It was meant to be

We spent the morning browsing around the Village of Cocoa. A necklace that I wanted to buy last year but didn't was still there- I figured it was meant to be so I bought it this year.
Of course Olivier had his mind set on bigger items. He says that's a pretty good price for a Mercedes even if it is US dollars!

Thanks Kathy

Yesterday I was invited to attend a theater production of Neil Simon's play Lost in Yonkers at the Titusville Playhouse with 38 ladies from the TGO who call themselves the Mad Hatters. They are a renegade group of Red Hat ladies who refuse to wear the red and purple and don't pay dues!
Then, it was back to Kathy's house for an excellent dinner. Of course Olivier and Del were so much more interested in football.

Our Annual Beer Butt Festival

Last night Del treated us and our friends Bob and Sue to BBQ'd cornish hens - beer butt style. Of course it was Olivier at the helm but that's what younger brothers are for, right?

Be careful what you wish for

After the deep freeze at the beginning of January we had many days of hot, beautiful sunshine. So much so that people were beginning to think we needed some rain because everything was so dry. Well, last night we had the biggest rainstorm I have seen (or heard) in a long time. So now the dry gully in our backyard is a river and our front yard is a swimming pool. It's not all bad though- since we can't lay around in the sun today- I think we'll go shopping!

Nice and shiny

So, while I was laying in the sun enjoying my book, Olivier was busy giving the car the first waxing of the decade- nice job, don't you think!

The low nineties!

Once in a while, if you're lucky, you meet a person who is truly an inspiration and so it was last night when we sat down for supper at Dan's birthday party with Ralph and Jane.
The title of this Blog entry refers not only to Ralph's age but his golf score as well. Ralph plays 18 holes everyday here at the TGO- a very challenging course indeed- and manages to score in the low 90's consistently.
Don't know what your secret is Ralph but I'm sure it has something to do with your beautiful wife Jane.

..and many more Dan

Last night we were honoured to attend a surprise party for our friend Dan's milestone birthday.
Dan is a very proud veteran of the US Navy and a talented wood craftsman. Just listening to him tell stories of his colourful life is worth the trip down here.
Happy Birthday Dan!

Life is good

Friday night, reuniting with old friends and 2 for 1 margarita night - life is good here in the South!

Finally.... the hot weather is here

Up until now it has been so cold here that many people didn't even take down their Christmas decorations. But it's hot and sunny now - the armadillos are out and.................the surest sign of hot weather - Olivier is out washing vehicles. Of course he started small with our golf cart.

This many robins can't be wrong

I'm sure all of you back home have heard of the record low temperatures we are presently experiencing and I have to admit it is a bit chilly today but the view from our backyard is quite encouraging.

Here at last!

We are settling in to our place and although it is not as warm as we had hoped it is very sunny and NO SNOW (although the forecast here says they may get flurries tomorrow!)
We are always asked about the auto train so I tried to take a few pictures - the first one is the Lorton Station as it is filling up and the second was my excellent dinner ( filling me up!)
The conductor informed us that we were hauling 466 passengers, 221 cars, 47 SUV's all in 47 rail cars- a typical day for Amtrak this time of year.

Train Day

In anticipation of "train day" tomorrow, cell phones, IPOD's and Nintendo DS's are all getting recharged today.
I can foresee a problem though. The train ride down to Florida is 18 hours and the DS charge lasts only 14 hours. Eating supper and breakfast will take about 2 hours. Do you suppose Olivier might actually sleep for 2 hours!!

So far.......not so far!

So - Day 1 of driving is behind us. We didn't make it as far as previous years but farther than we had hoped when we started out this morning. The roads were awful, especially around Syracuse but we are now in Scranton Pennsylvania and it's looking good here.
Our hotel is close to many restaurants but when Olivier saw a "Five Guys" down the street there was to be no further discussion as to where we are headed tonight.
We now have a very easy schedule to meet up with the train on Wednesday - so- Let the vacation begin!!!!