Orlando and "The Marathon" Drive

Hello Again Friends, 

It’s one o’clock Central Time and I’m writing from the car somewhere near Lafayette, Louisiana. We’ve been in the car since 12 midnight Eastern Time when we left Orlando this morning. We decided to drive straight through from Orlando to Houston without any stops, passing through the great states of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas in the deep south. Let’s just say we’re a bit anxious to get to Houston. This is the longest car ride of my life to date, even if that will change in a week or two when we head out west! 

Our last day in Orlando was another low key one. I caught up on blogging, uploading pictures, and responding to emails. I went to chill out by Alisa’s pool and read, but after a half hour it started getting dark and windy. I said, “Screw it, I’m not getting rained on,” and went back to the apartment. It rained five minutes later. She lives right by an outdoor mall (similar to Crocker Park for you Cleveland folks), so I went there and walked around, went into a few stores, and eventually settled in at Barnes and Noble’s Bookstore for a couple of hours. 

After work, Alisa met Sam and I for dinner at this kick-ass restaurant called Fuji Teppan Cuisine and Sushi. Thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Davis (Christie’s parents – she’s my brother’s fiancé), Sam and I were able to enjoy a delicious Japanese Steakhouse dinner at no cost to us! The leftovers fed us for lunch this afternoon too. Gotta love that. We watched There’s Something About Mary after dinner and I took a power nap because I was driving the first shift. So all-in-all Orlando and Tampa were very laid back. It was refreshing to slow down and not move so fast for once. A wise man once said, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop to look around once in a while, you might miss it.” 

So goodbye Florida and on to Texas. Some fun (and some not so fun) and strange tid-bits I learned during our stay in Florida:

-       It rains just about every afternoon, but not for more than a few minutes

-       Even though it rained every day we were in Florida, it never felt gloomy and I never felt the usual depression I do from Ohio rain

-       There are little to no waves on any Miami beaches

-       Toll roads suck. And of course, they’re everywhere in Florida, especially near Disney World and all that jazz.

-       The GPS sucks in big cities (just expanding on prior knowledge)

-       Lots of old people live in St. Petersburg

-       The Florida panhandle is longer than it looks

-       The Central time zone actually starts just west of Tallahassee, not at the Louisiana/Texas border

-       Miami is awesome (thanks to the weather, beaches, and Latin culture – coincidentally, the Latin culture also enhances the beaches) 

I had a great time in Florida, but I’m glad to move on to Texas. We have eight or nine full days in Texas, so we’ll be all over the place! Here’s a little preview of things to come…Houston for a few days, Galveston, San Antonio, Austin for a few days, and Dallas/Fort Worth for the rest of the time. Although I originally was dreading this long stay in Texas, I’m definitely looking forward to it now, and I think it should be a killer time with everything we’ve got lined up to see! 

JUST WANT TO THANK YOU AGAIN ALISA FOR LETTING US DROP BY IN ORLANDO FOR A FEW DAYS. IT WAS GREAT TO SEE YOU! 

Keep On Livin’,

Matt