April 5 - April 9

OWe spent an enjoyable weekend relaxing at Jack & Jan's & left Sun. Morning to continue on with the second half of our vacation. Our next stop was to be at St George Island. It was too far to make it all in one day, so we spent one night at the Oak & Pines Campground  in Lake City, FL. We  stayed there last year. It is a very well maintained family owned campground. We got an early start on our way to St George Island. The weather was very gloomy & overcast. When we got there the park ranger who checked us in said that severe thunderstorms were on the way with possible tornados. Oh great! I felt like we were back in Illinois! Well he wasn't lying, there  was a lot of thunder & lightning and it poured all night long. In the morning there were huge puddles all over the park. We had to walk through a large one even to get to our car which was just in front of our RV. But we were fortunate we didn't have not one leak in the RV. We saw that others were not that lucky. A brand new trailer in the site just next to us had leaks and had to leave. There  also were several people camping in tents which got drenched. It still was overcast, but stopped raining so we went to check out the beach which is less than 10 min from the park, which is one of the reasons we like it here. This is our 3rd year coming to St George island. We were only at the beach for a short time because it was super windy and very chilly ... We decided not a "beach day". So we went to do some sight-seeing. We happened to see a public golf course, so since we had our clubs in the car, we decided to golf 9 holes. I had on sandles so I didn't golf, I was Richard's caddy & drove the cart.  He did pretty good, but there were several puddles on the course.Since we can't pick up any TV channels in the park and do not have Wi-FI we saw a Red-Box on the way back & got a movie to watch. Then played a game of rummy (which Richard won).

Wed we woke to a sunny day with temps forecast to be in the high 70's. After a delicious breakfast of bacon & eggs, which Richard made outside on the griddle, we went to spend the day at the beach. We finally got a day at one of our favorite beaches .....sunny & not windy. Richard had a good find with his detector ... A quarter, a dime and a penny! He even practiced his putting on the sand, and got in a nap. Tomorrow we leave here for our next stop.

Tues. APril 2

First if all a Very Happy 21st Birthday to our grandson Jake at Notre Dame University in Indiana. Have a great day , but don't celebrate too much!! Matthew's confirmation was very nice. His older brother Christopher was his sponsor. Both looked very handsome. I will add a picture later, I have to get it from Nancy since no camers were allowed in church. There was a reception afterward in the school gym. I also got to meet my newest great niece, Gabriella  Grace. When I got back home, I decided to take a shower since I would be leaving for the airport in the morning. When we leave for vacation, Richard turns off the water and drains the hot water heater since we are gone for 2months. He told me I could turn the water on, but I wouldn't have hot water. Nancy said I should go to her house and shower, but I thought I would just take a "cool" shower at home.... WRONG! The water was so cold there was no way I could take a shower. So I thought why not be like the pilgrims and heat the water on the stove. Well I had all four burners going plus our two coffee pots and an electric tea pot. I carried the pots one by one into the bathtub.. It took a while, but I finally had enough to get in and bathe. You don't appreciate running hot water until you don't have it!! I feel for the pilgrims!! Nancy and Matthew met me at the car rental to take me to the airport. It had stormed all night and was still raining in the morning. When I got to the airport, I found that my flight was delayed an hour. When the plane was finally ready to board, they announced that they needed three people to take a later flight. They were offering to pay for the flight plus give a $300.00 voucher to anyone who would volunteer to take a later flight.when I was finally able to board, I asked why they over-book. She said they don't , but there was a situation on the plane. Someone on the flight the plane came in from vomited. And they had to remove three seats and didn't have extra seat belts for the replaced seats and the flight was filled. So until three people volunteered to take a later flight, the plane couldn't take off.i guess 3people must have agreed to the later flight because the plane finally was able to leave. It was very overcast out for about thr first half of the flight, so I wasn't able to get any pictures until it finally cleared up. The plane was filled of course .. A lot of families going to Disney Land. Richard, Jack &Jan picked me up at the airport. It was good to be home and see Nancy and the kids,but I was anxious to get on with the next month of our vacation.

