It's 5:28 pm

It's 5: 28 pm... and i'm sitting in my kitchen, sitting for the first time today since breakfast which seems eons ago.  Breakfast which consisted of finishing yet another cereal box off - i seem to have amassed a large collection of cereal boxes when i was on a cereal fling and then those boxes, mostly half-full, have been lurking in my closet for the last while waiting for me to finally finish them off... so the plan is no more buying any cereal until every single last box is gone... it's gonna take me a few weeks - anyone hungry for breakfast?? 
As i sit here, basking in the sun, noticing how terribly dirty my windows are, how terribly dirty my fingernails are and how terribly dirty my pants are, i'm thinking that possibly i should probably jump in the shower before this dirt becomes a permanently embedded feature of my skin.  And why so dirty, you may ask?  Well, from about 9:30 onwards, i've been outside, taking advantage of  a gorgeous working day - not too hot, a little chilly this morning but definitely a great day to be outside.  Dad came over with a trailer load of triple mix and we proceeded to work our way through all the gardens on the property - turning them over, loosening up the earth and adding in some bonus earthy goodness for the plants.  You could almost hear them saying "thanks, we needed that bit of protein" or "aaah, that feels so good around my roots!"  I don't actually have talking plants, but i do have to say that despite the fact that my hands are cramping beyond belief, my back is nearly seized up and my cheeks are a brilliant shade of cherry red (the bane of my existence), i am SO happy to have this job done.  The grass is also cut and the bare spots are doctored up with triple mix in preparation for some grass seed - hopefully tomorrow.  But at around 5:00 i totally ran out of energy and have crashed... i'm considered the benefits of a nap whilst musing on whether i should actually go out and cut down some rhubarb and make a dessert - super tempting but it would mean getting up... a bit of a challenge at present. 
So if anyone feels like coming over, cutting my rhubarb and washing my dishes, whilst i soak in the tub, i'd welcome you with open arms.. but you'd probably not want a hug at this point since i'm a little... have i mentioned it?  dirty....
I love spring...

Manger...

Bon jour, mesdames en moisieurs... (oh dear, my French definitely leaves something to be desired but bear with me)
Hier, nous mange at la restaurante dans la ville de Toronto.  Nous manger tous les nourriture Francaise et ils sont tres tres delicieux!  Nous manger le pate de foie gras, le canard, le creme brule, les cafes, le pain et des escargot!  Je ne manger pas les escargox mais Timothy et mange ca.  Tres interessante!  Je penser que je n'avez pas manger une repas comme ca - tres delicieux, originale et nouveaux pour moi.  Le atmosphere de la restaurante et tres cosy (i swear, that's what the translator said - i'm not just making this up) et nous avez een fantastique repas avec amis et mon fiance!  Vive le France!

2:45 am

It's 2:45 am and i'm at work (duh, where else would i be likely to be at this time... if not at work, assuredly at this time, i would be sleeping - unlike my dear mother who's probably awake and reading or drinking warm milk at this time).  Everyone is sleeping - ooops, maybe shouldn't say that cause that would inevitably invite the entire population of the ward to commence incessant ringing of call bells, requesting water and blankets and other such things, or wanting to get up out of bed (it's morning right?) or some other such nonsense.  But for now, in this moment, it's relatively under control and i'm thankful for that.  It's nice to know that someone is sleeping, even if i'm not. 
Hmm, what to say about April and the latter part of March.  It's been busy, that's one way to put it.  Wedding plans coming out of my ears, out of the woodwork, out of the blue, you name it.  Wedding plans definitely were the theme of my dreams in the first month; i'd have the oddest dreams about weird and wonderful antics at the wedding and the reception - usually involving big details which for unforeseen reasons, i had forgotten or omitted from my planning schedule. Thankfully that seems to have settled down for now - although i awoke from a doozy this morning - somehow i was quite capably toting around a semi-automatic rifle, knew how to shoot it quite well and managed to shoot my uncle.... no idea why - but kinda odd, disturbing even!
Several big things are off the list - dress is bought (it's purple - or so i tell those curious people who ask what it's like!), date is settled (October 13 of this year), church and reception hall are booked, bridesmaids dresses are ordered, and various other details (photographer, florist) are decided.   Hmm... what does that leave??  Well, we need to find some rings (unless we want to use something from the cracker jack box - might be cheaper!), pick out some ideas for invitations, settle on a meal, find some furniture, and oh so many other little and big things.  It sure has been a process - i am enjoying it, don't be afeared of that, but i am worried that i will miss something big, or will omit some major detail that will change the whole tone of the day... and then i'm put to remember that it will all come together, we will be married at the end of the day and that will be the proper end of all the planning and fussing that we could possibly do.  I will be marrying my friend and my confidant and we are just so happy that we have been brought to this point... and we feel so blessed! 
So, if you ever want to have a cuppa tea, i'd be more than happy to put the kettle on, curl up on the couch and see what you've been up to lately - i am worried at times to become too involved in planning this and that, and forget the other important things around me!  So give me a gentle reminder and/or kick in the pants to remind me that you are out there and i'll be happy to come pull some of your weeds, listen to your stories and share some time together!!!

seven months...

