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Old 27 Aug 19, 07:55 PM  
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pretty71
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The Pooles... Head Back To Orlando 2019 Day 12/13


We changed our plans slightly over night as Grace was unwell just after I put her to bed. I think it was too much sun after walking around but there were no further episodes. It did mean however that I had not finished packing and was too tired to do it, we also did not know what lay in front of us that night so decided the morning would be leisurely and we would not rush out the door before 8 for the drive to Miami as originally planned. This was seconded by me checking the flight on the BA app as I had forgotten to do this to check the seat allocation. We had been allocated seats together but it also said we had quite a big delay and would not be flying at 11.15 but 1.30am! There really was no point rushing in the morning!

I woke up at 7 and got up to make tea and see how everyone was. We were in good shape but Grace was complaining of a head ache still, so she chilled on the sofa with some water while Mick and I finished packing while we drank tea!

We wanted to be out by 8.30 and go and have breakfast at Bob Evans at the I4/27 junction. This actually happened everything was packed apart from tooth brushes so we could go out and chill out a bit.

Bob Evans for breakfast on the last day is now a bit of a tradition for us. Apologies for the photo with the half eaten egg! This is the 3rd year we have done it and it has not disappointed us yet. I had the original which was 2 eggs, I chose sausage patties as the meat option and home fries. I got 2 slices of French toast with this too.
Mick had the sunshine skillet (he always had this) and it didn't disappoint, he loved it.

Grace had 5 small pancakes with a sausage link. Mick ate the sausage but she ate all the pancakes, every single one 😊 she had water and the two of us had coffee. It came to $28 and we left our tip and went back home very happy. This was just what we needed for our long drive to Miami.

I put the last wash on and the dishwasher when we got in and packed the last toiletries. Mick started to load the car and we were soon ready to get on our way. It had actually been the right decision to not rush this morning, it was going to be such a long day due to flying so late and with the drive too.

It was 10.20am when we left the villa and the Westridge Community, we had certainly enjoyed our stay. Mick was going to do the first half of the drive and we would swap hopefully at a dunkin doughnuts somewhere (Grace's request). We were also going to take the scenic US27 route. I had not done this before and the map only said 15 minutes longer than going down the I95 so we thought why not?

We did stop at the Walmart at southern dunes for a couple of last minute things but this only took 10 minutes and we left Mick in the car with our worldly goods. We then did a petrol fill up and started to think we were getting somewhere. We weren't really it was over 200miles and took ages. There was lots to look at though and I quite enjoyed it. Mick didn't like all the traffic lights but they did get less and less as we went along.






We stopped at Glades County to swap over, this was just after 2 and we did stretch our legs for 5 minutes outside the quite nice court house... They gave me free WiFi which I was very pleased about despite it not being open 😊

About 10 minutes up the road the lovely dunkin doughnuts appeared and the lovely little lady who had already had a sleep in the back of the car was delighted. We got 2 chocolate glazed doughnuts an orange juice and a medium coffee for just over $6.

I had one of the cinnamon buns I had made which we had brought with us and we took it all to go. We were on the homewood stretch now with less than 2 hours to go. The heavens opened though, and this always happens, when I drive it was like it waits for Mick to move over and be a passenger!

It wasn't the worse I had driven in and it didn't last long thankfully and very soon after that we were on the I75 and getting closer to big roads and more traffic.

We made it round to the airport without any trouble until we were about 5 mins away from the hotel before we started going round in what seemed circles, I just couldn't remember some stages so we had to follow the map and 20 minutes later we arrived where we had started last year at the Cambria Suites, blue lagoon. It was a welcome sight, and just after 3.30pm.

We got everything inside and checked in to our room without any problem no. 407.
We found our room and dumped everything before agreeing to try and get a couple of hours sleep and then have something to eat in the hotel before making our way to the airport.



We couldn't sleep but we did get a good bit of rest and we were glad we had done this. We did want originally to get here for lunch time and spend time by the pool to really make it worthwhile but it wasn't to be. We had showers at about 6 and then went down to get some food.

Grace had mac n cheese (just for a change) and Mick and I shared a pepperoni pizza. I had a glass of white wine, Mick a coke and Grace an apple juice. This came to just over $30 which we didn't think was too bad for hotel dining. We had talked about going out but we couldn't face the round in circles thing again and we don't really know where is "safe" to go and where isn't, so this was much easier. The pizza was really good and Grace ate all the mac n cheese too so we really can't complain.

We went back upstairs, it was 7.30 and out flight was only saying an hours delay now. We had a suitcase re-gig... again and soon we were filling the car again. I can recommend this hotel, the staff are very good and friendly, the rooms are good, microwave, fridge, coffee, good bathrooms and very comfy beds. There is free coffee available all day downstairs and the whole place is spotless. It's also only 10 mins from the car rental centre.

We went round the back of the hotel to a main drag with loads of petrol stations and filled the car up. I wasn't worried about doing it now as we only had to give it back 7/8ths full as this is how we received it... We were soon pulling in to the car rental centre with no errors in navigation from either side this time. I checked the slip he gave me back read zero and was delighted that it was as I was not convinced I was going to have a fight on my hands.
All was good with Avis in the end, I will just wait and see what the toll charges bring! I will keep you posted.

