Sat January 28, 2011
Fourth Annual Florida Trip
We departed the great Canadian North on Friday, January 27, 2011 at 0900 from Beaver Creek Farm. I'd just finished working my third night shift and arrived home at 0630 and started doing the final preps. Brent had done ski patrol the night before and had not arrived home until 2am, but he got up and moving because it was time for Florida.
We piled into the truck with our three puppies and headed south at around 9am. After a brief stop at duty free and an uneventful cross at the boarder we hit the I90 with thoughts of sunshine in our heads.
Having worked all night my excitement waned and I fell asleep missing the first three hours of the boring drive to Pennsylvania. I was curled under an old childhood comforter with three puppies piled on top for warm and I slept while Brent drove.
After I woke Brent was very chatty. Three hours of straight driving with nobody to talk to made him a little nutty. I listened to his ideas and his thoughts on self reflection. We spent the next several hours talking and snacking on left over cheese bread and bananas.
We decided we needed to drive until we ran out of snow and this year we were well into North Carolina and well into the wee hours when it happened. At 1am we finally found a pet friendly hotel and stopped for the night just south of Columbia, South Carolina. We were trying to get to Miami in time for dinner the next day.
On Saturday, January 29 we got up early, but got a later start than we hoped. Hitting an interstate traffic accident in Georgia was a blessing and a curse. We ended up running parallel on a side highway and saw some of the true signs of economic depression. Locals had set up tables in empty parking lots of shut down stores and factories to sell the last of their possessions. The sparsely filled tables of goods filled me with sadness at their loss. I wondered what their stories were and how they ended up on the side of the road running beside the I95. Nobody stopped anymore since the highway went through and this little town lost everything, including it's people.
We made it to Miami by 7pm just in time to enjoy a large pizza with dad and catch up on some much needed information. Dad looks good. The weather is good for his old bones. I doubt he'll be home before March.
On Monday dad had things to do, so Brent and I played lazy tourist. We wandered about town and took a walk on the beach. We laid by the pool and made a yummy pasta dish for dinner. Dad took us to the wholesale warehouse where the dollar store people buy their stuff and wow! What a deal. I didn't need a seventies inspired knit tank, but for sixty-seven cents I couldn't afford not to buy one.... or two.
I had a blast shopping and then returned to the apartment to enjoy a little chicken pasta with pepper, onion, garlic and broccoli with a salad.
We walked down to Starbucks for a evening coffee and sat outside with the three dogs curled on laps watching the three story waterfall splash. We talk of something and nothing. We enjoyed each others company. It reminds me how much I miss my dad.
It's nearly midnight on Monday and tomorrow we leave for Cudjoe Key and our month rental. I'm going to miss my dad and the heated pool, but I'm looking forward to the quiet solitude of the keys. Dad is suppose to visit on Friday for the weekend and I hope he stays for superbowl!
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