Today marks the day that seven months from now will be our wedding day!  I look forward to the day when we no longer say goodbye at the train station and can share regular meals together and just spend an evening relaxing at home together... I am loving this engagement time to be sure - lots of fun planning and figuring things out... but i miss him when he's gone and that's getting to be no fun... We are so thankful to God for bringing us together and for blessing us so richly and pray that He may also use us to serve Him too even in this time....

Updates from the meadows

Good morning... very early morning for most of you folks out there - my nursing colleagues and friends know about the 3:00 lull/slump/crash (severity depends on the amount of sleep gathered the day before!) and i'm heading towards that fateful time very shortly - so if anyone's up and bored, now's the time to give me a call and have a chat...
Seeing as i have not the courage to dive into the book i brought with me to work - why did i pick the Grapes of Wrath???  Strange choice methinks!  I thought i would give my little blog an update since it's been sadly neglected this month.  To my credit, i have been a mite busy - but as i'm sucking on my first ever Murray Mint (i'm working with two British ladies tonight and they were kind enough to share a candy and the jingle - they're singing it again as we speak), i thought i might ramble on for bit - Mom, if you're up, you can always give me a ring since i know you haven't been sleeping much lately. 
There have indeed been many goings ons in the Meadows lately - or rather, away from the Meadows.  The weeks since our engagement have been filled with many happy smiles after people found out our news - we have been so blessed with a wonderful, loving church community and family!  We are realizing more and more the joys of that and i think my poor jaw muscles were tired out from smiling that first week...
There, now my mint is crunched - it was pretty good - an interesting combination of caramel and peppermint - but refreshing to say the least. 
I don't have lots of neat pics like my dear friend Laura - with her kiddos and other interesting happenings, but i can say that in the last few weeks, i've felt many many emotions - up and down, backward and forwards, smiles and laughter, tears and unknowns. There have even been sleepless/very restless nights - surprising i know to those of you who know me well - that i usually can sleep through a tornado without waking.  The head's been full, the heart overflowing, the mind racing and the dreams (when they do come) working overtime to plan our wedding.  I desparately don't want to turn into some bridezilla who talks of nothing but weddings and plans and colours and flowers and such... oh, it's fun to plan - but please stop me if that's all you hear!  A good friend told me that the first few weeks after you're engaged, there's so much busyness and planning to be done but that it does slow down a bit and that's probably good since my family probably couldn't take too many weeks like this past one!  I want to thank first of all Timothy for being a great listener, willing to help out with planning, having ideas and encouraging me!  Super wonderful to have that support! 
Also my mom and dad... willing to jump in the car with me at the last minute and head out to look at venues and flowers and the like... And my great friends, who have willing hands, listening ears and great ideas for me!  I love you all!
Oh dear, waxing emotional in the early hours of the day....
So the checklist for the last three weeks includes...getting my ring resized, picking out and buying a wedding dress (i keep writing "weeding" - is there some weird thing going on?), researching about 24 million halls and locations for dinner, actually booking one, choosing a florist, church, pastor, photographer, colours and wedding music players.  Phew... the mind spins with the effort - some decisions are easy, others involve considerably more thought and much prayer. 
We are growing closer together as a couple even through this for which i am so thankful.  I am looking forward to the day when the culmination of all this choice and thought comes and we will be married in God's house with His people, our people surrounding us.  Oh happy day! 

Valentine's Day 2012

Valentine's Day.  In the past, not a typically well-regarded holiday in my list of yearly holidays - in fact, usually ranking somewhere at the bottom of the pile - somewhere along with "go to the dentist" Day and "pay your taxes" Day.  Yeah, not so exciting.  Last year was the first year that i had an inkling that it might not be so horrific thanks to the presence of a certain handsome young man who most graciously showered me with flowers and dinner and the joy of his being in my life. 
Well, i guess i will have to after this year, decide that good old St Valentine might have had something going since it turned out to be our ENGAGEMENT day.  Super exciting!  We were going to have dinner together in Toronto on the good old pink and red day - me not really even thinking about the significance of the day - where was my head? 
Timothy greeted me downstairs since I had arrived early and we went to his apartment where we exchanged our valentine's day cards and i gave him some chocolate and home made cookies - and he reached into his pocket, pulled out a little box, got down on one knee and said that he had something for me too!   (i'm thinking that this baking for jewelry exchange thing could be great!).  He then asked if i would marry him - and after being dumbstruck for a few seconds, i came to my senses and said yes of course!  Super fun!  Dinner out was a fun time of thinking, planning, hoping, dreaming and being super thankful for the blessing of each other and for the Lord's guidance thus far!  God is good! 
So that's it in a nutshell - if you need a long and detailed explanation, please let me know and i'll put the kettle on and you'd be most welcome to come on over - you might be put to cutting out invitations or sewing my wedding dress but that's fun too right?