Car unloaded we went to catch the people mover to the main terminal. This worked OK, Grace had 2 of the small wheelies, and I had a big case and a small wheelie and Mick took 2 large cases. They were heavy but it wasn't for long and we managed.

We walked round to the BA check in and it was practically empty, we only waited a few minutes to be called forward. Our cases weighed 19,20 and 23kg, we were pretty pleased with this and its always good to see them going off whilst we cross our fingers we get them back the other end.

Security was next, it was a little busy but really nothing major. Ipads out and shoes off here. We could walk through as a family so didn't have to go in the body scanner and Grace didn't have to take her shoes off either which is good.

We were a bag down though and I remembered it was mine with the BBB candles. The guy who checked it was really nice though, asking me not to touch anything until the end and said yes it would be the candles. He was very polite and packed everything up nicely and we were back on our way.

We went straight for the gate, it was 9.15 and Grace was flagging and she just needed to sit. We got some water and then started to wait it out. We did a bit of surfing, Grace watched a bit of you tube and I did some reading and we did lots of people watching!

The time ticked by and Mick and Grace went to spend the change we had in the vending machine, coming back with a twix and a packet of lays. We visited the restrooms hundreds of times for something to do and finally at 11.30 it was time to board.



View of the airport from our hotel room. This was a bit of a shambles with a million people who are queueing but it's not their group and blocking us who should be boarding from getting through!
Soon we were on though and sitting in row 32 and all ready to go now. We took off at 12.30 and the pilot said we would land at 2, which was an hour later than it should be.

They got the drinks round pretty quickly and I had orange juice. Mick had a red wine and Grace was already asleep. Bless her she had done so well but it was difficult with it being so late.

Dinner was next and it was Thai green chicken curry or tomato and cheese pasta. We had the chicken but I only ate the chicken and a little bit of rice, it was OK, it tasted nice but it was dry! It really need some sauce There was a nice little lemon pudding for desert which was nice.

We settled down for some sleep and I have to say I slept a fair bit compared to normal. Don't get me wrong it was very broken but I was pleased as I was driving back from Heathrow and I could do with some rest before negotiating that.
We woke up with an hour and a half to go. We had caught up some time and would be landing at 1.30pm so was very happy about that.
They served breakfast which was a cream cheese and tomato croissant and a cereal bar. We had coffee and Grace had her usual on a plane absolutely nothing 😀😀.

We landed at 1.35pm and were soon off the plane and it was 31 degrees... Hang on a minute where are we? It was so nice to get off a plane and not feel cold!

Immigration was first after a rather long walk, we went in the family line and were soon at the front and I could see our cases were on belt 9.we went to find the belt and it was 35 mins since we got off the plane but the cases were not there yet. The they soon were though and we were out if that terminal within 45 mins, we could not argue sbd be to fair the terminal was very quiet indeed. We agreed this was a great flight to get.

I called the car people and he arrived 10 minutes later and we were off to get the car. This was no drama and they had looked after it very well. We moved all the cases over and I drove home and we were home sweet home by 4.15pm



Evening selfie at home... Very happy but tired family ☺️

So another year done, and a great family holiday. Thanks to all of you who have read along and sorry for the delay on posting this last day. This is why I do it while I am out there as everyday life gets in the way and it doesn't get done otherwise.
Thanks for all your comments too it means a lot.
I will index everything in the next few days and do a summary.
See you next year Bye


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Old 27 Aug 19, 08:03 PM  
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New Photo Added by pretty71 - 27 Aug 19 8:03 PM.
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Old 27 Aug 19, 09:14 PM  
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A good travel back day and a good idea to have the afternoon at the hotel

Thank you for doing your trippie I have really enjoyed reading along,
And will look forward to reading next year

Joan
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Old 27 Aug 19, 09:29 PM  
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JoJo88
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So glad your travel day went smoothly and that Grace’s poorliness soon passed. I’ve loved following along with your report, it’s nice to read about a holiday that’s similar to ours (relaxing, relaxing and more relaxing ).

Thanks for posting - I’m already looking forward to catching up with you all next year

Jo xx

P.S. in your ‘sofa selfie’ I think Grace looks just like you!
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Old 30 Aug 19, 10:15 AM  
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pretty71
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Originally Posted by mick View Post
A good travel back day and a good idea to have the afternoon at the hotel

Thank you for doing your trippie I have really enjoyed reading along,
And will look forward to reading next year

Joan
Thanks for following along Joan and I am really glad you enjoyed it. Your comments really encouraged me to keep going
Angela
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Old 30 Aug 19, 10:17 AM  
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pretty71
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Originally Posted by JoJo88 View Post
So glad your travel day went smoothly and that Grace’s poorliness soon passed. I’ve loved following along with your report, it’s nice to read about a holiday that’s similar to ours (relaxing, relaxing and more relaxing ).

Thanks for posting - I’m already looking forward to catching up with you all next year

Jo xx

P.S. in your ‘sofa selfie’ I think Grace looks just like you!
Thanks Jo, I am glad you enjoyed reading along and relaxing is def the name of the game.
Next year is absolutely on we booked our flights with Lufthansa 2 days ago...complete craziness
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Old 12 Oct 19, 08:23 AM  
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Great read.
You guys can certainly shop!
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Old 19 Oct 19, 06:47 PM  
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Thanks for reading along...lol yes we can
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