Heading into the Sunset - Days 1 and 2 Getting There

[MrsBC]

Well here we are again - with the post Florida blues, so I'm starting the trip report to remember the fun

Our travel started on the Sunday afternoon, April 7th, when we had to take Rory, our Cavalier, to my brother's where he was having his holiday. They are going back to Florida in the summer, so we had a good chat about what we all had planned. Rory's never stayed away from either us or DD Helen, so we had to sneak out while he was in the garden - we knew he would be ok, but .
Once back at home, we loaded the car up, packed our overnight stuff and were ready to set off for Manchester airport when DH Russ decided to go into the garage to 'hide' something! and hit his head on the edge of the garage door - cue much bleeding and pain, and a large piece of skin now missing from his (bald) head we finally set off.
The butterfly tummy was kicking in, especially for DD as her last visit was in 2002. Its only about 2.5 hours to the airport, but we had decided to stay overnight as we were meeting up with the other half of the family - DS David, DiL Jo and GS Jack who were setting out from Arran where they had moved only a few days before. They had work to finish and their dog to drop off too! Texts were being exchanged all through the journey - 'where are you now etc'.
We stopped on the way down for a meal - just at a Welcome Break and had curry, it was quite nice and we were ready for it. Helen also spotted the Krispy Kremes, so started her American diet early.
We found the Crowne Plaza easily and checked in and got the details for car parking, quite impressed with the room, and were just putting the kettle on when we had a text to say 'we're here' and the others were outside our door - they were in the room next door. Jack was tired but very excited, he couldn't wait to go.
We all decided to just have an early night, so watched TV etc and made sure everything was ready for morning. I had a terrible nights sleep, due to my mind being in overdrive - I was the planner and everything that could go wrong was running round my head! Everyone else said they slept well.

Next morning - travel day at last, hooray - and we all met up in the lobby to wait for the shuttle bus which only took 5 mins to come. We were driven over by the grumpiest driver ever, but nothing could put us in a bad mood today!
I'd checked in online yesterday, so we went to bag drop and then decided on breakfast at Frankie and Benny's as I had a 20% off voucher, and most of us chose a full English. Jack was passing bits of his to whoever wanted it - he was as high as a kite - and dropped a tomato into my coffee, I still drank it (what's a tomato pip between friends?)
Well it was time to board, we had extra leg room seats in rows 54, 55 and 56 which were roomy and soon got settled. The plane set off on time and we were on our way
The service through the flight was good and I soon had a G & T in hand; the main meal wasn't very nice - maybe it was our choice of Chicken Korma, pilaf rice and peas (we usually like plane food!) but we enjoyed the rest; the snacks and afternoon tea were welcome diversions. The IFE was, as always, excellent.
I took some pics from the window - this was the icy rivers and lakes of Newfoundland.

click on the pics



We landed early at 3pm on a gorgeous sunny afternoon but were held on the plane for 10 mins, however we were still through immigration by 3.45 and Russ and David were soon in the long queue for our 2 cars at Alamo! Just as they were sorted, Jack asked where his Nexus was - he'd only left it on the plane. Jo went to look for someone from Virgin and they were great, checking it was there, then letting her go back through the staff way to collect it. Needless to say Jack was subdued for a while
We left David waiting in the garage with the car while we set off in the 7 seater, and called at Publix for some bits for the evening etc - prices definitely have gone up noticeably for food. Water however was a bargain, 24 bottles for $3.99.
We headed to Sunset Lakes - getting lost on the way - and arrived at Sunset Villa which was lovely and even better than the pics we'd seen. It was well maintained, nicely decorated, very clean and very well stocked with towels etc. There were welcome toiletries and coffee making stuff, even a couple of small boxes of cereal and snacks. The others soon arrived - they got lost too - and within minutes we all had our feet in the pool which was 85d - heaven!







We spent the evening around the pool with drinks and snacks, unpacking and checking out the villa finally heading to bed at around 9.15pm all looking forward to 2 wonderful weeks in our happy place

[MrsBC]

I have receipts from Publix, Winn Dixie and most restaurants and shops that we used. If anyone wants the prices of things just ask .

[Firstxmastrip]

Sounds like a great start. How many beds is the villa? That pool looks huge!

[MrsBC]

It's a 4 bed, it has the largest pool I've seen in a villa, much bigger than those around it. If you look at the 4 bed Dibb villas on Sunset Lakes its the first one to come up.

[Guest]

Great start sounds like good travel day and decent flight, your vill pool looks really nice, hope hubby's head was ok

[Firstxmastrip]

Originally Posted by MrsBC

It's a 4 bed, it has the largest pool I've seen in a villa, much bigger than those around it. If you look at the 4 bed Dibb villas on Sunset Lakes its the first one to come up.

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Thanks, going to have a nose lol

[shirley]

Good start, lucky you got the Nexus back!

[Dan's Mum]

Fab start and great to see you found out the Nexus was missing in time!

Dee
xx

[Guest]

What a lovely view behind the pool!

[Redrach1903]

Great start! Villa looks fab! x