Winter 2025 to Florida
Post 10 Back to Winnipeg, Feb 17 to 21
The weather, starting on Monday, got quite cold, with some nights going down to zero and the highs not going above 15 or so. One day, the high was 8 degrees Celcius. We started driving back to Winnipeg on Friday, Feb 21. We drove 8.5 hours to just south of Little Rock, Arkansas, to Norbert’s cousin Tony and his family. I had a great time! His eighteen-year-old triplets love to talk and are very well informed. We spent the night at their house and drove to Fayetteville area to Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. We ate in the restaurant which had amazing views. The architecture is amazing - set on both sides and across a small river with a nice little valley. I found that I tended to like the older paintings. We kept driving to Kansas City, Missouri, where we are spending the night. There is snow here, just as there were areas of icy roads in Arkansas. We will be driving to Sioux Falls or Watertown, SD tomorrow, then, on Monday, to Winnipeg. I am finally feeling not sick anymore. Time to get home.
Winter 2025 to Florida
Post 9 - Saturday and Sunday, February 15 and 16
Wildlife
Something Celeste said when we were walking from the parking lot to our room at Disney, after having spent the whole day at Epcot Centre, is: “that’s a wild animal, Maman!” She said that as I stood looking into the tree by the sidewalk into which an enormous bird had silently flown after having landed just about 10 metres from us. I was amazed at how, even though I saw the large 3 – 4 foot wingspan had it land and fly up again just in front of me, I heard nothing! It stared back at me in the dim light. I could barely make it out but I did see an owl. I had never before been so close to a wild one. It was kind of spooky. I thought of taking a picture but I figured that the light was too low. I did some research later and found a picture online - I believe it was a barred owl.
Melyssa said they saw an alligator in the water at their resort also. Freaky!
I was reminded of these two incidents as I walked along the beach yesterday and today - today, for about 90 minutes and yesterday, for almost 2.5 hours. Yesterday’s walk was the most enjoyable walk on the beach I remember taking. I was neither cold nor hot, neither tired nor bored. There weren’t many people and the sound of the surf drowned out any other sounds around. One guy was reeling in his fishing line and I saw the silvery fish he had caught, which was about half the length of his arm. Online data suggests that it was either a Ladyfish or a Whiting and I copied a picture from the web. As I was walking with the wind, some gulls were flying towards me and, as they were flying into the wind, they appeared to be just hovering in front of me, looking like darts with their orange beaks surrounded by black heads against their white bodies. Their grey wings just looking like two large fins of the dart. The google says that they are called laughing gulls. I also came across some dead things: two types of jellyfish, a crab and a pelican. One jellyfish was quite large and transparent with some brown. A lady that passed me here touched it with her foot. I seemed quite solid and rubbery. I wouldn’t have touched it! From google info, I think it was a ‘mushroom cap jellyfish’. Another type of jellyfish had a very weird shape and beautiful colour. Online, I found that they are ‘By-the-Wind Sailor jellyfish’. There was one dead crab – could have been a Ghost crab, and a dead pelican - a brown one. I did see a lot of live brown pelicans flying in a group almost like Canada geese in a V formation.
Today the surf was really big and there were some young men trying to surf. I got a video of one guy just entering the water with his board. There are actually two Advisories for today here: a High Surf Advisory (large breaking waves of 4 to 6 feet in the surf zone), and a High Rip Current Risk (dangerous rip currents). I did not enter the water.
There were some sand pipers and lots of gulls. I also found online an explanation for all the weird holes in the sand I kept seeing: crab holes... I took a photo of one. You can see the marks in the sand that the crab made. I had also seen other snails and what I thought were little black oval-shaped shells but one lady told me that those were actually little jellyfish and not to touch them because they sting. Good thing I make it a point not to touch new things...
