Vacation part 5 the last post about the vacation

So we woke up on Friday morning I don't think Amy, myself, or Brandon were in a hurry to get up on this morning. We all knew that it would mean it was time to get ready and go, that is to leave Florida and head on the road back to Georgia. Amy and Brandon's home. That also means that it is one day closer to me heading back to Maryland and leaving a great friend & her son behind in Georgia.

So after breakfast at the campground club house we packed up the car...... I took the first leg of the drive I pulled up to the campground office and went to turn in our key to the cabin we stayed in. I came out of the office and took one last look around and hoped in the car. Just before I started to move Amy gave me a tap on the arm and said Brandon was crying. :( I looked to the back seat and sure enough the little man had his face in a pillow as if he was hiding from everyone. He looked up for a second and yes I could see that he was crying. He was upset that we were leaving and wanted to stay another week. Boy if he only knew how much I wanted to as well after taking the first vacation in five years I was not ready for it to be over as well.

I think that Brandon had a great time with Ms. Anne and Mr. Jay and I know Amy and I had a great time it was so nice to be able to spend some extra time with loved ones.

When we got back to Georgia Friday night Amy dropped Brandon off with Greg and we went on to have a nice dinner to ours selfs and had some great conversation.

All & all what a great week it was! I could not have asked for better company for my first vacation in five years. Let the truth be told right now.

I would not have taken this vacation for any other reason other then the two people I took it with and they are Amy and Brandon. (Yes I said it a woman made me do it! can you believe that? well ok a woman and her son. )

Have a great weekend everyone! enjoy your time off!

Vacation 4

I missed adding another part about the vacation yesterday I got busy then got side tracked

On Thursday we went to Daytona Beach even though it was a cool (Amy would say it was cold) an some what rainy day it did stay clear enough for us to walk on the beach. Well Amy and I walked I think Brandon spent most of his time running and making noise trying to scare the birds half to death. I really enjoyed this day because I had so much fun watching Brandon run and play on the beach and being so full of energy. I did manage to act like a kid myself a few times and splash Amy, I will admit though the water was way to cold this time of year to try and go for a swim.

I don't have any pictures from this day but not only did we walk on the beach we went out on the pier. We were able to see a sea turtle come up for air, a dolphin was swimming around and a bunch of fish swimming right below the surface. There was also a man fishing off the pier that was nice enough to talk to Brandon and also let him try his hand at fishing off the pier. And don't you know Brandon caught a fish with the first cast. Well ok he hooked a fish that got off the hook before he could get it reeled in. But still I think Brandon had fun giving it a try none the less.

After we walked out on the pier we walked down the beach a little more and went into a place called Johnny Rockets for lunch. This was a place that was set up like a retro style diner of the 60's. And one thing I found very funny was that every 1/2 hour they dim the lights and a disco ball starts spinning around. And all the wait staff start dancing & clapping to music in a line around the counter. This was fun to watch but I don't think it is something I would want to have to do every 1/2 hour during the day if I was trying to work. LOL I did feel left out at one point and had to give our waitress a hard time. She came to the table with our food and made a smiley face out of ketchup on a plate for Brandon. I wanted one too you know being the kid I am at heart. So I asked "Where is my Smiley face?" So she smiled and said I'll make you one... And she sure did so then I was happy and could eat my food like a good little boy should!

All in all what a great day it was I really enjoyed our time in Daytona. Well ok other then AMY getting the car stuck in the sand when we parked on the beach and then again when we left. LOL

Well ok the truth be told I was driving the car both times and got it stuck LOL. There were some very nice people both times on the beach that helped me push while Amy drove to get it unstuck.

Well thats about all I have for today I hope everyone is having a great week I am having an ok one I am missing the friends I spent last week with but all and all things are going well.

Have a great day!
~Dan

Vacation Part 3

So we woke up Wednesday morning. And after having some of the cheapest best breakfast food at the camp site club house. We headed out to The Central Florida Zoo As you can see from the picture of Amy, Brandon & Mom. We had a great time joking and playing around. The only part of the whole thing I didn't like was the Building we went in with the snakes ewwww can't stand them at all. At least I was not scared of a fake animal like Mom, Amy and Brandon are in the picture. LOL. Although I will say some of the snakes had great colors on them and were nice to look at. After all they were behind glass.

I did find a sign near the gators I found to be very funny true though.
Although Im not really sure that a gator eating a human would make them sick would it?

There were also allot of one of my favorite things there birds I just love birds of all kinds and colors. Yes I know some are nasty and all are dirty but they can be great fun.








Well thats about all I have for todays story and i just have to say to Amy and Brandon one more time thank you both for making the trip such great fun I would do it again in a heart beat!

