Leaving Orlando
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Jul 4, 2008
I thought it would be fun to chronicle the Staveley Family (Bryce, Christy, Laura and Michael) as we drive across country over the next five weeks or so as we head back to the West Coast of the USA after our 10 months in Florida.Here's how it all began.......It was an early morning for us after a really late night, but we got up and got moving. I was excited to watch one last show on the DVR before we had to return it. We started rushing around to finish packing the suitcases, the boxes and denuding our
apartment of all life. It was a weird feeling.We hoped to be heading out the door at 9am and we got pretty close. The Van Rulers, the Friedreichsens and Randy H popped over to help out and say goodbye. It was a strange time as we were rushing around and yet I really wanted to just sit and chat. Kind of sad really. Finally we got all the stuff down to the car and the apartment was minus our belongings. The kids and I went from room to room saying goodbye. Laura and I were crying. We had a good year in that apartment and were leaving behind lots of things we had grown to enjoy. Bryce was just sweating in the Florida heat.
We said our final goodbyes to the apartment, took some pictures and then walked to the car. Bryce was busy getting the DVD players organized for the kids and stressing out about missing cords. He was DRENCHED in sweat, but got everything into the car. We did one last mail check and then drove through the parking lot and out the side gate. I was pretty teary as we left.
We hadn't had breakfast and it was now 10am so we stopped at McD's on Lake Underhill and grabbed a bite on the run. As we entered the 408 freeway we started saying goodbye to lots of places - Waterford Town Center, Legacy Middle School, Camelot Elementary, a host of restaurants, Target, Blockbuster, Disney, Brad and Amal's house and the list went on. It was a sweet and sad time!
Once we got on the road we headed up I-4 towards Daytona. It was beautiful and sunny and the driving was good. We finally stopped for lunch just south of the border between Georgia and Florida. A big rain storm was coming in so Wendys was a perfect shelter for us. We had a fun lunch together and then set out in the rain. We thought it would be over soon, but it just kept on raining. Nice and steady, kind of like NZ. The trucks made it kind of miserable though. Finally we crossed out of Florida into Georgia. I shed more tears as I said goodbye to Lake Hart Stint, Florida, my parents, my brother & his family, and just the life we had there. It was a sad moment.
Once I got over that, I started getting sleepy so dozed off for a little while, but soon it was time to help Bryce navigate his way through the rain. One of the things we invested in, was a GPS. Well, we were enjoying that GPS until it started acting up. Just as we were about a mile from our hotel, it completely died. We were fortunately right by the store that we bought it in (well, the same company anyway) so went in to see if we could get anther one. Well, we didn't get the warranty with it so we have to send it to the manufacturer so we decided to buy a new one...wouldn't you know, they were out. Across the street we went to another store and got one there. Whew!! Now we won't get lost on our cross-country adventure.
We finally got settled in Savannah, had a fun (read that as "interesting" dinner at The Waffle House), indulged in some reading time at Barnes and Noble and now Bryce and I are sitting in the dark in our hotel room while the kids sleep. Fun times!!
Tomorrow we look around historic Savannah and drive to Charleston, South Carolina. Can't believe I am really here. So cool!! edit
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