After walking on the beach today I actually went in the pool and then the hot tub. Away from the wind and in bright sunshine, it was quite pleasant. It starts to get colder tomorrow. There was a thunderstorm last night with a tornado watch, but I sat on the balcony for a few minutes during the storm at 4 am this morning and it wasn’t that windy here.
Winter 2025 to Florida
Post 8 – Feb 7 – 21 Perdido Key, Northwest Florida on the Gulf of Mexico
Waves : water and energy, pounding surf, constant, relentless, unaffected by human presence. I can hear the surf from our balcony, especially in the evening. I can see a bit of ‘sea’ from our balcony as well, when it is not foggy and I look over the maintenance garage of the building between us and the beach. We are one block from the beach and everyday so far I have taken the 1 minute walk to the water and walked along the beach. Our rental condo is in a fairly quiet area. The surf reminds me of time, relentlessly marching forward regardless of human awareness.
We are here for two weeks of ‘vacation’ although what does ‘vacation’ mean when you’re retired... We have had many trips lately but they were all very, very busy. We also just finished a 9 day theme park stint with family which was also very busy. I think our bodies told us that we were more tired than we seemed because as soon as we got here, we both fell sick with another cold/flu. Blah! We also found out that our daughter who did the theme parks adventure with us also got sick as soon as she got on the plane to go back home. It shouldn’t be a surprise since we were in a sea of people for 9 days.
I feel a little disappointed for not feeling the euphoric “AHHH” that I did when on vacation from work. Still, I will gladly take this in lieu of being back at a job and getting real vacation and being able to look forward to weekends. I am thankful to have time away from routine, volunteering, obligations and, of course, winter. We eat when we are hungry, nap when we are tired, walk along the beach when I feel energetic, and sit on the balcony or by the pool when I want.
The weather here so far has been partly cloudy, between 18 and 23 degrees Celcius day and night, low winds with very high humidity and fog most mornings. The forecast is for a little rain and cooler temperatures next week but it beats Manitoba winter weather.
I am reminded of, as the surf keeps pounding, the verse: to everything there is a season. This is our retirement time. Back home, family members are awaiting new births and preparing for death, mourning lost ones and earning their daily wage.
Time waits for no one, like the surf – relentless and constant, reliable.
Winter 2025 to Florida
Post 7 - Days 16 and 17 Universal Studios Florida theme park
The vacation home we rented had 4 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms so that no one was waiting on anyone as far as I noticed. It even had a foosball table and a semi-functional ring toss game in the attached garage that helped to entertain the grandson and burn off some of his excess energy. The entire time in Orlando with the family, the temperature was 28 degrees Celcius and only cooled off to 20 degrees at night with high humitity.
Day 16 - Tuesday February 4
Norbert dropped us off at Universal Studios theme park and then took our 5 year old grandson to mass then to minigolf where they both got hole-in-ones on the first hole. The rest of us got in line right away for the Velocicoaster ride in the Jurassic Park area. It’s a good thing I did not have much time to think twice because as soon as I was climbing onto it, I thought, ‘what the heck am I doing - I don’t like thrill rides!’ Then we were off. OMG! Here are some stats to explain that a little.
Velocicoaster: max speed: 70 mph (110 km/h) !!! Max vertical angle: 80 degrees! and 4 inversions!!! There are 2 launches, the fastest is goes from 0 to 50 mph (80 km/h) in 2 seconds. THAT was my max coaster - no more crazy rides for me. My head was ok and my tummy felt a little shaken, so I was ok, but I had had enough of that speed. Phew!! I have a photo of part of the track - the one in the fog. [the Disney’s Rock N Rollercoaster I rode has a G-force at launch of 5! — 0 - 92km/h in 2.8 sec.]