And I big thank you to mom and dad for putting up with us for the week.


everyone have a great day
~Dan

Vacation Part 2b

I just had to go ahead and show you how well mom & Brandon were getting along LOL
as you can see from the picture mom had control as always LOL

Vacation Part 2

So after about a 7 hour drive to Florida we got to The Clark Family Campground Where mom & dad stay for the months of January through the first part of April. We got our selfs checked into a cabin there at the campground. Brandon was happy to see that there was a set of bunk beds he he was quick to take the top bunk of the bunk beds. What I found funny was after dinner and an evening of chatting we went back to the cabin to turn in. And Amy had taken the bottom bunk of the two bunk beds and made sure to tell Brandon NOT TO wet the bed. LOL I at that point was glad that I was on the other side of the room in my own bed away from any possible mishap. LOL
Tuesday morning we headed to Blue Springs were we were lucky in that it was cool enough that a few Manatees had come into the spring area to get warm - you see at Blue Springs the water comes up from deep within the earth & stays @ 72 f all year around. So the Manatee come in to warm them selfs up from the colder river waters. Brandon I think was very happy to be there and even found a park ranger to talk to and ask lots of questions. He also was sure to take plenty of pictures with his camera.

After the visit to Blue Springs we headed back to the campground for some lunch and then we thought it would be fun to take a look at some people skydiving at the local airport. I think Amy really enjoy that. I think Brandon had more fun playing on the play ground that was at the airport near where we were watching the divers.

After that we headed back to the campground yet again and dad cooked dinner for us and made some great BBQ Chicken yummy! After dinner Tuesday night we showed mom & dad how to play a game called Greedy Greedy its a real fun game with dice Brandon enojoyed playing and I think we all had a bblast and a great time.

Well thats about all for part two stay tuned for more to come.......

I hope everyone is having a great Monday!

Florida Vacation with Amy & Brandon part one

Well you will be glad to know that I am back from my first vacation in just about 5 years. A big thank you goes out to one person well really two people for making me want to take some time off and enjoy a little R & R. They are Amy and her son Brandon. Thank you Amy so much for all you do I had a great week and Brandon was a trip. I’m glad I had a chance to spend a week with you both. Now with all that out of the way what a fun week it was. And what I think I’m going to do as far as telling the story of the week vacation in my blog is to post about each day or maybe every two days of the vacation once a day this week until the whole vacation is covered. So keep checking back this week there will be more added each day about the vacation week.

As in my other post here http://hufferd.blogspot.com/2008/02/my-first-vacation-in-almost-five-years.html my vacation really started at 5:00pm on Friday the 15th I didn’t fly to Georgia until Sunday the 17th but have no fear there was plenty to do around the house getting ready. I spent most of the day Saturday packing and doing laundry and making sure I had everything in order so I could have someone come in and take care of the pets while I was gone. Well Saturday went by quick and the next thing I knew it was time for bed Saturday night and well of course just like a kid the night before a big day I couldn’t sleep at all. I woke up early Sunday morning got ready and headed out to the airport with plenty of time to get there for my 12 noon flight to Georgia. Cutting out some details I got to the airport and was in the check in line with my bags and thought “It would be nice to upgrade my seat to business class with those rewards points I have.” So I did and was looking forward to some extra leg room and a nicer seat for the flight.

(fast forward a bit more)

We board the plane I’m sitting in my seat and see a man come on that looks a good bit younger than me. He sits down across the row from me and I over hear him telling the man sitting next to him that he had just gotten back from a tour of duty in Iraq.

(Fast forward a bit more)

We are just off the ground and still in our climb and I look over at the man who had been in Iraq and he is crying his eyes out I mean sobbing. I’m ashamed to admit this but my very first thought was only of myself and the others on the plane. I thought to myself “Oh my God this guy is going to come unhinged here in mid air and we are all going to die. Trust me you had to be there I was not the only one Im sure that was feeling that way. The crew was keeping a very close eye on him and everyone of the flight crew I think (well other then the captain) was checking on him “Can we help you sir are you ok?” and so on. I only felt that way for a split second and I was glad to see that he did settle down and started talking to the man in the seat next to him.

Then it hit me (Bam-thought to self) “You dumb idiot you left your car unlocked back at the airport.”

(Fast forward a bit more)

After a stay Sunday night in a hotel near Atlanta I met up with Amy Brandon & Bobba (the dog in the picture below) Monday morning and went on our way heading to Florida. I was surprised that Brandon didn’t say the famous words that all kids say more than he did “Are we there yet?” I think I said it more than he did that was my attempt to give Amy a hard time and act like a kid myself. I have told Amy all along she will have two kids to take care of now.
Well that’s about all for this part stay tuned for part two of the vacation blog.