On the road again - Day 6

Yep, still catching up on Florida... but it's getting there... i've only been home a few weeks now - i found scrapbooking stuff in my basement from Curacao - and that was in August 2008... so to get this done within a month is an accomplishment not to be disregarded!
The saga continues.. as the stomach turns... etc...
Friday... our last full day here - well, our last day here period... we would be leaving sunny Florida this evening.  What would our day consist of?  Well, a well deserved sleep in... and then waking up to the warmest day yet - with brilliant sunshine and warm breezes.
And oops, I think i forgot to mention that the previous night, we had made a trip to a store called The Dollar Tree.  When we visited the Ruggis and VanAndels, they all had been very excited about this store, which sold all the regular dollar store stuff, but also groceries and seemingly everything else you could possibly want.  Somehow, idea of purchasing my frozen french fries or fish sticks in a store that reeks of cheap plastic was unappealing to me but there were a couple of good things to be found - Sharpie markers for cheap, cute stickers for my nephews and cheap toothpaste... but all together, nothing too spectacular.
We dropped the girls off at Universal Studios again, a little later in the morning, and were decided on going to play nine holes of golf.  We looked up a few courses in the area, and eventually settled on the Oak Trail course at Disney - this would be our one nod to the popular culture in the area.  We were late for our tee time by the time we got through traffic from Universal and got turned around about 3 times on the Disney property itself (it is huge... if you've never been there, it takes up so much room, goes on for blocks and blocks, has it's own car service station and gas bar, medical centre and road system, talk about a Mighty Mouse!)  but they graciously allowed us to play anyways!  I had only brought along my putter and my five iron, as we had so much stuff in our trunk that we could not fit two sets of golf clubs in - Carina took hers and we were planning on sharing - which apparently isn't officially encouraged since it decreases the speed of play but was allowed here provided i have my own cart to put my two clubs in.  Fine, no problem, we'll go for that - anything to save a few bucks eh?  My cart was definitely not the Rolls Royce of carts, they wanted you to know that you were not the elite here, that you were one of the lowly peons who had no cart of your own, "so here, graciously borrow our very very squeaky rickety one, you will feel right at home annoying all the other golfers who are trying to concentrate on their tee shots and are being distracted by the high pitched "eek, eek, eek" as you trundle along!"

 The golf course...

 my rickety old golf cart with two clubs!

the tee markers...



Aaachhh, it wasn't as bad as all that, but i was a little noisy to be sure.  But it did the trick.  We signed up for nine holes and joined a large line up of people waiting at hole number one.  There was no starter so we just basically assimilated ourselves into the group of people like we belonged there and weren't late at all for our tee time.  I HATE teeing off when lots of people are watching and sure enough, i duffed the first shot badly, just about 30 yards up the fairway from the tee box... but things fortunately improved from there.  We both have not played much at all in the last few years, but somehow, we managed to have quite a few good shots between us.  Nice drives, putts and chips to put us in a good mood and to make our golf game quite a nice experience.  We had to wait for some turkeys to clear the fairway once, were surprised by an alligator lurking in the pond on the 6th hole and saw lots of bird life along the way.  Not too often you're vigilent about large reptiles in southern Ontario eh?  It was a spectacularly gorgeous day and my sleeves were eventually rolled up nice and high and i tried to maximize the amount of sun rays that were hitting my poor pale northern skin.  Gotta soak it up when you can!  Carina and i were so thankful that we had the chance to get out and enjoy a game and not even play too awfully badly.  It was good to spend a morning with her, laughing and joking with each other, and enjoying a nice walk in the park.

Carina directing traffic on the greens - turkeys crossing...

One of the culprits...

Slightly faked but trying to look sporty teeing off

Carina and the alligator on the 6th hole

Cool tree on the course

Being touristy

Action shot...

When we were thoroughly tired, sweaty and had sunk the last ball on the last green, it was time to head home... shower....and try to rest up a bit for the night drive.  I decided to brave the swimming pool for a few minutes just to work out the kinks and stretch some muscles.  I will admit to chickening out of going into the regular pool but made the trek to the heated pool at the main lodge - and that was definitely doable - though having to display my poor pale plump body in a bathing suit wasn't my idea of fun, to be sure!  The hot tub felt good though and it was nice to soak in there for a bit, doing some stretches and trying to wake up my sore not much used golfing muscles!
Eventually that too was done and it was nap time... Carina wasn't able to sleep and eventually went to pick the girls up at Universal by herself.  Poor girl, i was so deeply in dreamland that i was pretty groggy when i woke up!  Then a quick shower, dinner and last minute packing.  How we accumulated so much stuff in so short a time was a mystery, but we did somehow manage to stuff it all in the trunk (don't open it, customs guy, whatever you do!) and after a good room clean up, we checked out and were on our way.  It's one thing to drive for 23 hours and have a vacation destination on the opposite end, but it's an entirely different thing to be heading home.  I was certainly not looking forward to the drive but it went relatively well.  The weather cooperated oh so much better than on the way to Florida and the roads for the most part were dry and clear.  Night time is always a bit of a sketchy time to drive - we left at around 7:30 pm... and took turns driving throughout the night and next day.  Whenever one was too tired, the other would take over for a while... it's nice to have that - but it would have been perhaps a little safer with three drivers in 20/20 hindsight, one to drive, one to be awake with the driver and one to sleep, but that didn't work.  I for one, even though i can usually sleep anywhere and at anytime, had difficulty sleeping especially during the day because there were interesting things to see - Kentucky and Tennessee were especially fascinating - such a different world to be sure! 
I don't have much to say about much of the rest of the drive, there were beautiful mountain vistas, rolling meadows and pasturelands, wooded hills, rivers and much more along the way.  Carina and I invented some car games - our favorite one was "Waffle House".  We even slept in a Waffle House parking lot for an hour!   Especially in the southern states, but really all the way back home, there would be in every town we passed a restaurant called the Waffle House, all spelled out in big block letters on a yellow background and the first one to see that sign in a given town won points.  Carina became very proficient at this game and nearly beat me ( i kinda cheated at the end on a bet to see how long it would take us from the Detroit/Windsor border to home - my guess was closer than Carina's and all the waffle house points were bet on it!) 

