Joey's Trip to Florida

I couldn't let the arrival of the new millenium arrive without doing something really fun. At first, I planned on going skiing in the Rockies, but that idea didn't pan out. So at the last second, I grabbed some clothes and Jim and took off to Orlando, Florida for some theme park excitement. The drive down there was fun and consisted of lots of detours and pit stops. We made sure to spend time at the ocean and stay at a hotel with cable tv. Upon arriving in Orlando, we did Disney's Magic Kingdom then Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. We enjoyed the Magic Kingdom, but we actually had more fun at Univeral and Islands. These two parks have lots of shows and thrill rides to keep you busy from morning to night. Don't miss it if you ever are down in central Florida!

We hit the road on Tuesday, December 28th and headed east through Little Rock, Memphis, Tupelo, Birmingham, and beyond. Thank heaven for road side parks like this one somewhere in Mississippi! Great for pee breaks.

We stopped at a hotel on the Alabama/Florida state line for the night. About 2 a.m. I heard glass breaking and people shouting. It was a fight going on two doors down! The police showed up (6 cars) as well as an ambulence to haul off a bleeding victim. Naturally we slipped over to the room after the police left and snapped this picture. (Notice the blood on the bed.)

The next day instead of making a bee-line for Orlando, we left the interstate and meandered along the Gulf Coastline through dozens of little towns and parks. We stopped at this boat dock to scope out some real life ocean vessels. Naturally Jim began devising ways to talk the boat owners into giving us a free ride.

Jim was determined to swim in the ocean even though it was a bit on the frigid side. His dip in the water didn't last very long. I spent my time wading barefoot and just soaking up the sun.

We bought some bread and started feeding the seagulls. Attack! Hundreds of birds came from nowhere swooping and pecking! One bird actually died as it was swooping in for some bread, but hit a passing car's windshield instead (the road is slightly off to the left of this picture). The car kept going and we jumped in the truck and took off too!