Despite the forces conspiring against me, I managed to pull it off again this year.
Right now I am in a motel outside of Richmond, Virginia with my two homeschooled children.
Having failed to find a rental in Miami, we instead secured one in Naples, Florida.
We'll be staying right on Vanderbilt Beach about 1.5 miles from where we stayed in January 2009.
The plus side is that we got good deal ($2,500 all in) for a 2 BR.
The down-side is that my first wife's office is in Miami. She's still going to work there for a couple of weeks - but we'll spend the weekends together. Then at the end of the month she'll take a week off and we will saunter our way home - visiting family, friends, and perhaps Mickey Mouse in Orlando.
While I was very excited about spending this winter in Miami (South Beach!)....I do know my way around Naples, I have a good friend down there, and Naples is probably a much better all-around place for children, not to mention it's cheaper. In fact my buddy referred to Miami as *like a foreign country*.
Seemingly EVERYONE is nervous about me driving down (23 hours?) by myself, with a 6 year old and a 4 year old in the back seat. After asserting that she was going to go to bed *early* last night I received an email from my first wife at 1:13am declaring that she *couldn't sleep* and that she was *nervous* about us driving down.
The first day (8 hours) was fine. The kids watched two movies on the DVD player (I made them at least wait until we got to NJ), the girl napped for two hours, and I allowed the boy to play with my Droid phone - for a while he played chess, then he was permitted to download some free *game apps* provided he figured out how to do it himself. Of course I only let him download mid-80s Atari games like Pac-Man and Pole Position!
It is tough stopping every 2 hours for childish bathroom breaks. You'll pass a rest area thinking you can make the next one which is 25 miles away, after all, I'm trying to make time....then you come to a dead stop with congestion or something. And you pray no one in the backseat bursts!
If memory serves me, I-95 really opens up beyond Richmond - so it should be clear, boring sailing from here onward.
Jacksonville is about 600 miles away. I don't know if I can reach it today, but we should at least get near, if not to Georgia tonight.
3 comments:
Miami is a toilet. Much better choice being in Naples for a variety or reasons. 95 will clear out soon and it will be smooth sailing. Good luck with the drive.
u lucky xxxxxx....!!!
do u listen to radio while driving? i used to music browse channels, but one time got hooked to Rush/Hannity and other talk shows. I went through a phase of few months following those guys...it was fun(particularly the callers)...you would have years worth of blogging material for "marginalizing morons".
safe trip!
Big Mack,
In some respects it probably is a *toilet*...
But South Beach is like a *female locker room*!
Anon,
I do not listen to that din - haven't tuned in to any of it since my son was born 6 years ago.
A lot of those self-important talk show clowns do read this blog, however.
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