A Minute to Spare

Cameron and I were up at 4 a.m. this morning so that he could catch his 6:55 a.m. flight to Indy.  Out of all of the things that I was nervous about during this Florida trip, Cameron making it home on his own was number 1.  Southwest’s issues last week with thousands of delays and cancellations did not help.  Cameron’s flight was on time this morning, so that really helped lessen the anxiety.  TSA was the issue today that I never worried about that could have easily become a nightmare for us.  

Originally, I had planned on getting an escort pass to walk with Cameron to his gate.  When Cameron and I arrived before 5 a.m. this morning, we realized that that wasn’t a possibility.  The lines at the ticketing counters were way too long, so instead we headed straight to the TSA check in.  I was absolutely shocked when we walked up to see that the estimated wait time was already 55 minutes and climbing steadily.  Cameron and I got in line together and inched forward slowly.  I tried very hard not to panic.  We had one hour and forty-five minutes to get him through security, on the train and to the plane before it took off.  It definitely felt doable.  After a half hour, we hadn’t moved as much as we wanted and I definitely started to worry.  A young couple came up to us and asked if they could step in front of us.  Their flight had already boarded and they weren’t sure what to do.  We helped them as best as we could and they got through security ahead of our line.  Their plight made me scared for them, but hopeful for us as we still had thirty minutes left before Cameron’s plane would start boarding.  

It was after 6 a.m. when we finally got Cameron to the front of the TSA line.  The line to check his carry on was quicker for him.  He said that one of the TSA men got very angry at a woman who got out of line.  That was tense, but he didn’t have any problems.  He found the correct tram and arrived at gate 110 with one minute to spare before boarding.  He texted me later to let me know that he was on the plane.  There was even a free seat beside him.  

The rest of Cameron’s trip was very uneventful.  He watched Austin Powers and relaxed on the plane.  He found the van without issue.  Fortunately, the car started right away and all of the tires were fully inflated.  Cameron called me once he got on US 31.  He said that traffic was light compared to the drive down.  He had made plans to go to Samuel’s before the girls’ game tonight.  I asked him if he was nervous at all today.  He admitted that he was worried while we were waiting for TSA.  He wasn’t positive that he would make it to his flight on time.  I wasn’t either, but thankfully all worked well. 

I was super proud of Cameron today.  He navigated his first solo trip home successfully.  Nothing feels better than being independent and Cameron definitely felt that today.   

The Cheez-It Citrus Bowl

We left early this morning for our park reservation at Animal Kingdom.  Meg, Nick and Cameron wanted to enjoy the park before the guys left for the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl.  Doug and I dropped them off at the entrance and headed to the Disney Car Care Center.  Doug had rented a car for the next few days as he had to work inventory and the rest of us had plans in Orlando.  Picking up the Camry was a lot easier than I expected.  Getting back into the park was not.  Thankfully, we were able to ride Kilimanjaro Safari where the hippos were out sunning themselves and still meet Meg, Nick and Cameron at Dinosaur by 9:30 a.m.  They had enjoyed Expedition Everest and Flight of Passage beforehand.

Dinosaur was a lot of fun.  As soon as it was over, we headed to Harambe Market.  We had mobile ordered food there for lunch and it was ready just as we were seated.  Doug, Meg and I tried the chicken bowls while Cameron and Nick ate the ribs.  All were delicious and by ordering ahead, the guys were out of the park with plenty of time to make it to the Bowl game before LSU and Purdue kicked off.

While the guys were busy, Meg and I enjoyed Animal Kingdom.  We went to the Flights of Wonder bird show.  Meg had never been before and loved it just as much as I did.  Next, we walked through Gorilla Falls and the Asian jungle trek.  Both paths had a lot of animals out and about.  We even saw multiple gorillas and tigers plus a lively Okapi.  Afterward we watched the Macaws fly over the Tree of Life before perching in front of it.  Our last entertainment of the day was watching It's A Bug's Life.  

Meg and I did some shopping in Animal Kingdom, but decided that we wanted to checkout Disney's Character Warehouse at the Orlando Outlet Mall.  We had heard a lot of good things about it.  We found the mall without any issue, but after driving around in the craziest parking lot situation that we had ever been in, we decided to leave.  There were people parking on the grass medians and triple parking cars to get into the outlet mall.  It was too stressful for us.  We left right away and went to our hotel instead.

We had never stayed at Port Orleans Riverside before and were super excited to try it.  Our room wasn't quite ready, but our receptionist was extremely helpful and soon we were settled in a preferred room near the lodge that had an extra pull out bed for Cameron.  While we were checking in the guys called and said that they had left the football game during the middle of the third quarter.  They had really enjoyed it, especially the dancing Cheez-It mascot, but the score was so lopsided that they decided to call it early.  Purdue just couldn't compete with LSU and ended up losing 63-7.  Cameron did come home with a nice Citrus Bowl shirt.  Nick decided that he didn't want one as he didn't need to commemorate the game.

