FLORIDA REPORT 1

We have been watching the weather back home, and have been a little hesitant about sending reports from places much warmer than northeast Iowa.  I know Blockers are holding up in Arizona for a while, Zahns have been in Florida for the duration, and Gelos were taking shelter in St. Louis.  It looks like things are a little better back there now, so I'll try to update you on our winter journey without sounding like a smart ass!

We waited out a snowstorm in Iowa and waited to leave for the South on Tuesday, the 22nd.  We drove a little over 600 miles to Jackson, TN (home of Casey Jones and Carl Perkins) for our overnight stay.  This is the first year in all the years we have travelled to Florida that there was snow on the ground all the way to Cape Gerardo, MO.  Except for the occasional blowing snow, the highways were clear.  However, we bucked a 30 mile wind all the way.

On the second day, the 23rd, and again bucking a 30 mph wind, we travelled another 400+ miles to Defuniak Springs, FL for another overnight stay.  We stayed in Defuniak because the motels in Panama City Beach doubled their prices because of the shortage of rooms due to the hurricane.  I plan on sending a nasty letter to Choice Hotels to accusing them of gouging people and the insurance companies! Then the next morning we drove to Panama City Beach to the condo and drop off the trike and trailer and make our way down to Ft. Lauderdale to catch our cruise ship.  I was still amazed at the amount of damage done by the hurricane in this area.  On the way down, I wanted to stop in Bushnell, FL  to visit the grave site where my good friend from high school is interned at the Florida National Cemetery there.  The Florida National Cemetery is for veterans, and is a very impressive, well-cared for facility (which it should be).  We stayed overnight in Brooksville and took off for Ft. Lauderdale on the morning of the 24th.

The drive down to Ft. Lauderdale was all on I 95.  For the most part, we moved right along, but when we got within 25 miles of the turn off to our hotel, I 95 became a moving parking lot.  It took us over an hour to go the last 25 miles!  We arrived at the overpriced Fairfield Inn where we could leave the truck parked while on the cruise.  It cost us $212 to stay the night and leave the truck for the six days, and then we were charged another $20 each for transportation to and from the cruise port.  Just to let you know the people in Florida were not happy with the temperatures (high 50's to mid 60's).  They were wearing parkas and snow boots while I was running around in shorts and  t-shirt!

We made it to the port on the morning of the 25th to set sail for the Bahamas.  More on the cruise itself in the next report.  In the meantime--STAY WARM!!

OUR HOME FOR THE NEXT SIX DAYS