March 19th - March 21st

 Sunday was a cold day in Florida. Windy and only 14 degrees. Not a beach day . Derek, Katja and Christoph spent some of the day playing mini golf, lunch at an outdoor restaurant and buying some groceries. By 3pm we were on the road to Tampa to meet Maria and crew at Harpoon Harry's Crab House for a family meal before taking in the Tampa - New Jersey hockey game at the Amalie Arena. Devils won 5 -2.

After the game we met Ryan for a get together and the kids were so excited. 

Monday - The temperature is going up . Around 10 am we headed to Legoland in Winter Haven which was a 45 minute drive. What a great place. Lots of lego displays, interactive spots, stores, shade, not very crowded, lots of vegetation. We all had a great time . Lunch at Applebee's (where Gramps forgot his card) and supper at Miller's on the way home. Another late night for Christoph.

Tuesday Bernie was up early to take vehicle in for A/C fix. It was a beach day with the temperature up to 21, sunny and the wind calmed down for a while. Dug holes, sand castle, base ball, running, reading. Just a great beach day . 

March 15th - 18th

 Winter travel is always fun. The snow had stopped overnight and roads were great as we headed down the 95 towards Florida. All through NY we tried to use Express lanes and highways with no trucks which worked out well. As we travelled through NJ we stayed in cars only lanes in the centre (with trucks on outside lanes) and it was slick. Continued on around Philly, Baltimore with no problems and then ran into traffic above Washington which did not let up until almost Richmond. Stopped in Petersburg, Virginia after a long day of driving.

Thursday was clear and sunny and warming up. Great run to Brunswick, Georgia and we are finally seeing some palm trees and warm temps in high 60's. 😎

St Patrick's day we had an easy day down the 17 and 301 to Ocala Florida . Only downer was the AC was not working and the temp outside was 80. We stopped in Ocala at O'Calaghan's Irish pub for a fried Bologna sandwich, smoked meat sandwich and Irish beer. The staff was dressed for St Paddy's but the music was definitely not .

Continued on our way to Marilyn's place in Wildwood and had a delightful time during cocktail time in the drive way and a delicious dinner. Caught up on a lot of news.

Saturday morning on the road and down the 75 to Far Horizons where our room was ready. Unloaded, groceries, suitcase and groceries to Derek's spot at Emerald Isle, supper, chairs collected at Smith's and then to Tampa airport to pick up Derek, Katja and Christoph . So happy to see them especially since Katja had a stressful time checking in. She was missing a special form for entering the US which they did not know about. Luckily it worked out and she downloaded the form in time 

March 13th - March 14th, 2023

 

The time to head out on our trip to Florida has arrived on a beautiful sunny March day. First we headed to Kensington PEI to attend a beautiful service for Judy's Mom who had passed away. Between the visiting hours and funeral Su, Grun, Deb, Greg and we gathered for a quick lunch to catch up on everyone's lives. 

We left PEI and had a great drive to Fredericton to spend the night with Billy and take Jack and Meg out for dinner at The Rogue

A snow storm coming up the eastern seaboard is throwing a bit of a wrench in our travel plans. We headed out on Tuesday at 4am from Billy's, crossed the border at 5:30 and headed down the 95 towards NH. No rain until the NH border and then it turned to heavy snow. Time to get off the road. Booked into a Hilton in Haverhill, Mass. Had a brunch at a quaint little corner diner in downtown called Mark's Deli with homemade greek sausages. Interesting. Had an early dinner and early to bed. Hope the storm will be gone overnight and we will be back on the road. Think we will try the 95 this year 

Feb 27th, 2023 .

 Two weeks from today and we will be packing the car for our trip to Florida. Temperature today in Fort Lawrence is -15, feels like -21. Trips in 2020 and 2021 did not happen due to Covid. The 2022 adventure was great but different - no shows, ball games, restaurants (except outside), no Daytona golf. All still nervous about Covid