Florida, November 7-14, 2009

Rodney and Rasila decided to use their timeshare in its actual location this year: Orlando, FL. Rodney had not been in 17 years and Rasila had never been. The theme parks were not much of a draw. We have Disneyland, Universal Studios, Sea World, the San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park, as well as Legoland, Knott's Berry Farm, Six Flags, all available if we want to go. We do have friends in Tampa and the weather is generally warmer in Florida than here, and Cape Canaveral is close to Orlando, so we said, "Let's go!"

We flew Continental Airlines through Houston there and back. I have to admit, I was pleased with Continental. We had meals on the long flight to and from Houston, and the planes were clean and on time. The baggage fee was $15 paid before hand, and in these days, that's a good price. We left on the 6:45 AM flight, catching a ride from an obviously very good friend to arrive at 5:00 AM at the airport. Rodney finished off one book on the way there. We arrived at about 4:30 PM local time, picked up our rental car (a Nissan Sentra) from Sunshine Rent a Car, and checked into our condo. A grocery store was right across the street, so we went and loaded up with breakfast, some dinners, and lunches. Naturally, Rodney had called Citibank (no link to you!) to let them know he would be in Florida, but his card got declined anyway. He called immediately to complain and after 20 minutes on the phone, we found out that because the charge came from someplace other than Orlando, Tampa, or Cape Canaveral, (Publix is headquarter in Lakeland, FL), they declined it. He was mad, and wanted the $25 membership fee credited, but was told he would have to write a letter to accomplish anything close to that (note, that still needs to be done).

Sunday, we got up and drove to Tampa (only 70 miles/110 km away). Our friends Harry and Maureen, and their sons Harry Joe and Jacob live there. We went kayaking on a river for a couple hours where we saw a 10-12' (3.5-4m) alligator, but the camera batteries had run out! It was a very deep black, sunning on the side of the river. Very cool to see as they normally hide away. We went back and deep fried a couple turkeys and ate one for dinner. It's quite a production, so if you do one, you want to do more! We then drove back about 9 PM or so because we wanted to get up early to go to Kennedy Space Center.

Monday, we spent all day, 9 AM, when it opened, to 6 PM, when it closed, at Kennedy Space Center. We purchased the "Up Close" tour, which left about 10:20, so we had time to walk the rocket garden before the tour. The tour takes you between the largest launch pads, right by where the Ares 1-X had launched a couple weeks before, and 3 miles from the active shuttle pad, where the Atlantis was launched a week later. It then takes you by the Vertical Assembly Building, the landing strip, and drops you off at the Apollo Center. We then visited the International Space Station Center and back to the main visitor center. They have a simulator ride called the "Shuttle Launch Experience," which was actually pretty mild compared to the theme park rides! We drove back and ate dinner in the condo.

Tuesday was a lazy day, studying and reading. We did allow them to take a couple hours to try to sell us in exchange for some gift cards to Roy's, which we took advantage of that night for dinner. Wednesday was also a lazy day. The condo had free wi-fi internet. Rodney used it as an excuse to buy an HP Mini Netbook so Rasila could study online and we could access the internet without per minute charges. Wednesday night, we did see "Up" at the pool's "Dive-in Movie."

Thursday, we went back to Kennedy Space Center to the Astronaut Hall of Fame. This took most of the day, including going back to the main visitor's center in order to see the films we had missed on Monday (admission was included in Monday's ticket, so no new price).

Friday was another lazy/study day, topped off with a Beer tasting at the pool. Saturday we flew home. A very nice, relaxing vacation!

Vegas for Dave and Karin's Anniversary October 16-18, 2009

Our friends Dave and Karin were married in Las Vegas and celebrate their anniversary there every year. Generally, we try to join them as their old friends from Pennsylvania and new friends from So Cal go and it's fun to make the trip.

This year, we stayed downtown at the Golden Nugget. We drove up on Friday afternoon/evening, arrive about 9 PM, just in time for the evening Happy Hour. Dave and Karin always get an extra room to have a 3 times a day Happy Hour. We then headed out to find some gambling. We ended up at the Main Street Casino, where we were playing the Deuces Wild Poker machines. Rodney had proceeded to lose $20 pretty quickly, so he gave up his machine to Karin. She appeared to be losing money faster than Rodney, so he made the comment, "Looks like you're making my loss rate look good!" Of course, this resulted in Karin hitting the jackpot (all 4 deuces) on the next play, winning over $600!

The next day Rodney got up to make his football bets (thank you Arkansas, for covering against Florida and making the football bets even), and the day was spent watching football, eating, and drinking in the party room. That night we had dinner in the Italian restaurant, the Grotto. With 14 of us, it was quite a dinner. We gambled lightly until 1:00 AM, after catching a couple classic rock shows on the Fremont Street Experience, namely Queen, Don Maclean, and Kiss. It is virtually impossible to find a less than $10 blackjack table, even with the "Fetish Pit" dancers at the Las Vegas Club distracting you.

On Sunday, we decided to take the desert route home to avoid the I-15 parking lot. This takes you through the Mojave National Preserve, on Route 66, through 29 Palms, and onto the 10 just outside Palm Springs. It was a great drive and we want to go camping there in the spring!