City wise i don't remember much - lots of very tall, narrow homes in Cincinnatttttii (no clue how many consonants and vowels of each variety are required!), nice clean, modern looking Atlanta and very very industrial, very dark and polluted looking like something out of the pages of the Lord of the Rings (Mordor) Detroit.  And a thousand other imaginations, thoughts and observances that i can't remember and are hopefully stored in a dusty unused corner of my brain somewhere. 
We crossed the border at Detroit - what a messy, depressed, dirty, potholey city is that, filled with smokestacks belching out yellow and grey smoke.  Aaargh, just awful!  The wait at the border wasn't horrifically long, just a bit annnoying when the border guards decided to change shifts whilst we were waiting and of course we picked the slow line - never fails. 
And then we were back on Canadian soil and searching for a Tim Hortons to fulfill our coffee cravings and to fuel us up for the 3.5 hour plus drive we still had before us... what a demoralising thing to realize that you're home but not really.  Those last few hours were torturous and i nearly cried a few times - but thankfully we persevered and reached home at 7:30 that night.  It felt so good to get out, stretch and unpack, saying our goodbyes and thankful that we were given driving safety and lots of great memories!

on the road again - Day 5

*So, i know that we have been home for a few days (oops, weeks) now, but my schedule is pretty busy so i'm writing this update on our last few days in Florida on my night shift... hopefully it will make some sense!  But i will write like it's that day... just to confuse you all royally!  Okay, maybe way later than when we left - nearly a month but hey, time flies...
This morning we woke up and i was a little excited... this was to be our beach day!   The sun was shining, the frost warnings were no more and the ice was finally thawed off the pool (just kidding, but it would have been a funny thing to see to be sure!)  We still weren't entirely sure where we were going but had a rough idea on heading to the atlantic coast.  We had tossed around the idea of heading across the state west-ward ho but that would have taken over 2 hours and we weren't into long car rides after the long haul to get down here.  So we were heading Cape Canaveral direction, near the NASA grounds.  We had done a little bit of research online the night before and decided that this was probably the most likely place to go... plus there was a neat sounding wildlife preserve nearby that would maybe provide some flora and fauna that we had been dying to see.  In Orlando proper, there are lots of little ponds and mini-lakes, especially near the on and off ramps of the highways and each time we would be careening around an exit or entrance, we would also be looking most avidly for any signs of an alligator.  It's like driving up north and everytime you come across a swampy lake inlet thing, you imagine it is the perfect territory for a moose to be hanging out - even if the moose do not agree and oblige you by appearing in these "perfect spots".  Well, we were alligator hunting and not having much success.  We felt sure that today would be that day!
But first, we had to suffer through a presentation from the time share people.  We were blessed to be here with free accomodations thanks to Carina's John's family... and we were thankful for that... but alas, in order to get the discounted tickets for the girls to Universal Studios, we had to listen to a 90 minute presentation by the "no pressure" sales people.  I'm afraid neither Carina nor i went into this experience with any sort of positive energy.  We were booked to be there at 8:00 and Carina firmly set her timer on her phone to go off at precisely 9:30 and not a minute longer of our precious time would we spend listening to sales pitches for vacations we could not afford,despite all their reassurances.  We were greeted by a friendly lady who showed us where to get our free coffee and breakfast - i must admit that for being stuck in a presentation, they could have sprung for a little better coffee and goodies - the danish was super tiny and the coffee (as usual in the States, it seems) was weak so that wasn't a good first impression. 
Then we were asked a lot of personal questions about vacation, family, our philosophy about vacation and how we spent most of our time... Carina had the lady there - she filled in that she spends most of her vacation doing mission trips and volunteering - not the ideal candidate to pitch a time share to!  Heehee!  We were prettty clear with our saleslady that we would definitely not be purchasing anything, that we were simply here because we had to be to get the discounted tickets.  She was none too amused at first and complained we were wasting her time and ours.... but yeah, them's the breaks and that's what you do to get discounts (we're Dutch after all, not just any ordinary flunkies you're dealing with here!)   But eventually after a bit of giggling about answering the survey questions, we did have a little chat with her, and listened valiantly to her spiel... Then it was on to the 8 minute promotional video featuring many beautiful people all smiling their biggest and best smiles and talking the idea of Diamond Resorts up to the max.  Even the multi media presentation did not sway our minds and we earned our discounted tickets and were finally on our way!

