Road Trip 2018 Day 4

Sunday came, and it came in hot. The other ladies went to the Publix grocery store to get some cream and produce (Wal-Mart wasn't very well stocked the night before) and I putted around and organized.

I was very disappointed to discover I had forgotten my good camera at home and also the charger for my Garmin Vivofit.  However it was cool to find these charging plugs connected to our clock-phone in our bedroom.  Doesn't do the waterproof camera or my mp3 player but I don't have my own ipad cord so now I don't need to borrow Cheryl's cord. The weird thing was our clock had the wrong time and there was no way to change it!

This is mom's and mine bedroom

Our bathroom had only one sink and no storage. The shower head kind of sucks.

Looking towards the front door

The living room

The living room in 1989. They've really upscaled the furniture!

The dining room.  

The under equipped kitchen.  LOL. We kept saying "I wish I had..." a cheese grater, a rubber scraper, another cutting board, scissors, knife sharpener, some Tupperware, plastic wrap, proper salt and pepper shakers instead of packets...

Our unit is the bottom left

They've recently added a BBQ area behind but the patio is screened in with no door so we have to walk around.  Oh well, it's still nice.  Not used much!

Mom had to touch all the plants 

Going by the brown railings, this was 1989. Back then there were stairs from the 2nd floor! And the patio wasn't screened in. That was frustrating when we were bbq-ing. I wouldn't even bother if I were on the upper floors. And look how they've changed the windows!

 Can you see the little fellow?  So many of these little lizards!

The master bedroom with a huge bed. There were no overhead lights in the bedrooms and it felt a little dark. Our room had room-darkening curtains, but no sheers, so it was all or nothing, and faced the parking spots. 

 They get a walk through closet to a large bath

Another view. My bedroom was down the hall where the dryer is.

Mom just went and grabbed this plant.  Luckily it's quite soft

The first pool.  It was the only one here when my parents bought their timeshare

When I was here last I think this was a simple white slide. I didn't notice it this time but Mom and I went back another time and I could see where the slide had actually been on the "rocks".
I found this picture!

Yup, this was the "big slide" in 1989!

If you like tennis, this place is for you. 

The mini golf has changed a lot.  There is now a fee but owners get a discount. I was told it was renovated last year.

Super pool.  There are seven pools plus a couple kid pools and hot tubs at each pool

We checked out one of the activity centers.  Cheryl was pretty tipsy by now 

Hanging it out with Nicki

Found in the Marketplace

Some of us wanted sun, some wanted dappled shade

This is the same pool, taken from the other side. It was busier in Oct 1997

This is the far end of the Super Pool (actually, it's the end closer to the villa, but the far end compared to the vantage point of the above photos). In the picture higher up, you can see they've added a white railing around this pool.

Cheryl and her mom went to a paint class

I took this shot to compare with an old photo from our first or second trip

They made a few changes! The railings are now white, and that big bulky divider in the upper middle is gone. Actually...looking at this photo, below, from 1989, I think that was a bump out, but just an optical illusion.

Dec, 1989

October 1997. The railings, doors, and door frames are teal.And those palm trees aren't even visible in 1989! 

This is the same as the photo near the top. So, they put in a little roof on the 2nd floor, and took out the palm trees. The white is definitely better, and the villas are more yellow than the cream from earlier. 

Mom, Nicki and I went to Movie at the Pool but it wasn't very good.  Too much light and the kids were noisy.  So we didn't stay.  

It was a lovely day.  Quite hot but that's why we're here!

Road Trip 2018 Day 3

So, this hotel seemed okay when we got there, but being on  a main drag, it was quite noisey over night. Engines revving, drag racing, noisey southern trucks and sirens. Lots of sirens.

The day was dreary, but the palm trees outside kept us optimistic. There were only a few, used for landscaping, all the way through most of Georgia. 

We did have heavy rain on and off throughout the day, but the dashboard display showed the temperature getting warmer. We enjoyed the handmade billboards in Georgia, but there sure wasn't much to look at. And I don't understand how you can have signs promoting your homemade moonshine with free tastings. If we weren't so tired, and had another driver (Cheryl wanted to do it all herself!) then I would have wanted to go through Georgia at night. 

We stopped at a truck stop so Cheryl could look for more of her magnets she is collecting. These actually looked like they could be good if only they were made fresh.

I have wanted to go to a Sonic for a long, long time. The last time we were driving through the States we were with Rob's parents, who are most decidedly NOT fast food eaters. So that was a bust. We had seen a sign for Sonic earlier, but it was only 9:30am so we weren't quite ready. We used the GPS later to find another one--much easier than their website.

We quite enjoyed the drive in experience. The food was okay. We mainly got value priced items as we didn't really need big meals while sitting in the truck all day. Good prices. Cheryl got a strawberry milkshake and said it was awesome. I got a Butterfinger Sonic ....something....like a DQ Blizzard. It was yummy except for the "whipped topping" on top and the fact that we were in Georgia, it was warm, and I had to eat the burger first, so it was starting to melt. The onion rings were breaded, not battered, which I prefer. But the Tots hit the spot! LOL. I love me some Tater Tots. 

It continued to rain, quite heavily at times, until we were near Daytona. Finally we headed west and the clouds broke for the sunset. 

Isn't this the cutest little SUV being towed?

We made it to Vistana, later than expected. There were some issues with check in--had to wait in line, the girl told us to go to the VIP building, we drove over there and they said no, that girl is doing something wrong--she sent a few other families over, but we had to go back (and wait in line again) at the main centre. We were then helped by Yvonne who was a little too loud and energetic for our tired selves. We explained we were tired, here for a much needed rest and no, we didn't want to schedule our owner's meeting. She was persistant but we held firm.

We got in to the condo, dropped some stuff off and went and picked up a pizza at a Cici's that Cheryl knew about. We scarfed those two pizzas down so quick! Then we headed out to Wal-Mart for a big shopping trip, though we were quite tired. Made sure to stop in the Wal-Mart liquor store (where I did NOT get asked for ID even though their sign said they ID anyone who looks under 40. Sob). Got home and set up the bar! We added a bit more to it since LOL. And then hit the beds.