Ding dong! Look who is kind of back!

Yes, I have been busy and going batty. Figure I should fill you in on where I have been lately and update you on how everything is going!! I have tried sitting down and typing this blog out several times...and I do not get very far. 


First, lets talk about the camping trip over the week of my third wedding anniversary (May 19th). Camping is suppose to be fun, relaxing, and enjoyable?? Right? Well the first day and a half it rained and rained and rained. Oye!!! In addition to all the rain, our camp site was full of goose poop. Yuck! That stuff is just as bad as dog poo or worse. Before even setting up our tent and all we had to de-poop the site, in the rain. Finally by the afternoon of our anniversary, the rain stopped and the sun came out. My inlaws told Rob and I to leave camp and go enjoy the afternoon doing something fun. Since we were only 30 minutes from Berlin, OH we drove over there to a local cheese company and walked through some tourist type of shops. We found lunch at a place called Chalet in the Valley which is a Swiss/German place. It is known down in the area and Rob thought it would be nice to take me to a place that he liked when he was a kid. The food was ok...but I was really hoping for something else. Oh well. The rain did stop that afternoon and the sun came out to play for the rest of the day. We drove back to the camp-site and hung out with my inlaws until it was dinner time. For dinner we drove over to Pizza Hut and picked up a couple pizzas, stopped at a grocery store to pick up more bottled water and also picked up some lighter fluid in hopes that the lighter fluid would get the camp fire going since a lot of the wood we had was wet from the rain. The next day of camping it was warm, sunny and just awesome. I had to actually change into shorts because of how warm it was. I loved it! The next morning we woke up to twelve Canadian geese honking and fighting at 6am!! I was not pleased. I had one more hour to sleep before the alarm went off. Needless to say since we were all up we started to pack up camp and get back to Rob's parent's house. Over the weekend while still at his parent's house we met up with our dear friends who were also in Ohio visiting family. We had not seen them in about two summers and so it was great to catch up with them!


Now to the good stuff. Monday (May 24), Rob and I left our three dog-children in Ohio to start our travel to Florida. We stopped off in Nashville, TN for a couple of days. I was hoping that the water damage buildings would be open but we found out that still not the case. I chose a hotel outside of the city since the Opryland Hotel is still closed. For dinner...we went downtown though and ate at The Old Spaghetti Factory and then walked around downtown. I was hoping that the Wild Horse Saloon would be open, but nope...it was still closed do to water damage. The next day though we spent exploring the rest of TN and went to the Jack Daniels distillery. What a cool and free thing to do! If you ever get a chance...you all should visit the little town of Lynchburg, TN! After doing the tour we drove another thirty minutes to the TN/AL border, and ended up eating dinner at Sonic over in Alabama. I had never been to Alabama...and so now I only have a couple other states to color in. 


Wednesday we got up super early and left the little town of Nashville to head down to St. Petersburg, FL. What a fun day, despite the twelve hour drive south. I finally got to see the city of Atlanta (before this...I had only been to the Atlanta International Airport)!!! Rob drove through Atlanta for me, so I didn't have to deal with the crazy drivers. You all think that Californians or New Englanders all drive fast...well you have not seen people drive in Atlanta!! All you can do is keep up with traffic and you will stay alive. If everyone around you is driving 85 mph...well you better do the same or you will run off the road. The highlight of that afternoon was driving through Macon, GA. If any of you are big country fans...then you will know about Macon, GA. 


Thursday was Rob's interview down in St. Petersburg. We will see if he got the job very soon. I seriously could live in the St. Petersburg area. It is so pretty!!! I spent the afternoon exploring the bay front shopping area of the city which was near the hotel. I didn't want to take the car out of valet and then have to fight for parking around the city. I walked down to the famous Pier that was well recommended by many different travel sites. I saw pelicans up close, ate lunch, and enjoyed a trolley tour of the city! I then went back to the hotel where I first attempted to type out this blog. Later on once Rob got back to the hotel, we enjoyed an evening of baseball at Tropicana Field where the Tampa Bay Rays play. The Chicago White Sox were in town and the Rays ended up winning that night. 


Yesterday we got up and drove down to Naples which was about two hours south. Such a beautiful city!! Rob didn't care for it as I think it was too upscale for him. I for one would go back there in an heart beat. The sand over at the beach feels as if you are walking in brown sugar!!! We didn't have a beach front hotel, but after dinner we drove over to yet another popular pier to watch the sunset. I played in the warm 85 degree F. Gulf of Mexico water for a bit. The sunset was pretty but not as pretty as some sunsets I have seen in Arizona. I have a feeling that if I came back in the winter time...the sunset would be better. The winter time is when you see the amazing sunsets in Arizona and so I am predicting that it would be the same there, too. I did enjoy it though. 


Today we drove up to the east side of Orlando. My good friend, Liz, who I went to high school with lives up here and so I was able to spend the day with her. She and I went shopping and then picked Rob up for dinner. Shopping was a good to me today, though!!! I found three pairs of cropped denim pants, and three tops. Lane Bryant was having a deal where selected capris and pants were buy one get one FREE!!! For all of you big girls out there....this is the time to go shopping at LB!!! Dinner was amazing though...as it was at Sonny's BBQ. When my parents were in Florida a couple years ago they stopped at this place and now this is their favorite bbq place. When Rob and I were driving down to Naples yesterday we actually stopped at Sonny's for lunch. Yes...it is that good that we went to one up here in Orlando for dinner. If you like pulled pork...this is THE place to get it. Sooooo yummy!!! 


So that is where I have been lately. Like I said, I have been busy. Tomorrow we will drive to Savannah, GA and stay the night there. Then Monday we will drive back to Ohio and head back to Connecticut on Friday. I am starting to miss my house, bed, and space!! I am loving this road trip and can not wait to share the pictures that we have taken over this two or three week period. The camera cord was left at home so that is why there are no pictures posted here!!! I promise I will get some posted as soon as I can when I get back to the Connecticut house.