Celeste and Riley were wearing their Hogwarts’ robes with their wands - Celeste had been selected for the wand choosing ceremony when whe was here 6 years ago so of course she brought it this time. We took the Hogwarts Express train to Hogmeade to the Harry Potter themed areas. There is a ‘movie-like’ reel playing in the windows of the train to make us feel as though we are going to Hogsmeade. We went to Olivander’s in Hogsmeade for the wand chosing ceremony. In these ceremonies, about 20 people are in this little old wizard shop and the wandmaker (actor) chooses ONE person to find a wand for as if we are actually in the Harry Potter world. Riley was so hoping to be chosen but, alas, he chose her MOTHER. Was she ever sad. The actor was very good though. We ate breakfast at The Three Broomsticks and I got a child’s oatmeal breakfast. It was huge and yummy. I also drank a butterbeer which, I was was told, is cream soda with caramel flavouring frothed with whipped cream and butterscotch flavouring. The atmosphere was amazing. I rode the HP Forbidden Journey, the Escape from Gringotts and the Kong rides that day. We rode the train back to ‘London’ and saw a different ‘movie’ of our return to London. When we get off the train, it is like we are getting into King’s Cross Station in London. To get to Diagon Alley, we have to go through a wall by the Leaky Cauldron restaurant where we ate lunch. I ate the crackers and cheese that I had brought and a frozen butter beer - bad idea - brainfreeze time! Riley really wanted to go to another wand selecting ceremony so we went to the Olivander’s in Diagon Alley, and, wouldn’t you know, she was chosen! She was SO excited and did very well. Just a note that if you are chosen, they hand you the wand they select for you and you can buy it for like $65 US… They are interactive wands that can make certain things in that area of the park move like magic. The adventurous people in the family rode a few more rides - one water one that got them a little wet. They rode the Hulk roller coaster twice and the second time they got stuck at the end in the exit shelter tin tunnel in the heat. Riley and her dad rode the Dr. Doom’s Fear Fall, which is a launch upwards, but compared to the Disney Tower of Terror where they pull you up and down really fast, she said - ‘That’s all?’. We called it a day and Norbert came to pick us up. Our rental is about 30 minutes away and they have an excellent and huge drop of/pick up area set up here.
Day 17 Wednesday February 5
Day 2 of Universal Studios had Norbert drive us and go mini-golfing with the little one again. We entered the park early and line up for the most popular ride in the park - Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure. We were in line for 90 minutes but there was so much to see along the way that it didn’t feel too bad. That ride’s maximum velocity is 50 mph (80 km/h), has no inversions and 7 launches. After the Velocicoaster, this was fairly tame, but that was it for me for the trip for speed rides. I did get on the Dudley Do-Right’s Ripsaw falls with them and we all got SOAKED! It could have ranked as my the ride I enjoyed the most because we were all laughing and having fun getting wet unsuspectedly. They went on a bunch of other rides but I was happy just hanging around. We were done in the early afternoon.
Day 18 Thursday February 6, (happy birthday Janelle in Winnipeg)
The family goes back home to Winnipeg today so Norbert drove them back late in the morning. It was a wonderful family time - one that was over 6 years in the planning because it had originally been booked for February 2020. No sadness that it is over - only happy memories.
Winter 2025 to Florida
Post 6 Days 11 through 15 all in Walt Disney World
Day 11 January 30: Hollywood Studios.
We did what the kids told us was “rope drop” everyday except the last day. This is when the Disney resort guests get to enter the parks before the park opens and in this park, we got to start the rides before others as well. We started on the most popular ride - the Star Wars Rise of the Resistance then Smugglers Run before the park was officially open. This is my third visit to Disney World and I was finally able to ride the Hollywood Tower of Terror ride - twice in a row!
We then headed to the Rock N Rollercoaster and that was my limit. It was fun but my tummy felt a little rumbly after that. We caught a Raider’s of the Lost Ark Stunt show that our grandson really loved.
