Road Trip 2018

I'm not really interested in blogging more about our roadtrip. It was a fun week. The middle of the week got so cold, no one did aquafit and the next day when we did it, the instructor (on the side of the pool) had two pairs of yoga pants, a jacket, and a toque on.

We took a long walk to the drug store. We went to Olive Garden. Great salad dressing and I've found it at Costco here. Went to a tacky souvenir shop.

 I did a glass fusion project in the activity centre. Since I didn't do it until the last day though, it had to be shipped. That took forever because they shipped it without a customs declaration on it.

We went to  Disney Springs. How much shopping does Disney need? The Christmas tree trail was pretty, but too Disney. And the wait time to see Santa was 150min. You check in, then come back later.

On the drive home we stopped at Corbin Kentucky at the first KFC.

 It was a light, wet snowfall. Then we got back on the highway and it became a blizzard and traffic stopped. We were glad we had altered our route home because the other route had had a major winter storm, in an area they don't storms. The drive through Kentucky was pretty wet. We decided to head straight up and cross at Windsor. No matter which side of Lake Eerie you're on, it's pretty dull, but we thought it'd be nice to get back into Canadian cell phone networks LOL.

We stopped for the night at Dayton, Ohio. Our second dinner at a Cracker Barrel since Nicki had enjoyed the first one a lot. In the hotel, I was looking through drawers to find another blanket. Instead, I found a bag of tiny women's clothes, with a note "I don't need these anymore, please donate or throw in the trash". Creepy! We called front desk for a blanket and gave them the clothes. I sure hope it's innocent, and not some human trafficking victim.

The hotel had a package with a made to order breakfast. It was very yummy, not truck stop food. Nicki was having some digestion issues and Cheryl went out in the night to get her some Imodium, so it was a late start to the morning.

Mom had bought a jar of Metamucil at Costco (Kirkland Brand though). Somehow it came open in the truck. Looks a little suspicious!!

The Duty Free store in Windsor has a "liquidation" section with some awesome deals and strange finds. Pretty cool to wonder through there.

Got home around 7pm and from the moment we walked in the door, well....the rest of 2018 was a downhill blur. Family health crisis, one after another.  But it was back to work for me in a day or too.

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!