Tues April 1 - Fri. April 4

We left for the Orlando airport, which is about 40min away.about 11:00. My flight was to leave at 2:25, but I wanted to be there early enough so I had time to get to the right gate ( I didn't want to get on the wrong plane and end up in Syberia!) I was flying home for our grandson Matthew's confirmation. Since I haven't flown since 9/11,I was a little nervous about getting through security. Jan came into the airport lobby with me and showed me where to go. I knew you had to take your shoes off, but wouldn't you know I get to security and forgot to take off my shoes, da!! which they informed me I had to do before I could go through the body scan. Well I made it to the right gate. Good thing I gave myself enough time because I had to walk quite a ways to get there. Sitting there waiting to board the plane it amazed me how many people fly and nobody dresses up anymore... The outfits, oh my !! Well I got to my assigned seat on the plane and a flight attendent came by and said "are you Audrey?" I of course  said yes (I was thinking oh dear, what did I do now) he said we have a seat up front holding for you if you would like in the business section. So I grabbed my bags and made my way back up the aisle to the front of the plane and another flight attendant said you are Audrey? I answered and she showed me to a seat which was definitely better, more leg room & the seat next to me was vacant. All the while I was wondering why my assigned seat was changed (yes I did shower that morning) I asked the attendant. She said sometimes if there are empty seats available they will upgrade someone and I was the lucky one!! That was great they even brought me a bottle of water. The flight was so smooth, at times it felt we weren't even moving. We landed in Chicago at midway and what a temperature change It was 79 in Orlando  when I left and 45 in Chicago. Nancy, Matthew & Zachary  met me at the airport.i decided to rent a car for the 2days I was going to be home since my car we tow behind the RV was in FL. I do love to fly and it was so clear I got some good pictures.

Mon March 31

Been a busy few days! We arrived at Jack & Jan's, which we refer to as the "J&J Resort"as we were coming down their street we noticed they had a "Vacancy " sign posted by their mailbox, referring to our campsite in their driveway. That was funny. We spent a relaxing afternoon by their lake. They have this long necked sand cran that comes right up to their doors swaking wanting bread, they named him "cluck". Well they found out that Cluck has a girl friend when they arrived in their yard the other day with a baby cluck!  We made it an early night because I had to get things ready for my flight the next day.

Fri .March 28 - Sun. March 30

This was our last weekend at Fort St. Lucie in Stuart,FL. We finally were able to enjoy a nice, sunny, warm day at Jensen Beach on Fri. Water was still a little too chilly for us, but it seems not for others. I think kids have a different tolerance for cold water, because they were splashing about having a good time.we stayed there most of the day. Richard had a great find with his detector... 2 pennies!

Sat. It was gloomy and rained off & on most of the day. We saw signs for a flea market (surprise ,surprise , Florida sure has a lot of them!) So we spent a few hours there... A lot of walking. Even Richard was pooped and he is like the "energizer bunny", never slows down ! We went to evening mass and played cards & watched TV the rest of the evening. 

Sunday morning Richard made us a good breakfast, bacon & sunny-side up eggs on his griddle. Then we went to the driving range and hit a bucket of balls.We spent the day at the campsite because there was a NASCAR race on TV, so of course Richard wanted to watch it! I took a bike ride around the area. The campsite is right by the St.Luci locks and there is a walkway where you can watch the boats going through.. Interesting to watch how the water level is raised or lowered. Reminded me of the time when our kids were young and we took a trip down the Illinois river on our 28 foot pontoon boat & went through 3 sets of locks. It was a fun experience for them and us. Tomorrow we leave for Orlando &back to Jack & Jans. I will be flying home for 2 days to attend our grandson, Matthew's confirmation  on Wed.April 2, so I won't be posting for a few days till I get back. Richard is staying and visiting with Jack & Jan while I am gone.

Thurs. March 27

Well the weather certainly is not co-operating with us as far as beach days. Another overcast day with showers predicted for the afternoon. We decided to take a ride to the Fort Lauderdale & Miami beach area. Being that it is spring break, it was very traffic congested. The Miami Beach area was not at all what we expected. We ended up in the middle of down town Miami. Oh my! It was just like driving in down town Chicago! It did not impress us at all. But to be fair we didn't actually get to see the more expensive side of Miami Beach that we hear about. We did stop at a park, John U. Lloyd Beach St. Park. It had access to a beach with a Getty. The waves were super strong crashing at the shore. In the Fort Lauderdale area we were on a road that ran right along the ocean, beaches (very crowded, we could certainly tell that it was spring break, a lot of young adults ) on one side and high rises on the other side.  It reminded me of Lakeshore Drive in Chicago. By the time we got back, it had started to rain. The locals say that Florida really needs the rain, but did it have to arrive while we are here ?? Oh well, at least it's not snow!! 

Wed. March 26

It was a chilly day. Definitely not a beach day! : (  But we decided it would be a good golf day. So we checked the area for a golf course near by. We found one, but it was really busy & we couldn't get a tee time till 4:00, so we took it. We came back for our tee time, got our golf bags and a cart and started for the first tee. We were right in front of the club house and when we started to go, my golf bag and  all my clubs fell off the cart... I forgot to strap my bag onto the cart! How embarrassing!! So we picked them all up and continued on. ( we didn't know anyone there anyway) . We had a good golf day, especially Richard. I did 9 holes and he did 18. It took us 3 1/2 hrs. The wind picked up and it got really chilly. By the time we got back to the clubhouse almost everyone was gone. They were waiting for us to turn in the cart, but we weren't the last. They said there was still one cart out on the course. When we got back to the RV, Richard made supper .. Pork chops on the griddle. He is getting to be quite the chef.