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It's exactly a week before we fly back now (boo hoo) and we are starting to count down to Christmas - which is advertised on every TV channel and in every Disney store!
Tommorrow we are going to spend another day at the pool, and Monday we plan to go visit Universal Studios (due to be in the 80's on Monday here!). On Tuesday night we have booked the best seats at the Cirque Du Soleil, which is supposed to be amazing so we are looking forward to that.
Well, thats it for now - back to the pool!!
http://www.jackdaniels.com/jdpics/picture.asp?id=42297
we got the turkey and all of the bits for tomorrow, so we will be thinking of everyone whilst our turkey cooks and we are sun-bathing at the side of the swimming pool in 79degrees of sunshine.
We went to Medieval Times last night (sad but funny and if anyone has seen the Cable Guy with Jim Carrey you will know what its like), the food is great (chicken and baby ribs that you have to eat with your fingers from metal bowls, no forks or knives or anything). Our hero was supposed to be the Yellow Knight who only managed to complete one task, he then received his prize of flowers from the Kings daughter (obviously play actors), so he threw the flowers out to the crowd and guess who got one, yep Lorna jumping up and down screaming at the poor guy and almost killing some poor old dear next to her who was also trying to get the flower (she was like a woman possessed). It was great fun, although the jousting at the end is even funnier when they jump off the horses before they have even been hit. All told a good night and Lorna still has the flower from her hero.
So today is a trip to Universal Studios and a go on the rides (can you believe $54 plus tax), we could get it for $25 if we sat through a full days presentation on time share, but would probably end up killing the presenters.
So thats it for today.
So far over the past few days we have done very little and it seems a little strange so far to not be getting up and ready to check out of yet another hotel/campsite by 11am - so rightly we are sleeping in to make the most of it.
The weather here is a little cooler than normal, largely thanks to yet another hurricane (Gamma) which although is not going to hit Florida as anything stronger than a light wind, has managed to send lots of stormy and cooler weather our way which will be here until after Thanksgiving - but its nice & mild and gives us chance to relax.
Yesterday we bought a nice fat turkey and champagne to cook our very own Thanksgiving meal on Thursday, plus lots of other food to pick at over the week.
Today we spent a few hours in the local FedEx office bundling all our camping gear up to ship back to the UK - expensive business. We picked the cheapest route (snailmail using the UK Postal service so it may never be seen again!) cost us $384 and will arrive in 6-8 weeks as a rough guide. The couple that own the FedEx shop, would you believe it - are from Devon!
In the next few days, if the news is to be believed there will be lots and lots of people descending on Orlando for the holidays. The shop staff everywhere we have been tell us it is a very busy time here. We think we are going to be lucky and see some of the Christmas decorations - they are already playing Christmas songs in the stores. We've already been to the Mall of Millenia which was being built when we came here 2 years ago - rather like one big Harvey Nicks store - nice to look at, but impractical and expensive stuff. We've been around the Florida Mall(tiny) and I'm sure there are some others here which we will have a wander around too.
But for now, its back to the house to relax, watch the storm clouds (due a big thunderstorm tonight) and cook some food whilst sampling a nice big bottle of wine!
So some interesting or not so interesting facts:
We have travelled across 14 states - California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.
Accomodation - we have stopped in 46 hotels (8 of which were free Holiday Inns) and 23 campsites.
Distance - we have covered 6,616 miles from the West Coast to the East Coast at a total cost of 830.47USD (so cheap in comparison to rip off Britain). We have also used 2 cars in the process (since one needed an oil change)
Pictures - So far we have a collection of around 1700 pictures (all soon to appear on the website, probably before Christmas).
So the travelling is officially over and we now have 2 weeks to kick back by a pool (and go beat up Mickey Mouse).
To everyone we have met on this trip a very big hello and thankyou.
We will probably put a couple more updates on here before we fly back to the UK on Sat 3rd December.
Last night we ate at a lovelly restaurant called OC Whites which is down near the marina. We sat outside so the mosquitos had someone to munch on, and enjoyed listening to a very good live singer while we ate Lobster tails - which were very very nice!
It is a strange feeling to know that we have just travelled such a distance and are so close to the end of this journey. I think it will feel odd being settled in Orlando for 2 weeks and not getting up each morning and driving on to somewhere new.