After resting at our hotel, Doug, Cameron and I headed over to Disney Springs.  Meg and Nick rode the boat from our resort over to meet us.  Doug left for Ocala at 6 p.m. while the rest of us ate dinner at Splitsville.  The guys tried the sushi.  Cameron said that it was delicious.  Meg got a hamburger while I ordered the macho nachos for everyone to try.  We stopped at Everglazed on our way to our boat ride back to the hotel.  Cameron and I had an early morning wake up call and decided to end our evening at 9 p.m.  Meg and Nick stayed a little bit longer, enjoying the nightlife at Disney Springs.  

Ringing in 2023

Meg, Nick, Cameron, Doug and I spent our first day of the new year at Disney Springs.  We ate lunch at Jock Lindsey's Hangar Bar, visited a few of the shops and then stopped to play miniature golf in Ocala.  We tried to play in Orlando first, but the wait time was two hours.  We had fun navigating the course with Cameron winning by one stroke.  Afterward, Phil stopped by for another game night.  This time we all played his new 1980s trivia game.  It was no surprise that he won, but we all did give him a run for his money.  

Those of us in Florida weren't the only ones that had a nice start to 2023.  Brett spent his at Sean's where they sang karaoke and had a wonderful buffet.  Cal was in Milwaukee all weekend for one of Rachel's friend's weddings.  He said that it was a great way to spend New Year's.  

I was definitely ready to say goodbye to 2022.  There had been some wonderful moments and a lot of success for the Heinisch family.  In saying that, it was also one of the most challenging years that we have faced.  We are hoping for just as much time together in 2023, but hopefully a little less strife.  

Happy New Year

It was the perfect day for it to rain during our time in Florida.  We had planned on spending New Year's Eve in Ocala visiting several of our favorite stores, watching football and enjoying game night.  Thus, the weather didn't really effect us at all. Shopping was a success as Meg, Nick, Cameron and I all found items that we had been looking for at Kohl's, Barnes & Noble and the Paddock Mall.  The funniest moment of the day occurred as we were leaving the shopping center.  Someone stopped us while we were driving through the parking lot (holding up a lot of traffic) to see if we were really IU Alumni as my license plate stated.  During the enthusiastic conversation we found out that he was from Warsaw.

Once we were done shopping, we focused our afternoon on watching The Twilight Zone marathon and the college football playoffs.  Uncle Phil and Mollie joined us for the night.  Last night we had met Uncle Phil at Hiatus Brewery which we really enjoyed.  We also gave him his Christmas gifts - a Jump Around Wisconsin shirt and a 1980s trivia game.  Tonight's dinner revolved around Doug's queso dip, pepperoni pinwheels, and taquitos for our meal.  The menu was a hit with everyone.

After Michigan lost a close one to TCU in a very exciting game, we took a break to play Chameleon and Herd Immunity afterward.  Last night we had taught Uncle Phil to play Donner Party, which I thought was his favorite.  No matter the game, all were definitely a lot of fun.  The Ohio State vs. Georgia game was  closer than I thought that it would be with the Buckeyes leading most of the game.  Once we saw that, we decided to take a break from our own games to watch it.  With only a couple of minutes left in 2022, OSU was in position to kick a field goal for the win.  We decided to pause the game to watch Dolly Parton host the ball drop.  As soon as it did, we heard a lot of noise outside.  We ran out just in time to catch multiple firework displays.  Mollie didn't like it, but we sure enjoyed it.  The Ohio State game ended much as the Michigan one did with the Big Ten team losing a close one.  All in all it was a wonderful New Year's Eve celebration in Florida.  

Beach Day

We decided to take Doug and Cameron to Clearwater Beach today as they had never been.  We left a little later than normal and ran into some really heavy traffic on the bridge from Tampa Bay to Clearwater.  As we drove we figured out the reason why - It was Bowl Day on the beach.  Both the Illinois and Mississippi State football teams plus their fans were enjoying activities such as Tug of War all sponsored by the ReliaQuest Bowl.  It was fun to see them there and overall the crowds really didn't really effect us except for the drive into Clearwater.

Our first stop was lunch at Jimmy Hula's.  As soon as we ate at the restaurant last March, Meg said that her Dad would love the place.  She was right.  The tacos and the atmosphere were perfect for him.  Cameron had never been either and enjoyed his Shrimp Po' Boy sandwich as well.  Afterward, we all went shopping at Surf Style Surf Shop.  Cameron and I found some great shirts while Meg picked out a headband and lanyard.  

After lunch and shopping, we headed to the white sandy beach.  The water was extremely cold, but wading in it was no problem.  Cameron and Meg looked for shells and played catch with Nick and Doug for awhile.  As we walked along the beach, we saw the entire Fighting Illini football team up close and personal.  That was really neat.  We ended our afternoon in Clearwater with ice cream.  It was the perfect way to top off a wonderful day on the beach.  

One Long Trip

Doug strongly prefers to leave from Brett's when we are driving to Florida.  I completely understand his rational as it cuts about four hours off of the trip.  When we are driving with any of the Heinisch children it also makes it a lot easier on them as Doug doesn't like to stop a lot.  The biggest draw back to his plan for me is that I usually do not sleep well at Brett's the night before we leave.  I don't know if it is the change in atmosphere or the anticipation of the trip.  Either way, it is usually a rough night for me.  Last night was no acceptation.  I fell asleep quickly but was wide awake at 2 a.m.  I tried everything to go back to sleep, but nothing worked.  I did my best to make sure that I did not wake up Doug as his sleep was more important than mine since he would be doing the majority of the driving today.  Some time after 4 a.m. I finally drifted back off to sleep.  I was thankful for that, but it did make for a challenging 6 a.m. wake up call.