Day 12 Friday January 31, Epcot
In Epcot, again, we got to get in early and headed straight to the Norway pavillion for the Frozen ride. The big thrill ride here is Guardians of the Galaxy, where the music they played was one of my favorite songs: Conga by Miami Soundmachine. It was great but again, that was about my upper limit for being tossed around. It was a hot, sunny day - very hot. Our grandson did some sidewalk chalk art, drawing fireworks among other things. There was a broadway costume and prop museum with authentic costumes worn onstage by the Broadway performers. We also stayed in line, in the hot sun for over an hour to get good seats for the Disney on Broadway show where two broadway performers sang some of the songs to an incredible live band. It payed off because we got really good seats and they were incredibly good. I was sitting right in front of the drummer in the second row.
Day 13 Saturday February 1 Animal Kingdom
Here we went on a Safari ride and saw some African animals like lions and cheetahs and rhinos. The thrill ride here is Expedition Everest - a rollercoaster partly in the dark and going backwards at one point. There were some show like one with Nemo - the clownfish. The characters of this undersea story were all puppets with the actor voicing them holding them visibly on stage. The stage was incredibly high with some of the sea, grasses’ costumes being at least 15 feet tall. There was also a Lion King show that was similar but had acrobats and fire twirlers etc.
Day 14 Sunday February 2 - Hollywood Studios again
This morning we had no lightening lanes and didn’t do a rope drop. Our daughter and I actually only got up at 8 am instead of the ‘usual’ 5:45 ish, while the rest of the group went for park opening. We made our way to the park using the free bus offered to all Disney Resort guests. We did a bit of virtual ‘bounty hunting’ in the Star Wars area of Batuu and I had a blue milk which was really tasty. We saw a Beauty and the Beast live show and stayed for the late Fantasmic production that uses projections onto spraying water, lasers, fireworks, fire on water, live characters actors on boats and on a ‘volcano’ set. and etc.. etc… It was very well done - just like Disney does everything here. I was very impressed with the detail and the quality of everything physical and experiencial. All cast members (workers) are very kind and joyful, the grounds really clean. Our room, even though it was the bugdet resort, still was very well thought out with quality materials and design. The Toy Story section of our resort had an area decorated like Andy’s room and we were the size of a toy. We bought a ‘magic band’ that digitally contained all our tickets, reservations, lightening lanes and passes. We could even charge anything we wanted to buy to our room by using our magic band. It actually lit up during intense periods of shows and rides as we were experiencing them. Disney is not cheap but once you sink your money in the reservations and tickets, no one is barking at you to spend more money. It is obvious that the cast members are trained to offer guests a good and magical experience.
Day 15 Monday February 3 transition day
We leave Disney today for a rented vacation home and Universal Studios theme park. We left at about 10:30 and all used coupons to play a round of minigolf in Disney world. It was, funny enough, themed winterland… Our daughter-in-law loved singing along to the piped-in Christmas songs. After lunch and a trip to get groceries and supplies, we checked into our rental. We were fortunate that we got early check in for free. We were therefore not stranded anywhere waiting for 4 pm.
Winter 2025 to Florida
Post 5 Days 8, 9 and 10
On Day 8, Monday January 27, we took it easy and went to mass in the morning back at the same basilica as on Sunday, although with no music and only about 100 congregants - which made the huge church feel empty. I had a nap in the afternoon. We walked around Old Town which is like a permanent fair with rides etc. I had a cheesecake chocolate sundae which was probably my last ice cream - I think I’ve developed a lactose intolerance. We had a zoom meeting in the evening.
On Day 9, Tuesday January 28, after daily mass, we packed up and left for the airport to pick up our son, his wife and two kids and our daughter. They had a pretty good flight. We checked into our Walt Disney World Resort hotels and the adventure was underway. We drove around a lot to get everyone checked in etc. When driving into any resort parking lot, we have to show photo ID unless you have a ‘magic band’ then you scan that. At one point, we were driving into the kid’s resort, and the guard was on the phone and called out “Norbert Thibert, Mickey called ahead and said you’re good to go. Bayou!” Okay, we were mistified. How did they know who we were before we showed our ID. We also never registered our licence plate number anywhere. When we asked at the hotel reception, the cast member said, “wow that is really wierd, I don’t know how they knew”. She played it very well. I could tell then that she was keeping it magical for us. We ate at the Port Orleans Riverside Resort here our son’s family is staying. Norbert and I chose to buy a pizza. I am starting to understand that even though food at Disney is more expensive than at fast food places, it actually tastes like real food! It was the best pizza I have ever had, no question! Everyone was tired out early so we had an early night.
