May 7, 2013 - Miami

On our way to the Miami area we spent one night along the way at a campground near Lake Okeechobee. It was outside of a tiny town called Moore Haven. This part of Florida is the agriculture section. Lots of cattle, citrus groves and new to us, sugar cane. Acres and acres of the stuff, in all stages of growth from seedlings to what looked like it was ready to be cut. Another thing that rural Florida has are Love Bugs. What an awful bug! There were clouds of them that we drove through. We started to see them around Bushnell but on the way to...

Apr 20, 2013 - Week 2 NCL EPIC - Miami - Orlando

Sadly today we ended our cruise on the EPIC - and yes it was EPIC -we all had an amazing time doing wonderful things and having wonderful family experiences - we got of the boat and finally got our hire car - Chevy Tahoe SUV - pretty big black car. We went back to South Beach in Miami had lunch and a bit more of a look around and then set of for Vista Cay in Orlando. Everyone was pretty weary after a 4hr drive but very happy with Visa Cay - lovely 3 bedroom condo in a gated community close to both Disney & Universal Studios. We unpacked...

Apr 16, 2013 - Week 2 - NCL EPIC - St Maarten

Well today was our first island visit - St Maarteen - getting on & off the ship was really quick and easy, we hadn't made any plans so we thought we would head straight to the beach. We took a few photos on the way and found ourselves a couple of cabana chairs with an umbrella & 5 drinks for $25 and hit the water. It was amazing how beautiful and clear it was. In the distance you could see the EPIC which made it all the more awesome to take in. We had the opportunity to go jet skiing so we hired 2 and had some fun on the water. It was very...

Apr 13, 2013 - Week 2 - NCL EPIC - Day 1 - 3

Well Saturday came and we were a little bit excited to be finally going on our cruise. We arrived at about 11.00am and the boarding process was really easy. Once on the boat our cruise officially started even though we didn't leave until 4.00pm We all headed to get something to eat - the buffet was amazing - Scott was in food heaven. The kids then got changed and headed to the spa and water slides. The weather came in really overcast and it started to rain but it cleared quickly we all went and had a good look around the ship, Jess & I...

Apr 12, 2013 - week 1 - Miami - baseball

Definitely over flying after midnight flight from LA to Dallas then onto Miami. Arrived at the Kent Hotel mid-morning very weary only 1 room ready as check in isnt until 4.00pm so dumped bags and headed out for some breakfast. It was very muggy in South Beach. After breakfast we all tried to catch some sleep on the one bed so we were a bit squished but we all managed to sleep a bit. Later when our other room was ready they had up-graded us to a suite with a jacuzzi - wooooooh Phil, Eb & Scott headed out to the baseball to watch the...

Apr 3, 2013 - Miami - Homeward Bound

The day of our departure arrives, it is sunny and very warm and after breakfast on the patio we head to the communal pool for the last time to get a couple of hours sun before we head to the airport. Our flight wasn't due to leave until early evening so we decided to make a leisurely drive down the I-95 that afternoon, however, it didn't prove very relaxing. In the main it proved to be a 4 lane highway with nose to tail traffic in each lane all travelling above the speed limit of 70 mph and constantly switching across lanes without warning....

Mar 21, 2013 - First Day

Hola ya'll! It has been difficult to find wifi here. What wifi there is, is very slow, so picture files might be too large to send. So far, the experience has been moving. We served a meal to 130 children today in a very poor community where +20% of the children suffer from malnutrition. We also visited a sewing center and welding shop where churches are trying to train men and women to learn a trade. The food is delicious and the people are incredibly warm and generous. My Spanish is improving in pocu! The temperature here is like...

Mar 17, 2013 - didn't see any stars on Star Island

Happy St Paddy's day!!!! We had a cleanup day this morning as Wayne finally got the Everglades goop off the kayak and THAT was a job as there was LOTS of goop!!! There was some concern that, even though the water (and therefore the goop) was probably harmless (we were in a national park, after all), it looked bad enough to have eaten through the fiberglass!!! Now we are all clean and ready for the next sojourn into Mother Nature! One of the tours that Donna had been itching to take was "The Star Island Tour" which cruised by celebrities and...

Mar 13, 2013 - down day in Dade county

It’s another Dollie Domestic Day today so cleaning, laundry and some down time. Wayne mustered up the energy to go for a bike ride to check out some trail he discovered and came home all atwitter about his findings!!! Donna was eventually booted out of the pool area as they were closing it so she pouted her way back to the trailer. Our neighbour in the RV Park has given us 3 maps of bike trails and boardwalks that we can check out. One of them is on The Everglades so we have decided to stay a little longer in this area and do it up right,...

Mar 12, 2013 - Flying through the Everglades

The RV park is very quiet – so quiet that Donna didn’t even hear Wayne sneaking out in the morning to go find some internet connection nearby. During his research he came across both some bus pass information as well as hop-on-hop-off tour bus information. Armed with this knowledge we plotted a course of action that took until almost noon to set into place!!!!! Because it was so late in the day we decided to put off both these options and drive into Miami to find a tourist info place and get even more information. Knowledge is power!!!!...

Mar 11, 2013 - Miami Bound

Monday 11 March sees us at LA airport waiting for our flight to Miami – I wondered whether by this time I would be dreading the next flight but this hasn’t happened yet. There is something of the sense of being in suspended animation as you sit at the airport having checked in your luggage – what happens next is out of your hands and you just follow the instructions, lining up to board when told and then once on the plane, there is nowhere to go just sit and switch off as there is nothing that you can do to control what happens next. That...

Mar 11, 2013 - Biking Key Biscayne

Moving day today as we said good bye to Marathon and the Florida Keys. Our destination is The Larry and Penny Thompson County Campground, about 20 miles west of Miami, which it turns out is surprisingly spacious with a lake, a beach AND a pool – tri-fecta for sure! We dropped the trailer about noon after a grueling 90 minute drive (not!) and headed north to Coconut Grove. My navigator plotted a course through the fancy neighbourhoods with very spectacular properties and canopy roads with humongous trees shading the roadway pretty much the...