Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Follow up to Homestead Race:

I know this is very late, but we've had a whirlwind of activities and things happening these past two weeks. We had a great time at Homestead Miami Speedway, we met new friends from California (Bob & Charlene), Debbie from Tennessee, got together with friends we've met before, Norman and camped with our regular race buds - Ashley and Cully! The weather was great, the races were awesome, Rudy fed us really well - we couldn't have had a better weekend at the Track. Well, maybe it could have been better, if Jeff Gordon would have Won the race and the NASCAR NEXTEL CHAMPIONSHIP, but it didn't happen and Jimmie Johnson won the Championship and Matt Kenseth won the Race. Saturday Night Cully and I were part of the ONMC members that were at the Championship celebration after the Busch Race and Cully got to go on the Stage with Carl Edwards and pose for pictures. It was awesome. We were up close and personal with Carl and afterwards we ran into Richard Childress and I got my picture with him (2nd year in a row).

We left Homestead track on Monday morning at 7:30 a.m., dropped Cully and Debbie off at the airport and picked up Michelle and Chris for their Thanksgiving Vacation with us. On our way home for the night, the front brakes went out on the RV and we had to have it towed for repair, so our plans changed and instead of going to Daytona on Tuesday, we got a rental car and drove to Daytona that night, stayed in a really nice Comfort Inn , then on Tuesday we went to the Beach and then to Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse. We toured the grounds and they climbed the Lighthouse (Rudy & I did it earlier in the year). After that we headed further north to St. Augustine for our next night on the road. We found our hotel and then found something good to eat and we walked some of the historical streets and checked out some of the local merchants and on Wednesday we toured St. Augustine's Lighthouse and climbed the 214 steps to the top to view the awesome sights from atop of this Lighthouse and we took some pictures too. After a leisurely visit of the grounds and inn-keepers home, we headed home to pick up the RV and get settled in.

After we got all settled in at the RV Resort, we started preparing for Thanksgiving dinner with family at Aunt Judy and Uncle Don's house in Avon Park. We left Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m. and headed south for a day of good food and family time. In the afternoon we took the younger ones to a neighbors house (where Uncle Don built a tunnel for Mr. Wells' train) for a Train Ride. What fun we all had!!

5:30 a.m. Friday morning (black Friday) found Michelle and I on the road to the mall. We made one stop first at Einstein's Bagels for breakfast and then we shopped and shopped. We met the guys later for lunch back at the Altamonte mall for lunch and more shopping. They brought Elani along too.

Elani was mesmerized with the large Christmas Tree in the middle of the Mall and then she spotted Santa Claus! She wanted to go see him (much different from last year) so we made our way over to him and she even sat on his lap for a picture.

Saturday after church we went to Travis and Rosa's for dinner and to celebrate Christmas with them and Michelle. It was a great way to give the Holiday season a kick start. It was also only the second time in 14 years that I've had both of my children with me during the Thanksgiving holiday! I love it! Travis got us tickets to Arabian Nights Dinner Show for that evening so we took Elani with us and had a good dinner and shop. (Elani's 2nd Santa siting) Sunday we hung around the RV, did some laundry and cleaning up. In the afternoon we went shopping again and then crashed early in the evening so that I could get ready to return to work on Monday. Monday night we all met at Olive Garden for our farewell dinner together. We took a few more pictures after eating great food. Tuesday Chris and Michelle flew out early in the morning and arrived home safely in Michigan. We are back to our normal routine of work and more work.

The weather is great here right now, so we are thinking of a nice motorcycle ride this weekend!

We don't have any travel plans until the second weekend on December!

So, I guess we will see you on the road then!