All went well getting out the door and picking up Nick and Meg.  By 6:40 a.m. we were on the way, excited to be going to Florida.  Meg and Cameron slept for several hours missing almost all of Kentucky.  Everyone was wide awake, however, by the time we stopped just south of Nashville.  Doug had a work call to make and we were glad to stretch our legs.  Everyone was pleased that the first third of our trip had gone so well. We were scheduled to be in Ocala by 7:30 p.m.  

That all changed shortly after we got back in the car.  We set our GPS for Buc-ee's just north of Atlanta and realized that the time had crept up a half hour or so.  We soon figured out why as we ran into stopped traffic in Chattanooga that was caused by several accidents.  It took awhile to get through the rest of Tennessee, but we made it Georgia and on to Buc-ee's for lunch only 40 minutes late.  Everyone else on   I-75 must have had the same idea as the place was packed.  We had fun, however, looking at the merchandise and picking out our sandwiches.  Doug had just finished up talking to Hetal when we got back to the car. 

We reset the GPS on Doug's phone to Ocala and started heading toward Atlanta.  That's when both of us became concerned.  The time had increased to 8:45 which was a lot later than I had thought that we'd arrive in Florida.  Doug wasn't really surprised.  By the time we had reached the north side of Atlanta, we realized that there was a 45 minute backup downtown.  We decided to follow the new route on the phone and get off of the interstate.  I was a little nervous, but we navigated the streets of Atlanta well and were soon back on I-75 gaining a half hour of time.  That changed, however, when we got south of Atlanta as there were several more backups.  We decided at that time that everyone must be roadtripping to the Sunshine State and that we might as well just accept that fact that we were going to arrive a lot later than we expected.

We did stop one more time in Valdosta, Georgia.  It only added another level of frustration to our trip as the gas stations were packed and the Circle K that we stopped at did not have Diet Coke.  A quick run through the drive-thru at Arby's solved the problem and soon we were back on the road without traffic and a new end time of 9:40 p.m.  It was definitely later than we had planned, but once we stopped at Marco's to pick up pizza for dinner, we were all smiles.  It was warm outside and we had arrived safely after the 15 hour trip.  Plus, we had a great week in Florida planned and Doug said that the guy at the register even recognized him.  I took that as a sign that we were "home."  

Traveling South

Cal and Rachel left yesterday afternoon.  We were sad to see them go, but knew the they had a busy couple of days ahead of them.  Rachel's friend was getting married in Milwaukee on New Year's Eve and they had to be there Thursday.  Cal realized right before he left that he had forgotten to order his tie.  Thankfully, Amazon had one that matched Rachel's dark green dress and could be overnighted to him.  

As Meg had plans with friends most of yesterday, it was only Cameron, Brett, Doug and I at home.  We used our time together to listen to Cameron's new vinyls, play Eels and Escalators and watch A Muppet Christmas Carol.  Afterward we invited Grandma and Grandpa up for a game of Oh Hell.  It was definitely a different game with six players, but a lot of fun either way.

Today was spent cleaning, finishing putting away the Christmas and packing for our trip South.  Brett was the first one out the door.  He had a car full as he had all of his Christmas to take back.  Grandma had also loaded him up with groceries, and then he took the PS2 and Xbox 360 consuls and game with him.  Thankfully, Nick was able to help him get it in the CR-V and we were all there later in the evening to help him unpack.  

Nick and Meg left about twenty minutes after Brett did.  They had to drive separately as Meg would be returning to Bloomington on our way back next week and Nick would have to work.  Doug made it home by 1 p.m. and we were able to be out the door by 1:40 p.m.  Cameron drove the van to the Indianapolis Airport as he will fly back alone on Tuesday.  I was impressed with how well he did.  There was even an accident right behind us that he saw in his rearview mirror.  He didn't let it bother him and kept on driving.  

Doug picked us up at the economy parking and we were in Bloomington in less than an hour.  Once we unloaded Brett's car, the four of us and Nick headed for Tracks on Kirkwood.  Meg stayed behind to pack.  Tracks went well as Cameron found a Drake vinyl that he had asked for Christmas that I could not find.  Dinner was very interesting.  Doug wanted to go to Mother Bear's, but it was closed.  Brett really wanted to go to Yogi's.  The menu looked great, but with no waitress in sight after twenty minutes, we left.  On the way to the car, we saw a new restaurant, Metal Works Brewing Company, and decided to try that.  The atmosphere was awesome, but they were sorely understaffed.  We decided to wait it out as they had board games for us to play.  We, of course, picked Ticket to Ride which helped the time pass quickly.  We all liked our meals and the beers that we tried.  Cameron love his sandwich, but was most excited about his win in North America.  Overall, it was a great first day on our trip south.