Day 10, Wednesday January 29 was our first day in the theme parks. Today was Magic Kingdom. Although this is my third time at Disney World, the last time was when our youngest daughter was just 4 months old (over 27 years ago) so many things have changed a lot. Our kids had researched the Disney app and tricks and lightening lanes etc. so Norbert and I are just following their lead - thankfully, because it seems very complicated. The thing they told us we were doing that day was to get to the park before it officially opens, and we get to start rides early because we are staying in the Disney resorts. We decided to drive the van to Magic Kingdom and the sign was shrouded in a real but magical looking fog. I got a good photo of part of our party entering the park on foot. We did all the rides that were planned and some even got their photos taken with some characters like Winnie the Poo and Tigger as well as some princesses. Another perk they figured out is a photo pass thingy where the photos they take while you are on the ride get sent to your app almost immediately. We have some good ones.
Winter 2025 to Florida
Post 4 Days 6 and 7 - Florida
Day 6, Saturday January 25: Jacksonville to Orlando via Saint Augustine
A 40 minute drive from Jacksonville brought us to Saint Augustine where we bought an Old Town Trolley Tour package that allowed us to visit the Old Jail, the St. Augustine History Museum and The Fountain of Youth Archeology Park as well as have a guided tour of the city in an open-air trolley. It was about 11 degrees Celcius with a stiff breeze so even though it was warm in the bright sunshine, if you were also in the wind, it was kinda cold. I had my hood up at times. We started with a tour of the Old Jail by an ‘inmate’ named Patrick. He was full of corny jokes but was a great source of information and entertainment. He even put me in the bird cage for knowing his joke. bah! The jail, built in 1891 by the same company that built Alacatraz, was only closed in 1953. Not a nice place to be for prisoners. The guide explained how history is made and told by those who have money and power and that seemed to be why this ancient form of incarceration was only decommissioned in 1953.
The History museum was very informative and I got to touch and try to lift an ‘Authentic Silver Bar’ apparently weighing 66.2 lbs. Pretty cool. There were lots of artifacts from the native peoples, the spanish and the pirates.
The Fountain of Youth park has a recreation of what Ponce de Leon thought was the fountain of youth. The highly mineralized water tasted so much of sulfur that I couldn’t finish drinking my little cupful even though I was thirsty. It tasted quite nasty. The grounds of the park were once home to the ancient Timucuan tribe and some early Spanish forts. We saw a planetarium show that showed how the early explorers used stars to navigate. There were lots of demonstrations etc. that we did not stick around for but it would be a great learning experience for those who have never seen blacksmithing, cannon firings, etc.
The tour of Saint Augustine was interesting with many ‘oldest’ buildings in America lables since this is perported to be the U.S.’s oldest city. After the tour, we headed to our last hotel booking before the Disney adventure starts on Tuesday. We decided to stay in Kissimmee, for the three nights.
