Back from Florida
Actually, I've been back for a few days, just haven't been on the computer much. We drove down on Sunday, didn't have too much traffic other than some of that really annoying "slowdown for no apparent reason" between Savannah and Jax. Then we took a different route than I had taken the last time I drove down there 5 years ago. You get off I-10 just after Jax and then take secondary roads to get to I-75. Which I don't mind, they're a hell of a lot more interesting than interstate, but I was starting to get nervous we'd missed a turn. We were really getting out to the middle of nowhere. Then just as we were about to pull over and start playing with Frank's new phone that has some sort of GPS/mapping feature, I saw the sign for the road that we were looking for....yay.
Monday we hung out with my parents and went to St. John's Pass, a little tourist area with shopping, a beach, restaurants, etc. We ate lunch at the Friendly Fisherman and then went on a dolphin watch boat ride, and saw lots of dolphins plus different kinds of birds, like pelicans and egrets. It was pretty cool. Then we went over to my grandmother's for a Christmas Eve thing with food and exchanged gifts with my grandmother's friend Kurt.
Tuesday, Christmas, we got up...opened all the presents, then Kurt, my mom's Aunt Doris, and her friend Kathy came over for the grab-bag, a fun gag-gift kind of thing, and dinner. That night Frank & I rode with my dad when he drove Aunt Doris home. She lives in a high-rise apartment on the waterfront in St. Petersburg, all seniors. It's the kind of place I'd like to live when I'm old. She moved there after her husband died, and she has a little studio apartment with a great view.
Wednesday we thought we were going to go to Busch Gardens, but then Frank found out there is a Salvador Dali museum in St. Pete, so we went there instead. We went through the museum, then checked out some art galleries in town and had a great lunch at a Thai place. Frank almost bought some Jerry Garcia artwork, but he talked himself out of it, and instead bought me a ceramic bank with a Captain Crunch-looking kitty holding a sign that says "will sing for treats." Very cute.
Thursday we made the long drive back home. There was something in the car smoking, but we couldn't figure it out. The "check engine" light wasn't on, the thermostat never got past mid-range, and Frank checked all the levels, and other than adding a quart of oil, everything seemed okay. We decided to just push on through and get home, and deal with it when we got here. There was no traffic at all, other than when we got right into Charlotte, which was due to an accident.
Yesterday we got up early and took the car to the Subaru dealer. I know, I know, it's the most expensive option, but I wanted it taken care of, and Subarus aren't the most common car around here, so sometimes if you go somewhere else, they don't have the right parts or whatever. When the service manager called me back to tell me what they found and how much it would cost, it was about a $1100 repair. Merry Christmas to me.
Dinner's ready, so that's enough of my rambling...
Monday we hung out with my parents and went to St. John's Pass, a little tourist area with shopping, a beach, restaurants, etc. We ate lunch at the Friendly Fisherman and then went on a dolphin watch boat ride, and saw lots of dolphins plus different kinds of birds, like pelicans and egrets. It was pretty cool. Then we went over to my grandmother's for a Christmas Eve thing with food and exchanged gifts with my grandmother's friend Kurt.
Tuesday, Christmas, we got up...opened all the presents, then Kurt, my mom's Aunt Doris, and her friend Kathy came over for the grab-bag, a fun gag-gift kind of thing, and dinner. That night Frank & I rode with my dad when he drove Aunt Doris home. She lives in a high-rise apartment on the waterfront in St. Petersburg, all seniors. It's the kind of place I'd like to live when I'm old. She moved there after her husband died, and she has a little studio apartment with a great view.
Wednesday we thought we were going to go to Busch Gardens, but then Frank found out there is a Salvador Dali museum in St. Pete, so we went there instead. We went through the museum, then checked out some art galleries in town and had a great lunch at a Thai place. Frank almost bought some Jerry Garcia artwork, but he talked himself out of it, and instead bought me a ceramic bank with a Captain Crunch-looking kitty holding a sign that says "will sing for treats." Very cute.
Thursday we made the long drive back home. There was something in the car smoking, but we couldn't figure it out. The "check engine" light wasn't on, the thermostat never got past mid-range, and Frank checked all the levels, and other than adding a quart of oil, everything seemed okay. We decided to just push on through and get home, and deal with it when we got here. There was no traffic at all, other than when we got right into Charlotte, which was due to an accident.
Yesterday we got up early and took the car to the Subaru dealer. I know, I know, it's the most expensive option, but I wanted it taken care of, and Subarus aren't the most common car around here, so sometimes if you go somewhere else, they don't have the right parts or whatever. When the service manager called me back to tell me what they found and how much it would cost, it was about a $1100 repair. Merry Christmas to me.
Dinner's ready, so that's enough of my rambling...