on the plane, but that didn’t work out well either since there was a fussy baby a few rows up from us (I’m not mad at the baby, but felt badly for the parents). We also sat in front of the exit row, so we couldn’t recline our seats the few inches they allow. When we got home we did a deep cleaning of the upstairs bathroom because the cats had to use it as a restroom for a few days…yuck. Then I had the best sleep I have had in a very long time. It was wonderful.
Here are some pictures. :)
Dom in Miami
Dom at Miami Sea Aquarium
Wonderworks...see me in the picture? 
Everglades
Miami
The only Key Largo sunset I was able to capture
Also, Oregon welcomed me back with a big case of allergies. I guess I’m meant to live in a tropical environment because I only sneezed once the entire week while in Florida! Here at work I sneeze a few times a day at the very least. Within a half hour of landing in Portland my eyes were itchy and my nose was running.
