We made it!

Whelp, we made it! We left yesterday (Wednesday). We had a bit of a struggle getting out the door. The down pour that was occurring in Osceola didn't help much. Due to the rain, we had to load the back end in the garage. Wasn't much of an issue, but because of it, we couldn't kick the cats out of the garage because they'd just waltz back in. Thom, Drew, and Dad worked on bagging the suitcases in heavy plastic bags and then strapping them down with a tarp over them while Mom and I finished up things inside.  The goal was to leave by 2:00.  After loading all the suitcases and trying to get the cats out of the garage, it was about 3:00 by the time we set off. We got about a mile or two away before I looked in the video camera case to begin our "we're off!" video, and found that the charger for the video camera was not in there. Because we were so close we decided to turn around and get it.  It was a good thing we did, because Dad realized he forgot to set the house alarm! So Mom and Dad ran in the house (keep in mind it is still pouring out) to set the alarm, kick out another cat, and get the charger. As we were leaving the house for the second time, I checked facebook. Luckily, someone posted that there were tornado watches and possible 2" hail in southeast Iowa, where we were headed. So we decided to reroute ourselves. We headed south to Kansas City.

Once though Kansas City we shot east to St. Louis and then headed south on our normal plan. Dad started out driving, and I took over after Kansas City.

We drove through the night--nothing overly exciting. Thom and Drew watched almost the entire first season of "Game of Thrones".  Mom was a great co-captain for both Dad and I. There was a pretty bad rain storm near Nashville that Dad drove through, but I slept through it.

Dad also realized he forgot a part for his breathing machine, so that began the journey of trying to find an open medical supply store which carries the part along the route we were traveling. Luckily, we found on in Lake City, FL. We made it to the condo (in Kissimmee) around 1:00 and checked in no problem.

Then began the unpacking.

Keeping in mind that the suitcases were in strong bags and covered with a tarp, we didn't thing anything bad would happen.  Unfortunately we were wrong. Dad and my suitcases were just fine. Drew's was a little damp, and Mom's was SOAKED. Almost everything in it was soaked. This included all her nice formal clothes, toothbrush, shoes, etc. Two things got ruined. She bought a new navy shirt, which unfortunately when it got wet, bled all over her white lacy blouse and her new cream cardigan. She was such a good sport about all of it. After all, what can you do?

We did what I think anyone would do---we went shopping! There is a very nice outlet mall close to the condo, so we drove there and did some quick shopping to replace the ruined items. We may have gotten a couple other items :)

While Mom, Drew and I were shopping, Dad was reading by the pool, and Thom worked out. Once we were all back together we headed to UNOS for pizza. We got the Numero Uno (meat and veggies) and Hawaiian. Both were delicious. I also got a candied walnut and goat cheese salad. It was tasty. We were so hungry considering all we had eaten was a little breakfast at 6:30 from McDonalds.

After that we headed to Walmart to pick up a few things. Of course, wine for the cruise was on the list. You can take 2 bottles per stateroom onto the ship.  As I was checking out I went to grab the bag and somehow the bag broke, or the wine wasn't in the bag, or who knows what, but it shattered all over the ground.  

So between forgotten items, soaked suitcases, and broken wine, we aren't off to the best start! However, no injuries yet!

Once back to the condo we exchanged Christmas gifts (thank you L&L, Karen, and Nana!) then headed to a much deserved hot tub. It was quite relaxing.  It is currently 9:30 here in Florida and two people are already in bed. Everyone is rather exhausted.

The weather is absolutely GORGEOUS! I think it was mid to upper 80s today. Will be the same tomorrow. I heard on the radio that they said it is the warmest Christmas ever.

I don't have many pictures from yesterday/today.
Tomorrow to Disney!