Day 7, Sunday January 26: Kissimmee
As I was preparing my notes this morning before mass, I thought I’d just be stating that ‘we went to mass’ and took it easy for the day - resting on the seventh day like God did. Norbert looked online for local churches and gave me choices for mass times and since I didn’t want to hurry up in the morning, I chose 10 am instead of 8:00 or 8:30 am. I had no idea of what church it would be. In past similar situations, the church is sometimes a little local one with a mariachi-style guitarist. When we were driving up 10 minutes before mass was to start, there was a steady line of cars entering the parking lot. We had to park in the grass overflow area. Norbert said, boy, how big is this church - I hope there’s room for everyone. No problem. It turned out to be the Basilica of the National Shrine of Mary, Queen of the Universe. Looking up information later, I found that it seats 2000 people with standing room for another 1000, and is the largest church in Orlando. When the music started, I was floored! It has a huge pipe organ and a sound system to rival ANY other place I’ve ever heard. Any sound tech would be awestruck, I think. The choir consisted of only 8 members but WOW what a sound. The readings were some of my favorites: the one that explains how all parts of the body are important and the gospel where Jesus proclaims that the scripture He just read ‘has been fulfilled in your hearing’. There was a hymn sung at the end of communion that made me shiver it was so beautiful. At the end of the mass, it was announced that this mass was being livestreamed and available on YouTube - Yay! I can listen to it again. When we got back to the hotel, I looked it up and I could even spot Norbert and I in the congregation! I also found out that this is not a parish church, it was built by tourists for tourists.
We managed to drive by a car wash on the way back from church. If we had been parked at a Goldeyes game with the same amount of dust, we would have won the ‘dirtiest car in the parking lot’ award with a free car wash. It must have been satisfying to wash our van today - you’re welcome. ;)
I am presently sitting in our Super 8 second floor motel room accessible, only by an outside walkway, with the screenless window wide open in a very comfortable 20 degrees Celcius, calm, mostly sunny day. Finally, we can walk outside in a t-shirt and not freeze. click this icon for video of mass
Winter 2025 to Florida
POST 3 Days 4 and 5
Day 4 Nashville to Columbus, Georgia.
My head had been a little fuzzy all trip due to the head cold I started the evening before we left. When we travel, we start the drive with a rosary, then we listen to an audio book. Some of the first days, I dozed off quite often -sitting up straight!- because I just felt too foggy. We drove 7 hours from Nashville, Tennessee to Columbus, Georgia on the fourth day and we were still in below zero temperatures Celcius and seeing snow. The worst snow was actually in Georgia. Maybe we were in a higher elevation but I was too foggy to keep following on the map. Just the fact that I am writing so much today is a testament that I am beginning to feel more normal.
Day 5 Columbus, Ga to Jacksonville, Florida
Florida YAY!! There was snow right under the sign “Welcome to Florida”!! We opted for a route avoiding toll roads which took us basically to the Atlantic Coast so we decided to drive only 5 hours to Jacksonville, Florida where the temperature rose to 11 degrees Celcius with bright sunny skies for most of the day. We would have been too early to check into our hotel if we headed straight there so we found a National Park that we could visit for free. We headed there first. It was almost at the Atlantic Ocean but we had the time. As we kept driving and driving further into these tropical forest islands, I began wondering if this was a trap for unsuspecting tourists or something thinking ‘no wonder it’s free”. However, as we made the final turn, there it was. The park was Kingsley Plantation on Fort George Island. We’ve been to plantation museums before but I learned a few new things: The plantation grew Sea Island Cotton, which I had never heard of before. The volunteer in the Visitor’s Centre showed us samples of Sea Island Cotton and regular cotton. The fibers of the Sea Island are longer which makes a much softer cloth. They also grew another plant to make their own indigo dye for the cotton. The Sea Island cotton plant is apparently very suceptible to the bol weevil which, if this insect were to show up again, it would wipe away all the other crops, which is why there are strict controls of the Sea Island cotton. The other historical information new to me was the material with which many strutctures were made called Tabby. It is made by cooking oyster shells in kilns, which dissolves in water and was mixed with sand and some more oyster shells. Walls were made by pouring it into forms layer by layer. The other historical new thing I learned was about Spanish Florida and their system of slave ownership and the task system. (Which I won’t explain here).
The Kingsley person, who developed the plantation, took his wife (his slave he freed and married), his children and 50 of his free slaves to Haiti, a free black republic, when Spain lost control of Florida in 1821 because, the under U.S. legislators, his family members and free slaves would have their civil liberties greatly reduced.
