Florida Trip

Hi Everyone ~

Just wanted to give everyone an update on how things are going with me and Michael. We just returned for a short vacation down in Florida, which was a lot of fun. We went up to my mom's house Tuesday night (Feb. 5th) and spent the night, so we could leave early Wednesday morning. We had a little excitement since my mom forgot some things and we had to turn around, but at least we weren't very far from the house. After picking up my brother from work, we hit the road and began an adventure that the four of us would never forget. Michael drove the first lag of the trip from Minneapolis into southern Wisconsin when we hit one of the worst snowstorms we have ever seen. It started snowing in the Wisconsin Dells and by the time we reached Madison, we couldn't see more than a quarter mile and our windshield wipers were frozen solid. Traffic had completely stopped moving on the freeway and we sat there for a good hour before discovering the reason for the delay. There was a huge accident that went on for about 3 miles and included at least 10 semi-trucks as well as several cars. It was the most horrific accidents that any of us have ever seen. My brother took a lot of pictures and we hope to have them on the website in the next few days. It took us over 12 hours to get out of Wisconsin and it was the longest 12 hours of our lives. After crossing the boarder into Illinois, I took over the driving and the roads were very clear, but the ice was a problem for most of my shift. It was amazing to us because semi-trucks and cars were passing us by like crazy and then about 1/2 an hour later, we would see them in the ditch. We had to have seen from 30 to 50 semi-trucks that had jacked-knifed or were in the ditch. It was insane! I drove until we reached Indiana and then my brother took over for several hours while Michael and I got some sleep. We woke up in Tennessee and Michael took over driving for over 6 hours. He drove us all the way through Georgia and it's a long state to say the least. It was beautiful though. The sun was shining bright and it was a little warmer than home. About 50 degrees! We saw the stadium where the Braves play and Atlanta was beautiful! We had fun playing games and keeping each other occupied. When we got into Florida, I took over the driving and it was a lot warmer. We hit some heavy rains and that slowed us down some more, but thankfully it didn't last too long. We made it to the campground about 11pm and got all settled into our home away from home. Cabin #23. Everyone was pretty tired, so we called it a night. We got up Friday morning and had some breakfast before heading to the beach. Florida is so beautiful!!! There were palm trees everywhere and all of the buildings were designed in a tropical theme. We took a lot of pictures, so check back for those later. We took a long drive through Naples and Fort Myers, which was so beautiful. We ended up at Sanbel Island and spent several hours playing around in the Gulf of Mexico. It was Michael's first time in the ocean and he was blown away by how salty the ocean is, but he had a good time. I love playing in the ocean, so I had a blast. After a little while, we decided to grab some food and headed for the cabin to clean up before taking a trip over to Miami and Fort Lauderdale. It was dark outside by then, so we really didn't get to see the Atlantic ocean. But, we did get to see a ton of yachts that were unbelievable. A few of them were bigger than my mom's house. It was crazy! We also saw some of the most beautiful hotels that I have ever seen. I have to say that Miami was a lot like what we have seen on TV, but we definitely have to go back in the daylight. After picking up some pizza from Papa John's, we started back for Naples and crashed when we made it back to the cabin. We got up Saturday morning and had some breakfast before heading to the beach. We gathered some sea shells and sand to remember the occasion before stopping in at a cute little shop to buy some larger shells. I can't wait to go back next year to check out more of the little shops and visit some different beaches. We also want to go see the Twins play in Fort Myers. Anyway, we decided to find a Sonic Drive-Inn Restaurant for lunch before hitting the road for home. The ride home was pretty uneventful other than it was cold and windy. They were still cleaning up the mess in Wisconsin, which was amazing to me. It just goes to show how bad the storm really was. We got to my mom's place about 8:30 pm and back to Glenwood about 11:00. Anyway, that was our trip. Otherwise, Michael and I are doing really well. We just celebrated our first Valentine's Day as husband and wife. It was very nice! My birthday is coming up next weekend and I am not ashamed to admit that I will be 28 years old.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading about our trip and we'll talk to you guys soon!

God bless,
Carey :-)