Today is much colder here than yesterday (Craig calls it fresh, but at 64 degrees I call it cold!) and the weather report suggests this is the front of a cold spell that has been moving across the country - hopefully it will warm up a little so I can go back to wearing shorts.
So, off now to go visit the St Augustine Lighthouse and climb 219 steps to the top, before we drive closer to Orlando and our last overnight stay in a campground.
So we got to Kingsland last night after stopping for a bite to eat in Brunswick of the US17. This tiny town consists of 4 hair dressers, 1 library, 1 court house and a couple of coffee shops, but it was very nice. Managed to get my hair cropped in Brunswick, Lorna walked into the Barbers just as he had a cut throat razor on my neck (ouch).
Kingsland was nothing more than a stopping point and hotel for the night with grub from Applebees (where we asked if we could have a bottle of wine, so they brought out a 1.5litre for around 6pounds, we just had to drink it, would have been rude not to).
Today we have arrived in St.Augustine in Florida, cant believe we have travelled across 11 states and 6,320 miles.
We went for a wander on the beach on the way down here and we are now going to view the pleasant little town.
Tomorrow on to Orange City and the last days camping before we arrive in Orlando.
We walked what seemed to be miles in search of the Savannah that everyone says is so beautiful, yes there was some nice scenery but not as pretty as Charleston. Apparently this is the HQ for the "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil", and the film was made here (directed by Dirty Harry and Starring Kevin Spacey). All told quaint and that was it really (I think Lorna agrees with me on that one).
The GPS decided to throw a wobbly last night on the return journey to the campsite (probably got fed up with us ignoring its directions when we wanted to see something and let us get on with it ourselves). Lorna managed to not only kerb the wheels, but mount the kerb in the process (she was trying to avoid Mr. Lane Switcher from hitting us). So I think she has been the worst driver here so far (she is female after all).
We got back to the KOA last night had a drink then tried to crash out, which was pretty hard with the millions of mozzies gunning for us (well Lorna mainly) and the trucks just driving back and forth most of the night.
So this am, up at 6.45, washed and dressed whilst waiting for the tent to dry out (there was rain last night, the first for about 6 weeks on this journey), off to Kingsland, GA, via America's smallest church (funky or what, it seats about 8 people).
We have washed the car (couldn't believe it was white under all that dirt). Nice comfy bed tonight and only one nights camping left the tally will be 24 camping versus 43 hotels.
Anyway off to see some more of the US17 South and grab some grub cos I'm starvin (wasting away, a shadow of my former self).
We decided to do 2 nights tent camping and checked into the Savannah KOA - not particularly the best site we've been to and definitely not geared for tent campers! Our campsite is at the waters edge (huge mosquitos) and we are surrounded by very large geese, swans, BIG ducks and squirrels - made for an interesting evening last night trying to cook tea - ducks do not eat carrots, although they will give it a try!!
Savannah the city is well written about in literature and I confess to be a little disappointed so far. The colonial streets and quaint buildings are not in the parts we have walked so far, although we have not fully explored as yet. After this visit to the library (great idea to provide free internet access in libraries) we are off to walk along the river where there are supposed to be lots of pretty boutiques and restaurants located in the original warehouses. I might even try and persuade (or is that lure) Craig into a horse drawn carriage for a leisurely tour around the city to see if we can find the pretty areas - beats walking! Weather here is nice & sunny again with pleasantly mild nights. Tommorrow we will be further south in Georgia and have yet to decide where to stay for the night - the original plan to stay at a hippie commune/hostel has been replaced by a desire to be totally anti-social and perhaps go for a nice private hotel room complete with bath (mosquito repellant stuff smells awful - as do Craig's feet!!)
I woke up this morning in the tent to a huge field spider sat next to my head, did wonder what kept walking across my face in the night. Needless to say, Mr Spider is no more....although his friend appeared to be waiting for him outside the tent when we got up - eugh!!
Anyway, off now to go find some shops to browse.
They have a live webcam here so we are going to call the folks and get them to have a look and see if they can see us.
Almost forgot a mention for Nancy (the Diva from Charleston), where we bought Lorna's dress. Don't forget Nancy "bug roll".