There's the sign for Universal - didn't get too much closer than that

We dropped the girls off at Universal Studios in the morning with the promise that we would return for them that evening.  They had a beautiful day for being on rides and in the park so we hoped they would enjoy that greatly.  Carina and I had no desire to see these totally touristy things, despite many admonitions and encouragements to do so from co-workers and friends "you have to go to Disney when you're there".... nope, nope, not us... we are not into rides and the like so we were more than happy to leave that all behind.
We headed east, stuck on a toll highway at first that seemingly kept increasing toll amounts every couple of kilometres, we didn't think 50 cents was bad but when it started to get into the 2 and 3 dollar range, it was time to find an alternate route to the beach.  Which we certainly did - a nice little two lane road running through the middle of nowhere it seemed.  The one interesting thing that caused us to screech to a  halt on the way were signs advertising "homemade alligator jerky".  Well, if we couldn't see a live one, we'd have to settle for eating one, we thought.  This fellow claimed to have killed and smoked and prepared the jerky himself - we didn't buy his little sandwich baggie offerings but chose rather the prepackaged kinda.  He also sold us some very tasty blood/red oranges... umm, umm... good taste to be sure.  Hopefully there will be more in the stores, despite the frost warnings and need for spraying here in Florida!

 Sorry, i did flip this pic, but it flipped back again - here's our alligator jerky

And here's someone bravely about to take a bite!

And then, we were on the road - which was supposed to take us directly through the grounds of NASA and on to the beach area....alas for us, there were barriers against going across restricted space centre property - who would have thought??!  But we took out one of our forty maps (oddly enough, it was the least detailed map, provided by the hotel, that we tended to default to) and found a way around.  That way took us on some long rather uninhabited and lonely roads, not coming across much.... but all at once, the car was screeching to a halt as we saw our first ALLIGATOR!  We were just a little excited - or at least i was!  We backed the car up on the road, nearly backed into the ditch in our hurry to see this rather slow-moving (or rather not moving at all) reptile.  Seems so strange to see them in the wild, i've only ever seen them in zoos - kinda scary to think that if you would get lost in the woods or swampy areas here in Florida that the possibility that you might run into one of these fellows is quite a bit higher than at home - at home the most scary reptile we have is the garter snake!    But thankfully we are just visitors here and we had our car to protect us! 

 This is NASA property - we will blow you up if you continue!

Look a spaceship...

Filled with enthusiasm, we plowed onwards, seeing within five minutes, alligators, vultures, an eagle and pelicans...quite fun!  We had a quick lunch break at a McDonald's which decorated with all sorts of astronaut paraphernelia and then jumped back on the road - we still had a beach to find and the afternoon was approaching. 
We crossed the bridge onto Merrit Island National Wildlife Refuge and were immediately in another world - no commercialism, just a return to nature and getting away from the city.  We stopped at the visitor centre, where Carina (for the first of maybe 20 times that day) scared me into thinking there was an alligator hiding in the bushes - nothing like a little paranoia to make travelling exciting! 
The guide lady sent us on a 9 mile nature viewing drive through some swampy areas - the road was pretty narrow and only went one way so there was no turning back.  We had a guidebook that told us about the area and the habitats there - there were marshes and mudflats, swamps and lakes.  There were massive flocks of waterfowl - ducks, geese, herons, storks, pelicans, ever present vultures and many other wading and dabbling birds.  The brightest were the spoonbills - bright pink feathers and very odd looking beaks.  We were quickly struck by the fact that taking pictures with our little point and shoot cameras was a far cry from National Geographic quality shots.... but it was the thought that counted.  We'll be home and saying to people... yep, that's a rare stork... and that blob, yep, that's a never-before seen duck...and they'll just have to take our word for it.  But seriously, we did very much enjoy our little safari and were happy that the lady had recommended this to us.  The breezes were blowing gently, the air was warm and soft and the sky overhead had not a snowcloud to be seen.  It was a beautiful day!

 one of the many flocks of waterbirds we saw

 here's a heron - don't ask me what kind - i'm no ornithologist

 there's a couple of rosy hued chicks from the north lands...see their pale plumage

 who needs colour - black and white doesn't show the lack of tan quite so much!

 Not a National Geographic shot, but there is a spoonbill in this picture

and our first alligator on this excursion...

After we were done  scouting for birds, we began on the reptile hunt - we found some in a drainage canal leading out of the nature reserve... there we saw two - i even sneaked out of the car for a shot but was completely paranoid thanks to my dear companion who would make scary noises and freak me out oh so quickly!  Argh... if she didn't watch out, she'd be alligator bait! 
Our appetite for seeing alligators still not whetted, we decided to continue a bit farther in the park to a place called Biolab Road - doesn't that make you think of a Richard Adams book? In my mind's eye, it should be a huge, menacing lab building surrounded by high barbed wire fences and vicious guard dogs.  Here follows a description from one of the official touristy websites...
"The dirt road to the north winds around the West Side of Mosquito Lagoon and is used mainly by fisherman and wildlife enthusiasts. A drive or walk along this 6-mile road will give you an opportunity to view shorebirds during migration and "locals" that make their home here year around. We have over 300 species of birds within the park. Hopefully you will see your favorites and catch a glimpse of some new ones. Taking this "road less traveled" is REALLY getting back to nature."

 another big gator... he was pretty huge!

an osprey - sadly, not even one picture of the rotten road!

