Home

We had to turn our clocks forward before we went to bed last night.  We wanted to get on the road early and managed to get up at 6:30.  We ate breakfast at the motel and were able to get on the road by 7:15.  There was a beautiful sunrise over Alabama.

We were able to fill up at $1.98 a gallon.  It was the cheapest we had seen this trip.

This is the Birmingham skyline.

We passed this Air Force bus as we traveled north on I-65.

Nashville capitol building.  We were so glad that I-65 was open through Nashville.  We did see some of the tornado damaged homes as we traveled through.

Nashville skyline.

Add caption

We stopped for gas at Eddyville, Kentucky.  We ate lunch at Wendy's.

We arrived back in Decatur at 5:00 p.m.  During the six days we were gone, we had driven 2,500 miles.  We had never driven the Blazer out on the road but it made the trip without any problems.  It was a quick trip to Florida but it accomplished everything we had planned.  We delivered furniture and other things to John and Family, saw Hunter and his band march in the parade at Disney, enjoyed a day at the Magic Kingdom, and get in a quick visit with John and Family.  So glad we were able to do it all in six days.  Kara has to go to work tomorrow, Keegan returns to school, and Carol and I can sleep in and recover from the trip.

The Return Trip.

This is a picture of a tired little boy.  We didn't have the heart to wake him up so we let him sleep while the rest of us got ready.   We were on the road by 7:30.  We stopped for gas and then drove US 29 north to the tollway.  We were on schedule to make good time until we ran into a giant traffic jam south of Ocala.  We spent one and a half hours creeping along.  Finally north of Ocala the traffic cleared.  We didn't see an auto accident or road construction.  The only thing we saw was back ups on the exit ramps.  I don't understand how that would affect the other two lanes, but it did.  It was a nice day to drive...sunny and low 60's.  Traffic wasn't too heavy.

Back in Alabama.

We are staying in Pelhem where we spent the first night but this time at a Comfort Inn.  It is very nice.  Keegan set his spot in the bed up.

We ate supper at Whataburger.  Carol and I hadn't eaten in a Whataburger for 20 or 30 years.  The hamburgers were huge and very good.  We are now relaxing.  We have driven 11 hours today and will probably drive 10-11 hours tomorrow back to Decatur.  We want to get on the road early.  I think everyone is anxious to get home now that we are on the way.  We are hoping the interstate is open in Nashville so we can drive through instead of around.  We will stop at the Welcome Center in Tennessee and get info about the Nashville route.

Bok Tower

This is Bok Tower.  I added this picture after I posted and it went to the top of the blog instead of the blog.  I am too tired to take the time to move it to where it needs to be

We got up this morning feeling rested and ready to enjoy a day with. John, Linda, Katie, and Aidan.  On our way to their house, we passed this McDonald's.  It is not very often you see one with the original golden arches.

We decided to eat lunch before going to Bok Tower.  We ate at Big Tom's Diner.  Big Tom serves big portions but it was delicious.  

Bok Tower contains carillon bells.  The tower is a National Historic Landmark..  It was built more than 100 years ago and took two years to build.  Along with the carillon tower the landscape is a filled with beautiful gardens. 

This is what the carillon bells look like.  

Aidan enjoyed pinging a sample bell.

This and a lot of pictures which follow were taken on the path to the tower.

Lizards loved the gardens.  We saw several of them.

The tower was very beautiful.  There was a concert while we were at the tower so we enjoyed the music from the carillon bells.  The young man who played the bells was only 22 years old.  

There was a koi-filled pond.  Some of the fish were very large.

This little squirrel enjoyed the gardens.

This marks the highest point in Florida.  It is 300 feet above sea level.

There was a children's garden with some unique spots for kids to play and relax.

Some of the pathways had rock designs like this woodpecker.

There was an edible garden with some unusual plants like this tree with it's fruit actually growing on the bark of the tree.

After we visited Bok Towers we went back to John and Linda's and enjoyed some time to make plans for the next time we will all be together.  We are all planning on be at Disney in September for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party.  We will be staying at Fort Wilderness on Disney grounds.  Hunter and Keegan will stay with us  in the campground, Kara and Jason will stay in a nearby motel and John and Linda will drive up to meet us.

After hugs and kisses, we returned to the motel.  We are all tired so everyone except me is currently in bed and it is only 8:45.  As soon as I post this, I am going to bed as well.  We have two long days to get back to Illinois.

Six Trombones Led the Big Disney Parade

I am starting this blog with the way the day ended....with beautiful fireworks over Cinderella's Castle.

There is so much traffic and it seemed that all of it was headed to Disney.  We left around 9:00 and got to the park by 10:30.  I wanted to believe that it would not be crowded but I was wrong.  However, compared to Christmas time and Halloween, it wasn't crowded. Still the more popular rides had 60-70 minute waits!!  We met up with John and Family and headed out.  Keegan wanted to ride the People Movers.  The line to that moved along quickly.  Everyone except Carol and I rode Buzz Lightyear Space Rangers twice while we enjoyed sitting through Century of Progress.  Next was Monster Inc Laugh Floor.  It was a good show and again, we could sit.  After a quick lunch, Keegan and Kara stood in line to meet Winnie the Pooh and Tigger while the rest of us rode It's a Small, Small World. By that time it was 2:30 and parade time.  There was a large crowd to watch three bands precede the Disney parade.  The bands were from Texas, Pennsylvania and ours.  Of course, ours was the best!!

Keegan was excited to get to meet Winnie the Pooh and Tigger.

Here is the best trombonist with the Warrensburg-Latham High School Band...Hunter Anderson Ozee!

Here they come!!

After the fireworks were over, the thousands of people there all headed for the exits at the same time.  Disney knows how to handle crowds.  The crowds moved quickly through barriers that funneled us to the monorails and eventually parking lots.  We arrived back at the motel at 10:45.  That is the reason there was no posting Thursday evening...we were all dead tired.  My feet complained immensely, so as quickly as I could I took my shoes off and let them rest in be.  Tomorrow will be a quieter day