Randomness
Around 3 PM yesterday, my parents decided we should go to dinner in Placida, since I wasn't supposed to leave for Gainesville until nighttime anyway. It's about an hour drive there and you have to go through Port Charlotte to get there. Keep in mind I hadn't even attempted to go to Port Charlotte since Hurricane Charley, so I didn't know what to expect.
Man, the chunk of 72 right outside of Arcadia is awful. Every single pine-tree is snapped in half. EVERY one. Houses that used to be hidden behind trees are suddenly visible. Worst of all, there are a couple trailer-park communities there... what homes are left are surrounded by debris. Most homes look like they've exploded: roofs gone, innards exposed to the world. It's such a depressing sight.
The whole trip to Port Charlotte is pretty bad, but that's the worst stretch. My parents say right after the storm the huge Orange processing plant there had major damage. They said the sides of the huge buildings were just pealed off and the containers of orange juice tipped on their sides. The buildings have already been repaired so it's hard for me to imagine.
My ex-bf Mikey's house has blue-tarp syndrome. The entire roof. I know he's not living with his parents anymore, but still. Steel poles near the interstate in Port Charlotte were completely bent in half. I think I saw about four of those. BENT IN HALF. You can see the interstate from Veteran's parkway now, because there are no longer any trees separating the two. Eerie.
The portion of Port Charlotte that we drove through was fine, because it's the farthest from Punta Gorda. Once we got to El Jobean nearing Englewood, the scenery was perfect again. All the trees were perfectly in tack. I'm VERY glad Englewood suffered minimal damage in the hurricanes. If my hometown had to get messed up, the last thing I want is my home away from home getting screwed too.
Placida was beautiful. I love being near the ocean and Placida holds so many great memories. It was odd eating there when it was chilly out, since we usually only go during the summer months, but it was great none-the-less. Mmmm... fresh seafood. At dinner, I decided I'd wait to leave until Monday morning, since I don't have class until 4:05 and there's no lab that day. So with extra time in mind, we decided to drive out to Englewood just to see it. It's such a comfort, driving over the bridge to Manasota Key and then driving up to Pelican Landing. My parents scheduled their vacation so that during my week break in Summer C, I'll get to be at the beach. I'm ecstatic.
Back in Arcadia, Dad and I decided to go rent a movie, riding in my old Neon. awww. On the way we were discussing the new '05 Mustang, since my dad is probably going to buy one pretty soon. On a whim, we decided to go to the Ford dealership first since it's right next to Movie Gallery. It was raining, but my dad and I went scurrying across the lot to look at a lime green (ew) '05 they had. Oh man, I love it. I love the retro look. Back at Movie Gallery we rented the Terminal, which my parents and I watched last night, and I got Ned Kelly (the movie with Orlando Bloom AND Heath Ledger. yes, I may need a drool bucket). Will watch that tonight.
So Christmas break is going to be AWESOME. Dad's taking me shopping to pick out my guitar, AND he's taking me along to do the shopping for the Mustang, since chances are he'll be handing it down to me in a couple years. Woot!
Man, the chunk of 72 right outside of Arcadia is awful. Every single pine-tree is snapped in half. EVERY one. Houses that used to be hidden behind trees are suddenly visible. Worst of all, there are a couple trailer-park communities there... what homes are left are surrounded by debris. Most homes look like they've exploded: roofs gone, innards exposed to the world. It's such a depressing sight.
The whole trip to Port Charlotte is pretty bad, but that's the worst stretch. My parents say right after the storm the huge Orange processing plant there had major damage. They said the sides of the huge buildings were just pealed off and the containers of orange juice tipped on their sides. The buildings have already been repaired so it's hard for me to imagine.
My ex-bf Mikey's house has blue-tarp syndrome. The entire roof. I know he's not living with his parents anymore, but still. Steel poles near the interstate in Port Charlotte were completely bent in half. I think I saw about four of those. BENT IN HALF. You can see the interstate from Veteran's parkway now, because there are no longer any trees separating the two. Eerie.
The portion of Port Charlotte that we drove through was fine, because it's the farthest from Punta Gorda. Once we got to El Jobean nearing Englewood, the scenery was perfect again. All the trees were perfectly in tack. I'm VERY glad Englewood suffered minimal damage in the hurricanes. If my hometown had to get messed up, the last thing I want is my home away from home getting screwed too.
Placida was beautiful. I love being near the ocean and Placida holds so many great memories. It was odd eating there when it was chilly out, since we usually only go during the summer months, but it was great none-the-less. Mmmm... fresh seafood. At dinner, I decided I'd wait to leave until Monday morning, since I don't have class until 4:05 and there's no lab that day. So with extra time in mind, we decided to drive out to Englewood just to see it. It's such a comfort, driving over the bridge to Manasota Key and then driving up to Pelican Landing. My parents scheduled their vacation so that during my week break in Summer C, I'll get to be at the beach. I'm ecstatic.
Back in Arcadia, Dad and I decided to go rent a movie, riding in my old Neon. awww. On the way we were discussing the new '05 Mustang, since my dad is probably going to buy one pretty soon. On a whim, we decided to go to the Ford dealership first since it's right next to Movie Gallery. It was raining, but my dad and I went scurrying across the lot to look at a lime green (ew) '05 they had. Oh man, I love it. I love the retro look. Back at Movie Gallery we rented the Terminal, which my parents and I watched last night, and I got Ned Kelly (the movie with Orlando Bloom AND Heath Ledger. yes, I may need a drool bucket). Will watch that tonight.
So Christmas break is going to be AWESOME. Dad's taking me shopping to pick out my guitar, AND he's taking me along to do the shopping for the Mustang, since chances are he'll be handing it down to me in a couple years. Woot!