And it truly was... i think Prunelope was inwardly cringing at the prospect of this road, which in all honesty, had we known how rough and bad and long this road was, we likely would not have persevered as we did....but it sure makes for a good story now.  The road meandered here and there, twisting around trees and totally avoiding any pretenses of being a domesticated road... this was definitely a wild road - potholes aplenty big enough to swallow our poor car.  Since we had to drive so slowly, the car eventually decided to start to overheat... and make squeaking noises worse than normal and I was truly worried that we would break down on this road and would become victims of  the mosquitos, alligators and goodness knows what other creatures lurk in the swampy areas of this part of the world.  The road was once again one lane - sometimes even less than that, and in order to avoid some of the potholes, i nearly drove off into the drainage ditches lining either side of the road, in which we found about 10 alligators along our way.  It sure was neat to see them but kinda scary too!  There were lots and lots of wild birds along the way too... including a plethora of menacing black vultures who seemed to be just waiting for our vehicular demise and subsequent attempted walk to civilization, abruptly being cut short in the jaws of a large reptile and the pieces left over for them to feast on... oh, imagination, slow down and relax! 
But seriously, the sun was a bit lower in the sky and as the road kept on and on, and we kept thinking to ourselves, if this is the pristine natural beach that the tour guide lady had raved about, she's more of a nature lover than we ever will be... (we had been driving along a "coast" line which we believed to be the ocean, and there were nothing but mucky, seaweedy mudflats everywhere - where was the beautiful sand and waves that were ingrained in my heart's desire??   Disappointment was growing in our hearts.... eventually, after 3/4 of an hour, or maybe 6 hours (as it seems), we reached a wider part to the track, found some more cars, since we had been mostly on our own for the last while (even more ominous) and then signs for the beach began appearing and the truth dawned on us as we perused the map - we had been driving along a road that looped along a lagoon, a tidal basin, but this wasn't the coastline itself... hope was renewed! 
We decided since we were this far, we might as well see how the beach looked - and as we pulled the car to a stop, opened our doors and shut off the overheated engine, the sweet sounds of ocean waves, seagulls and beach grasses waving in the breeze hit our ears.  The salty taste of the sea was on our lips and my heart was racing a bit as i headed up the boardwalk... would there be the beach i had been longing for?? 

 leading up to the beach...what would await us?

 This....aaaahhh, bliss!

 Relaxing on the beach!

 trying to be artsy...

 there were lots of shells - i only took one home - such restraint eh?

 footprints in the sand

 feet covered with sand

who is that movie star on the beach?  Just kidding...

YES!!!  The boardwalk led through the dunes and onto a huge, 37 mile long beach of soft white sand, populated with piles of cool shells and just a few people - mostly fishermen and a surfer or two.... but no commercialism, no hot dog vendors, no bikini clad women competing for recognition.  Aah, this is what my soul had been longing for!  I felt happy, free, relaxed and couldn't get the grin off my face... the sand felt warm, the sun glowed overhead, the breezes played in my hair and the waves lapped (or crashed) around my feet.  BLISS!  The waves were far too wild and the undertow too strong to swim, but we put our feet and legs in and the water wasn't even too cold... i was pleasantly surprised.  I was pretty sure we wouldn't be swimming but that didn't matter.  We spent an hour and a half or so, just poking around, collecting shells, eating oranges and just basking in the atmosphere.  I had reached the zenith, the peak of my holiday... and it was good!  Whatever else happened after this would be gravy! 
Eventually, the time came for us to depart and we reluctantly directed our feet back to the car and the city, but inside, i felt renewed and smiley!  The sun set brilliantly as we drove west and eventually headed to Universal  Studios to pick up the girls, who had had a great day but were exhausted from all their adventures.  The evening was spent quietly back at the condo, watching tv, skyping and catching up on emails and phone calls.  Thursday was done but what a day it had been... i'd go to sleep with visions of alligators dancing in my head!

On the road again - Day 4

So, two days to catch up on - one at a time... the days and the time fly by.  It's hard sitting here to even remember what all went on that day, but i'll wrack my poor old braincells and give them some stimulation with orange juice and hot chocolate and see what happens.  Hmmm... Wednesday morning - i think things were off to a slow start...we were invited to hang around with Jake and Deanna Ruggi and Ronn and Annie-Lynn VanAndel and family for the afternoon, but we had one pitstop on the way there...
Go figure, but the two most non-shoppers in the world decided to go back to the outlet malls to cash in on a few more things that we decided were deals too good to pass up  This time, finding a parking space was not nearly so difficult and we knew where we were going - we found what we wanted and were then back on our way down the highway. 
Highway 4 is the main artery running through Orlando - it's either east or west and seems to be our touchstone... now we had to head west and we had a complete written out set of directions - easy to follow and hard to mess up.... but we did.... somehow all roads in Orlando somehow lead to Disney (not Rome).  And we ended up on one of those - panic ensuing - but managed to pull ourselves out of the tailspin and back onto the road we wanted - via the Disney planned community of Celebration - aaah, well, it's good to see different places right??  Sure...
After correcting our mistakes and getting back on the road we were supposed to be on, we were all good - we found their vacation rental house with no issues - though no one would answer the doorbell or seemed to be stirring when we showed up.  Hmmm...was this a sign?  But Carina was bold and went around the back yard and lo and behold, there they were, soaking in their own private hot tub and swimming in their own pool all in a giant bird cage - or so it seemed to us.  We had seen these giant screened areas from the road when we were driving and thought that they definitely looked like bird cages!  But i'm sure they're handy to protect against bugs and other pests so you can enjoy your pool at night.  We got to stick our feet in the hottub for a while and chat which was super nice....but our poor toes didn't quite know how to react to being placed on the cold pavement after a warm soak! 
The place that the families had hired was a huge place, didn't look like it from the front, but inside there were five large bedrooms, four bathrooms, a huge common room with a big kitchen area.  They actually hired two houses - one for the adults and one for the kids - just down the road - and everything seemed to be flowing just great - meals taken care of, groceries done (some at their favorite store - the Dollar Tree - which even sells eggs for a $1.00!  We had to find this store for ourselves!) 
We spent the afternoon basking in the first sun of our week playing Wizard (I almost won.... but in that game, almost doesn't count at all!), learning (kinda) how to play tennis - it seems like fun, but i would need a very patient teacher - i either lob them way high or smack them straight into the net it seems, not too many happy medians there!  We then enjoyed a delicious spaghetti and salad and garlic bread supper - Italian seems to be our food of choice (or coincidence here). 

