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Chapter five:
It had been fun in Key West, but it was indeed time to go. We packed up the car and hit the road. We made a few stops along the trail for more pictures. At the very first stop, Peggy got some great pictures of the old railway bridge, and I had to laugh when we saw some wild Petunias . As we cruised through the Everglades, we got to see why it’s referred to as Alligator Alley, as they were out in force. Beyond that and a little traffic, the trip back to Tampa was uneventful. We went out for a nice steak dinner, then home to rest up. The next day, we had breakfast on the Gulf, then a stroll along the beach. I noticed that the speed bumps in Tampa are called “Speed Humps”. Again, I thought of Shane immediately. That afternoon, we met up with Peggy’s parents, with whom we’d be spending the rest of the week in Zephyr Hills. Zephyr Hills is a different world from the rest of Florida. It’s mostly a retirement community, although I will say that they stay in one of the nicest mobile home parks there. We spent the next couple days living the simple life…flea markets and playing Spades (the men beat the women all weekend). We did take a day trip to Tarpon Springs, where we had a wonderful shrimp lunch. I had lots of time to read during this part of the week, and got through 2 entire Travis McGee novels.

Chapter six:
It was time to return to the Key…MilwauKEE. Returning home wasn’t as bad as the trip down, but it wasn’t perfectly smooth. Another delayed flight (but not cancelled this time!). As we were sitting in the airport, almost everyone in the terminal wanted to strangle a family of rednecks that were playing a very loud video game for hours. I pledged that if they were still playing it on the plane, I would smash it. They didn’t. When we got back to home, the person who was supposed to pick us up had forgotten! We were stuck at the airport one last time, and finally got home in time for the 4th quarter of the Super Bowl.

And now I must confess, I could use some rest…

Very interesting little 'book'!!! What the heck airline were you flying? I must remember to never use whatever one it is....cancelled flights....was it because of the weather? Was Louie's Backyard expensive?

citcat wrote:Very interesting little 'book'!!! What the heck airline were you flying? I must remember to never use whatever one it is....cancelled flights....was it because of the weather?

It was Airtran. The problem was the Ice storms in Atlanta...that's where their hub is.

citcat wrote:Was Louie's Backyard expensive?

We spent over $200 for four of us.

CaptainP wrote:

citcat wrote:Very interesting little 'book'!!! What the heck airline were you flying? I must remember to never use whatever one it is....cancelled flights....was it because of the weather?

It was Airtran. The problem was the Ice storms in Atlanta...that's where their hub is.

citcat wrote:Was Louie's Backyard expensive?

We spent over $200 for four of us.

$200 or so isn't bad for 4 peopls unless theyt are 12 yr olds. It's a vacation, live a little it's only money you can always make more you can't always just go to the keys.

PARROT HEAD MIKE wrote:

CaptainP wrote:

citcat wrote:Very interesting little 'book'!!! What the heck airline were you flying? I must remember to never use whatever one it is....cancelled flights....was it because of the weather?

It was Airtran. The problem was the Ice storms in Atlanta...that's where their hub is.

citcat wrote:Was Louie's Backyard expensive?

We spent over $200 for four of us.

$200 or so isn't bad for 4 peopls unless theyt are 12 yr olds. It's a vacation, live a little it's only money you can always make more you can't always just go to the keys.

Oh we did spend. That was just dinner one night...

And my wife tells me I ACT like a 12 year old...

Nice synopsis CaptainP! Wish it were less eventful, but like the commercials say, a bad day in Florida beats a good day in the midwest. They were just trying to subliminally drive that one home for you!

I read this today... and smiled! Still fun to read, Jim!