Yes, Again

Our long-weekend road trip to Florida for Uncle Hal's service didn't count, of course, vacation-wise (although Someone insisted on a swing through Orlando and the Disney Marketplace on the way home from that). No, the vacation came in the last week of July, 2010. And why would anyone in their right mind go to Florida in July? To ask the question is to provide the answer.

After a day with cousin Paula in Boynton Beach, we went to the Radisson in Kissimee again, staying several days. It was rather hot, of course, but overall we enjoyed ourselves.

This blog is turning into a chronicle of Florida journeys. I'm really just trying to catch up. Our 2011 trek took place in late September/early October, since our 2010 trip at that time worked out so well. Still fairly hot without being blistering, and not crowded at all: too soon after the beginning of the school year for anyone to vacation. Again at the Radisson, this time staying five days with a great rate. We endured a vacation-club presentation to get a 50% discount on Disney tickets, and went to the Magic Kingdom again. It rained in the afternoon, but sporadically enough that we were able to avoid the worst showers. The park closed at 7:00 PM in order to open again for Mickey's Halloween Party, which cost an additional arm and leg. Needless to say, we didn't stay for it.

Other than those showers, the weather was cooperative, with a big storm rolling in only as we left Saturday morning and staying with us to Jacksonville. The rest of the trip was smooth sailing.

I bought myself a new camera, a Canon EOS DSLR, that I am very pleased with. I have to get the hang of the auto-focus, but otherwise it's great. I find that I literally can't give away my old film SLR, a Canon AE-1 Program. It's still working fine, with a good 70-210 zoom, but it's been overtaken by the digital revolution.

We returned home to find in my email pictures from a friend's Italy trip. This couple previously had gone to Hawaii and San Francisco. Maybe we can get some variety in our holidays. I really would like to sit out next year and build our funds, so we are not living on spaghetti for months after every vacation. We really want to bring the grand-nieces and their mother with us to Florida; the youngest will be five-and-a-half in summer 2013, and that's a good age to have and remember experiences.