So Vacations over. It was enjoyable, more detail later. I feel dragged out, hope I am not getting old, maybe just a bit of a cold. As usual, we take advantage of school spring break to go south, get a head start on Spring. This time to Florida.
We broke the trip into about thirds, only driving about 400 miles a day which is not too difficult. As usual, minor problems, a water hose broke, the alternator belt was ragged and we replaced it. I noticed the hose problem at a rest stop, fortunately. I got a piece of hose form another fellow trailer traveller and it held until I could get a Ford version.
When we reached Orlando the temps were around 90.
Big change from PA. We went to Disney World, Cypress Gardens, and Weeki Watchie Springs to watch the merpersons swim underwater. Lucky manatee!!
How middle American at best! Contrived and artificial? Yes, but part of our great country nonetheless. Not trekking Tibet, but something we can all enjoy together. Funny thing happened at Disney World. We were all walking around taking in the sights and rides and we ran into another manager and his family from PP&L. He and I chatted a bit about what an attraction this was, then on our separate way. Marge said something to me (not quietly) like “Everywhere we go, we run into some buddy of yours!!!” This did happen from time to time, I think it was just a joke of hers. Hope so!!!!
Then on to St. Augustine for a few days. We went to Marineland to see the show and exhibits. We went thru the fort at St. Augustine and some smaller forts in the areas.
I like visiting historical sites, not so sure about the girls. There were some teen age archeologists doing some actual restoration work. I think this counts as being educational as we kept the girls from school for a few days. Good for the young scientists, I hope some become pros.Who knows? The images above are from Google Images. They are however, sights that I remember when on the trip, personal images on the Internet. We didn’t take a camera with us.
Did the sun burn? Of course and I did get some sunburn. I never learn. We were only a few minutes from the Ocean and that was convenient. We did have reservations which was good as No Vacancy signs abounded. We were almost in Disney World, right on the beach later. Though the warm weather was quite pleasant, Florida did not impress me, too flat and scrubby. Of course the Ocean is excellent.
We left On Wednesday in a fog. Great!!!!! This turned to rain in a while and we got in a traffic jam about 1.5 miles long. A semi had run into a station wagon killing all occupants. Very sad so who are we to complain? Eventually in the general area of Atlanta, we found a KOA campground and a level spot. This was excellent as it was getting dark and setting up was easy. Then cold and windy as we started next day to Hendersonville, NC to visit Marge’s aunt and uncle. Smokey Mountain and Blue Ridge country. Really great people. We all had a fine lunch at his club.
I was born and raised in upstate NY but western NC has beautiful scenery, four seasons a year but not harsh winters. I could get used to that easily I think. The wind was really gaining speed and this is not good for trailering, 
driving is difficult and sometimes dangerous, so we stayed another day. Weather let up the next day so we left and continued north. Going through Maryland, we saw one upturned travel trailer and a modular home unit completely turned over on the shoulder of the road. Wise decision to wait a day. We hope nobody got hurt, at least badly.
We got back OK about 6 pm on Sunday. Talk about tired! There is a place not far from us that specializes in take-out Chinese food. We drove down, parked the trailer, turned on the furnace and had a decent meal without having to make a dinner when we were all tired from the trip. Not too classy, but very practical.
If I ever get another trailer to replace the Aristocrat, I am going to get one where the beds can be just that, not do double duty but that is not a big deal, we will see as time moves along.
It was a very nice vacation and we were glad we went. We drove about 3300 miles in 15 days and I , for one, think I am not alone, now glad to stay put for a bit. More leisure would have been nice, but I had to go to work again, we took the girls out of school for a few extra days, so more time off was not practical. We’ll go some place again, not so far away soon.
55 Years Together 
Cool, as a child, we never seemed to go away on vacation. Except to my Aunt in Pine Rock Park in Bridgeport Conn. They live in what this city kid thought was wilderness. with the forest on one side, the river on the other; and one long winding road ( 3 miles to the store). In fact Janice & I didn’t get to Florida until( and Disneyworld) until our 25th. Oh wait, as kids we went to Washington DC/Canada…. I guess I was wrong, we had fun also. Getting older…smile. Allan/Janice
Hi Allan. As my children got older I was wondering on how we could do some things together. I went to a show of trailers, popups, etc. in allentown in 1973 and thought that might be fun. Marge and I talked it over, she wondered what had come over me, and we bought a gently used 27 foot Aristocrat trailer. I had a 1970 Ford station wagon and had it beefed up to make it safe to use as a tow vehicle. The image on my website is also an Aristocrat, but a bit shorter, though very similar in side. In 1984 Ingrid was married and had a life of her own, Louise’s interests were changing and there were not all the trailer sites as there are in PA, so we sold the trailer to a sheet rock installer who travelled around in his work and wanted a trailer as his home away from home.