 the view from our hotel room, looks pretty, but no one was swimming

 one brave soul was sun-bathing with blankets and towels on..

 proof that there was sun!

funny, i have no pics of our games night, except this one, there were a lot of people at the house that night - but it was so gezellig and welcoming!

After supper was time for more games - Settlers was the game of choice and with that the gloves came off and the comfortable bantering which had heretofore been going on changed and the air became electric with the seriousness and skill of some very veteran players.  Carina is an expert at this game and usually manages to extract a win even from the most unlikely of settlement placements all the while maintaining that she is not winning... I even got close in the last game but that was snatched away by her skill.... i do have to smile and bow my head to her.  I should be watching and learning but alas, the skills don't seem to be rubbing off.... But it was great fun to be sure - so fun to be so warmly welcomed, not only by the adults but by all their grownup kids and addons.... thanks so much for the invite - it truly made for a memorable day.

On the road again - Day 3

So, it's now Tuesday and it's the second day of our "sun" vacation.  Again, lots of sun....but not so much warmth.  I'm currently sitting on the couch at the hotel.   The heater is roaring, Carina is busy brewing up some hot chocolate, and i'm clad in my jeans, socks, long sleeve shirt, new sweater and toasty new slippers.  Hmmmm... yep, i think that the bathing suit might stay buried in the bottom of the bag for a long time.  We woke to see that the windows were frosty and we could see our breath.  Not good odds for jumping in the pool or getting a tan eh?  But we can't really complain eh?  We are not at home, we are enjoying some relaxation time, we have full tummies after having found an Olive Garden right around the corner from the hotel (ummmmmm, haven't had their soup and bread sticks for a very, very, very long time! and they were stilll very tasty!). 
We were all still a bit bushed from the long long, seemingly endless, epic and lengthy trek down here to Florida and needed a good sleep in and rest to recover.  We ate our breakfast late and then decided to go on a bit of a reconnaisance mission around town to see what was what. 
We grabbed our tourist map (not to scale whatsoever and apparently not feeling like it had to include even half of the roads that we came across) and bravely headed out.  Prunelope breathed a sigh of relief that we were not going on a state to state odyssey but rather just a little jaunt through the touristy countryside.  We drove past Universal Studios, Sea World, Discovery Cove and Disneyland and multiple other tourist attractions - wow this place is captain at catering to the almighty tourist dollar - anything to drain another dollar from the wallets of the masses.  Oh, i know that we are here and will do touristy things, but sometimes, sometimes, the decadence of places like this makes me shiver a bit. 
I know full well that i participated in the trends as this afternoon we headed for the outlet mall.... wow, what a zoo!!!!  I think that if people were armed, there would have been major fights about parking spots there.  As it was, it took us at least 15 minutes to find a spot, and then that was only at the back of the mall in a little lot kinda off by itself, and there were still cars parked on the grassy medians and in mud pits in non parking areas.... anything to get a deal, i suppose. 
Carina and I are not rea lly shoppers but we figured this would be a good activity to keep us warm and busy on a day like today.  I was surprised by the amounts of people there and the craziness that ensures...

 This was the scene around all the trash cans...sometimes even piles of old shoes as well!

 Oh, here we are again.. looking not quite so skeptical

 The obligatory palm tree shot, we are in Florida!  Though it's -1

 Yes, sir, valet parking at the mall...how much more decadent can you get!

 Yep, it was cold...thank goodness we had a heater!

 Just one detail shot from the well-stocked kitchen, i loved the precision of the knife-arranging - made me seriously want to mess it all up!

