SUE'S VIEW

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[1/7/2012]
Road Trip Pt.2 ...As I ended my last blog, we had finally reached our hotel, had eaten take-out, and fell fast asleep. The next morning we seceded to make the most of it and see the sites of Jupiter. We wandered around seeing the sires had a nice picnic in a local park delay for one more day the inevitable ride home in a tow truck.

We called AAA early the next morning and were pleasantly surprised. This time the sun was shining, driver prompt and in only a few minutes we were on our way. We had a delightful ride in a, believe it or not, rather luxurious tow truck! This time we were back to Cocoa in no time.

We found out later that day it wasn’t the transmission at all, but the starter. The awful metal sounds we heard were due to the starter completely falling apart in half. This was why we heard the metal on metal sound we thought was the transmission.

We talked it over and still wanted to go to the Keys. We decided to attempt the trip again, but this time in my car. We took my car to the garage to be checked out. We were glad we did. The right front tire could have fallen of due to worn bearings. That would have been wonderful going south on Route 95 at 70 miles per hour!

Friday morning we were up early, packed the car and were off! It was a beautiful Florida Day and we were so excited to be on our way to the Keys. We kept commenting on how lovely it would have been in the Jeep, but felt much more secure in my car. We made it to a little place in Key Largo in about four and a half hours. We had stayed there before and loved it. It was quaint, clean, and low priced. We loved it there because you could snorkel and fish right off the back dock. We stayed there for two nights and then decided to start down toward Key West. On the way down, we spent one night in a clean, but less than adequate place. The only thing good about it were the beautiful sunsets and the iguanas that lived on the beach. The floor of our room was blatantly not level and there were cracks in the window panes! This was truly an adventure.

Wednesday we left to do more exploring going back toward Key Largo. We stopped at a lot of great places along the way. Mike fed some huge tarpon at a restaurant, saw an old bat house built by a guy trying to help rid Florida of mosquitoes, and went to a restaurant with a glass floor so you can watch the fish swimming while you eat. We even found a small resort on Islamorada which we hope to visit again. This resort is similar to the one in Key Largo, but is bigger with a larger area to snorkel and fish. It was wonderful!

We made it back to Key Largo and visited John Pennecamp State Park. It is a great place to snorkel and has many hiking trails and sites to see. We were sad to be nearing the end of our road trip, but we were glad to have made it relatively unscathed.

Each year as Christmas and the coming New Year fast approach, I always take stock in the many blessings that I have been given in the past year. Every year all of us deal with many triumphs and with some sadness. Through it all we can still find joy and hope for the coming New Year. As a gift you can give to each of your loved ones in this fresh New Year, I want you to hold your those near and dear to you close and tell you how much they mean to you. This is a gift you can give not only to each of them, but to yourself as well. May you find joy, peace and happiness in the New Year!

If you which to comment on this or any of my blogs you can find me on Facebook or e-mail me at Sue @emrpaintball.com. Thanks for reading!

Sue Hanse