Road Trip

My family embarked on a road trip to Florida ten days ago. I picked up my daughter early from school on Friday Feb 5th and hit the road. We wanted to beat the blizzard dumped two feet of snow in DC. We made it through DC but drove for two hours in blizzard conditions north or Richmond. We made it to Florida on Sunday February 6th. Note to Florida: Where was the sun and the warm weather? A high of 55 degrees and frost warnings! We returned early this morning after driving 16 hours straight. Pennsylvania had two snow storms while we were away and our house is covered by about three feet of snow. Before I start shoveling, I wanted to post some trip high/low points.

1. Beating the storm through DC only to run into it one hour later.
2. Driving through snow flurries, steady snow, freezing rain, sleet, torrential rain and drizzle.
3. Sitting in Applebee's at Daytona Beach and glancing at the T.V. screen. I pointed to the screen and asked my husband "Is that going on now?" Yep...the NASCAR shootout. We did not have a hotel booked because we left early to beat the snow storm. NO HOTEL ROOMS for miles.
4. Driving down the coast, we stopped at a convenience store for gas. I asked the clerk about hotel rooms and he told us to get out of town NOW. He pointed to bullet holes in the wall of the shop and informed us we were in a BAD neighborhood. Got gas and moved on.
5. Drove to Titusville and found several hotels. I walked in to the first hotel and asked about availability. The clerk pointed to the poster behind him and said the hotel was book for months. MONTHS! It was the final night launch of the Space Shuttle.
6. A creepy man in the lobby asked me to meet him outside. I shook my head and he offered to share his room. I don't think so. We kept driving.
7. My husband wanted to see the launch at 4:49 a.m. We drove around and found a horrid hotel room. We slept in our clothes and did not use the shower.
8. Woke up to see the launch but it was cancelled due to visibility.
9. Finally able to get in our scheduled hotel.
10. Florida weather unseasonably cold. The overnight lows were around freezing with highs of 50 degrees. It felt like PA weather.
11. Woke up at 4:00 am and watched the shuttle launch from an Orlando balcony.
12. No Internet access for ten days. Note to self: buy a laptop.
13. Manatees are very cool.

Well...I better start shoveling.