Vacation Part 1

We arrived in the sunny south on our direct flight (yeah!) about 4 Saturday afternoon. These no frill flights are just what they are, no frills. No pillows, no blankets, no free snacks or soda and the seats don't recline! It was a direct flight and that made up for everything. I am not an airport person. I HATE long layovers. Plus living on the edge of nowhere we don't get a lot to pick from as far as flights are concerned so when this airline came to our little airport with a direct flight to
Florida we were happy campers.



It was a delightful trip down, the grands are seasoned flyers so are happy to draw, watch a movie on an Ipod or snooze. I like to put my Ipod on, close my eyes and just relax, if I sleep I would probably snore or drool or both so I try not to. :o( It never ceases to amaze me how the pilot can land such a huge plane with hardly a bump but this one did so and we all applauded.



We picked up our van and headed towards Orlando to our hotel, the Portafino Bay. It is like an old Italian village and if you want to see how beautifully they have created this illusion just google it. I'll have pictures to post when I get home but can't download them on the laptop. Well, probably can but I don't know how.



We had dinner at one of the Italian restaurants here that is kid friendly and there was a wonderful buffet where we all ate too much and felt such remorse as we waddled to our rooms.....



We hit Universal Studio the next day where we were pounded, thrashed, twirled and spun in all directions on the various rides. I do NOT do roller coasters and am totally content to sit on the sidelines while the rest do their thing. The crowds weren't bad at all, which is one of the reasons that we like to come here in October.

Last evening we had a nice dinner at Johnny Bahamas. We are making a real effort to eat good meals while we are here and not all the theme park junk and it is paying off as we feel much better for it. We did some shopping and they had a Chico's so I was in hog heaven. We have to come back down here in two weeks for a convention so I picked up some dress clothes. That trip will be much harder to pack for with functions to attend every night. I much prefer this type of trip where you just pack casual things.

We spent today at the pool. I can't wait to show you the pictures of the pool area as it is amazing. It's like an Italian grotto with waterfalls and a water slide. I brought my Miracle suit, you know the suits that are supposed to take ten pounds off you. Well the miracle is that I could fit into it........ahem........there will be no pictures. Enough said.

There were lots of activities for T and D to participate in at the pool which was nice. Hoola hoop contests, treasure hunts, marco polo and then a cannon ball competition. Even though this is not a Disney resort it's very kid friendly. They also made sand castles while DIL and I soaked up some sun plus we had a nice lunch. Salads and turkey sandwiches.

Guess that's it for now. Will add more in a day or so and will put pictures in when I get home. I am going through graphics withdrawal as I can't access them on this computer. :o(