Family Florida Road Trip – Day 3

We made it! It was a long haul, especially after a night at a less-than-stellar hotel. I booked it online because it said it was the only Marriott in the area we were staying, but it turns out there were two, much better, much newer Marriott’s within a 2 block radius. By the time we figured that out, though, it was too late to change our plans. Besides, it was free, so we shouldn’t complain. The kids slept on a pull-out couch, while Eli’s pack and play was setup in the kitchen area. We were all too tired to care much.
We were up at 6, hoping to be on the road by 7 — and were pretty close to pulling that off. We went hard in the morning, stopping around 11:30 in Jacksonville, Florida soon after crossing the border. We had lunch at a Chic-Fil-A with a play place, and hit the road again. We’ve used up a good percentage of our data plan on NetFlix, plowed through numerous recharges of our electronic devices, ate lots of Nic’s pre-packed snacks, and slept as much as we could… but by 4pm we were in the right part of the state. Stopped in retirement central for Wendy’s and a potty break, called the property management place to inform them of our imminent arrival, and headed back out for the last stretch.
We arrived by 6pm — by working around the GPS that chose a much dumber router than Nicole figured out with Bing Maps — and excitedly ran into the place. It is nearly perfect. A little smaller than we’d thought, and kind of sparsely furnished, but what is here is nice. There’s plenty of room for our family, although it will be a little cozy when our guests arrived, and since we’re going to be spending most of our time around the pool anyway, size isn’t an issue.
It’s still cool here — at night and early morning, it probably always will be — but the pool is heated, and we’re acclimated to much colder temperatures, so we’re pretty comfortable. Today we’ll stake out the neighbourhood a bit, and then I’ll resume my normal work routine. Family arrives Saturday and I fly out for London, England on Tuesday. Life as normal — just in a warmer place!

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