Before the land was cleared for the plantation, it was forest, and since the agricultural practices ended, the land reverted back to forest. I have a photo showing how dense it is. Spanish moss was everywhere - there is a funny story about how spanish moss is named. French explorers were told by the Native Americans that they called is ‘tree hair’ so the French called it ‘Spanish Beard’ because it reminded them of the Spanish conquistador’s long beards. The Spaniards, in revenge, called it ‘French hair’ but no one else did. Spanish Beard turned into Spanish Moss even though it is not a moss - it is an epiphyte - it has no roots.
The plantation house was built in 1798 and is the oldest plantation house still standing in Florida. The second house where the owner’s wife and children lived, had a main level room with a ‘tabby’ floor.
Winter 2025 to Florida
POST 2
Day 2 and 3 from Sioux Falls, S.D. to Columbia, Missouri, then to Nashville
It was still bitterly cold outside but the roads were all great. Columbia is about halfway between Kansas City, Mo and St. Louis Mo. There was almost no snow in South Dakota except in the ditches. Further south in Nebraska, there was no snow at all, however, in Missouri, even further south, there was quite a bit of snow! Last night, in Columbia, the temperature was -14 C and this morning, it was -9 C . To avoid going through St. Louis, which reported having construction areas, we took an alternate route. At times, we were on a two lane highway through some pretty dilapitated and abandoned-looking towns. It was quite hilly and would have been very pretty had the vegetation not been all dead and brown. The sky has been very clear for the most part. There seemed to be some high fog in some areas in the Dakotas but no clouds.
ROADS
The world seems to have gotten smaller with the internet bringing us instantly across the world by Zoom or WhatsApp video conferencing. Information from anywhere is at our fingertips at all times on our phones. We can view traffic cameras online from any place at will. My three trips to Europe gave me the experience that the Atlantic Ocean is just a 6 hour flight away. Not far. But. This trip, I am being reminded that, indeed, physical distances are very great. We drove for over 21 hours basically straight south and it is still cold (although this polar vortex-type weather is a bit of an anomally). The first 14 hours of driving were through pretty flat, empty plains with very straight roads. The more south we went, the closer the farmsteads got to each other. Before these roads were built, there may have been cart or horse trails from place to place. Trains were used as well of course, but going from place to place would have been a big deal. Going to a place with a different climate, before planes and roads and trains must have seemed impossible to most people. Roads connect places in a physical way and by travelling them, allow us to experience spaces in between us and our destination. Bridges also connected places across very wide rivers which previously could only be crossed by boats etc. The world by cyberspace is small, but phycially is still huge. 5 days to get to Florida, 30+ hours of driving. It is not close.
Winter 2025 to Florida
Day One - January 20, 2025
POST 1
Our plan to escape winter today happened to be the coldest day of the winter so far at -34 C with -47 C windchill, and the only day our van would not start. I had made a chiropractic appointment for this morning at 7:50 am so that we could leave the city at 8 am, so we tried starting the van at about 7:35 am. Our wonderful son-in-law came to help us with his booster pack but it didn’t work. We called CAA for a boost and were told that they would come at about 8:50 am - not too bad for this crazy cold Monday morning. Maybe the other people needing boosts today had not gotten up yet. Norbert did, in fact, have the battery checked last month but ? We tried doing a straight boost with our son-in-law’s vehicle and - hooray! it worked. I was only about 5 minutes late for my appointment. After that appointment, we drove back home, stopped the van and started it again to make sure it would. It did. Praise God! We were able to cancel CAA before they were close to arriving.
We drove straight south, stopping in Grand Forks for a bathroom break, and a visit to Walmart for a couple of supplies, as well as a stop in Fargo for gas. We drove, in total, about 7 hours, and stopped for the night in Sioux Falls. We are now is a balmy -23 C a whole 11 degrees warmer! The wind is still wicked here although there doesn’t seem to be much snow.