 The view of the kitchen from the living room...

 our bedroom

the kichen looking out to the living room, our bedroom on the left, the girls on the right

observations:
- benches of guys patiently and not so patiently waiting for their assorted female companions to extract themselves from the consumer magnets
- piles of empty shoe boxes next to the garbage pails outside all the shoe stores - people buy new footwear and ditch the boxes so they have more room and arm space to carry more stuff - even leaving their old shoes in the boxes and walking away in the new
- being disappointed by the Loft store (a real favorite from previous trips to the U.S. to shop)
- being impressed by the deals at Columbia - i got a gorgeous pair of slippers, a pair of tracky pants and another couple good deals for $70 - amazing since normally you only get one items for that price!
- leaving a store in a bit of a fog and trying to decide which direction to go, getting pushed from behind by a lady who was extremely grumpy and said "don't stop here".  When we retorted, she was royally snippy back and i felt very motivated to give her a good swat on the side of the head for being so snarky. 
And i'm sure that there's more but since i haven't blogged for so long, i'm a bit out of practice and will just keep it short and sweet for tonight (my eyelids are starting to close again too... must be time for bed???!!!!

On the road again....Day 1-2

So, currently, i'm sitting on a couch in a hotel in a far-away land.... well, okay, the land of the free and the home of the brave to put it concisely.  The heater is on, the slippers are warm, the sweater is cozy and the couch is in....Orlando.  Yeah, i know, we were coming for a "sun" vacation and to be sure, it was sunny today, but it's pretty hard to get a tan when you've got many layers on to keep warm.  We arrived last night to the lovely news that Florida is experiencing a cold snap and we were in for a record low both at night and during the day today.  You know you are in Florida when the cold snap announcements on the t.v. weather report are accompanied by discussions of whether this will kill the plants and whether it would wreck your solar blanket on your pool - in Canada, when it dips down below 15, the pools are already closing up.  I guess not so much in the Sunshine State eh?  Well, the good news is that at home, we've been told it is -12 with windchills of -18, whereas the low here that people are nervous about is a balmy -1.2 degrees celsius (an approximate since i'm still not used to converting F-C.  My car is much smarter than me and can convert the temperatures and speeds very easily for me.  Good old Prunelope.
Speaking of Prunelope, i will admit that she did an admirable job, trekking all the way from Hamilton to Orlando in just under 24 hours, with only a few pit stops for gasoline and a little sleep break for Carina and I in the parking lot of Wendy's in the middle of Kentucky somewhere.  She probably thought as she left the driveway, "oh, just another trip to Mom and Dad's or maybe at the farthest, out to Toronto to visit Timothy", but imagine her shock when she crossed the border and kept heading south!! Poor car!  And the drivers didn't do too badly either.  We left Hamilton at 9pm and headed for Sarnia and the U.S. border.  The weather had become extremely windy in Hamilton and somehow all the way down to Orlando, the weather remained windy... are there weather systems that cover such a huge area?  Around London, the weather turned snowy and blustery and that was no fun - we had intermittant snow squalls all the way through Michigan and even through Ohio and Kentucky.  I think the last time we saw snow was probably in Tennessee.   Carina and i took turns driving and keeping each other awake through the long stretches of the night when normal people are snugly tucked in their beds, dreaming of sugar plum fairies....We listened to cds, ate peppermints, played a few word finding games, ate peppermints, ate millet squares, ate peppermints, looked at the maps, ate peppermints, and you get the idea.  Scenery along the way that was notable included the mountains in Tennessee (we looked really hard for a "typical" pick up truck with a gun rack on it but alas were denied that sight), the rolling hills and horse farms of Kentucky, the empty buildings in Detroit, and finally the start of the hanging spanish moss as we entered Georgia and Florida.  Once the snow squalls cleared up, we had beautiful sunny dry weather all the way to Orlando which was a real bonus, hearing some of the stories that people have been relating about driving home and terrible traffic back ups and such. 

 the roads were relatively clear here - but not so much earlier on

 Yes, there we are on vacation... don't we look relaxed?

 trying to be artsy fartsy...

A random car in a random state on a random piece of road... but that's road-tripping!

Some trip anecdotes include:
- Carina trying to cheer the very grumpy border guard up, but definitely not succeeding.  We decided that he was frustrated with his job and decided to take it out on the poor unsuspecting souls who came through his booth.  He even shone his flashlight into the car, poked through the trunk and thoroughly was a disagreeable fellow.   We were admittedly a little nonplussed when he asked us where we were going and we replied Orlando and he then proceeded to ask us how we were getting there - after having shone his flashlight into the car, would he not have seen the piled up luggage, blankets and pillows that littered the space?? 
- getting out at a gas station somewhere in Michigan or maybe it was Ohio in the pitch black and howling winds to pee at a very empty rest stop and then buying a coffee that was termed "extreme" (i thought it would help!).  I believe the only extreme thing about it was the size of the cup.... Toto, i don't think we're in Ontario anymore. 
- buying very expensive bananas at the pharmacy last night for breakfast today - those better be the healthiest and most delectable bananas you ever did taste!
I don't know too much else to write right now... we followed the map directions (imagine that, only page of directions all the way from Ontario to Orlando) and arrived alive just after 8 pm.   We are staying at the Cypress Point Grand Villas in Orlando and we have a large suite - two bedrooms, a large dining and sitting area, kitchen area complete with all the appliances, a washer and dryer and an enclosed outside porch and a pool view (though i wouldn't be surprised if we found ice cubes floating in the pool soon!)  It is a good location, right close to everything and we are quite happy here!!! 
We settled into bed around 10:30 and that was good too!  So good in fact that apparently, according to Carina, i was doing plenty of talking in my sleep and scheming about making money and buying things.... i'm sorry that i talk in my sleep....