Day one of our Great Expedition

We made it to Jacksonville yesterday, had a great dinner at Ruby Tuesday's, caught up with The Antel family - a fellow Reef Shark family. It was Great to see Ashley and Merrick's face when they opened the door to each other. This is going to be a great trip proving to my kids that we will still sometimes see those people we have met and made great friends with- being a Coastie Kid is not such a bad thing. :)

Steve picked up the car this morning- what a crock, he had to pay some random guy $40 dollars to escort him once he was in the Port- he said when he checked in they asked him who his escort was, he said he didn't have one and they were going to arrange for one, then a guy sitting there said he would do it- they step outside and the guy says its gonna be $40! Then he takes him out to his spiffed up caddy to drive him over and escort him back out. Steve said it was gonna cost him more for them to arrange it so- this guy actually has himself a pretty good little trade going on. Anyways- got the car- whew!

Let me say it is HOT here. It is hotter than in PR. We were dying and crabby as we loaded the car- and it is loaded! Then stopped at WALMART to get some snacks for the road- and it was so nice- it was clean, the isle's were wide and we found a parking spot about 5 spaces from the door! We had walmart in PR, but we dreaded going and rarely did.

The kids are keeping track of License plates, trying to find one from every state- I think they were at 14 when we stopped in Panama City to visit friends.

We had a great dinner with the Howard Family - Tara, Andy and their girls Bella and Gabby- adorable!

Tara and Andy both were Coasties, we were stationed with Tara way back in Florence Oregon our first tour as a married couple. It is so awesome to be able see each other every several years and catch up! Our kids got along great, and after dinner we all hit the pool. Tara has not changed a bit! {I miss you girl!}

I feel so lucky to have made such great friends - we owe it to the military lifestyle that we often find ourselves cursing. This is a great reminder that we are blessed- and even though we find ourselves saying goodbye every few years to those that we cherish, we continue to cherish the friendships forever.

Carson is still wanting to go home, but at least he settles down when we check into a new hotel. All my kids now want to live the "Suite Life". :)

Day 2 is lunch with a kindergarten class mate of Maddy's and her mom who I co-lead a daisy troop with. It's been 6 years?? Can't wait.