Starting the long trip North.

Day 20

Today, I must leave paradise. I was going to stay a extra night, but the rates were

too high. Damm you Nascar. Last night, when I checked the weather, I get 80%

chance of Thunderstorms after 10:30 am. So last night, I decided to leave at

sunrise. So no real time to update the blog, for now. I pack up and hit the road

at 7 am.

I'm glad I woke up early for the sunrise, it was beautiful!

I really don't want to leave, but leave I must. Due to Nascar, there are no reasonable

room rates in the greater Miami area. So off to Orlando I go. It's a 6 hour ride. That's

why I wanted to get a head start. One or two hours riding in the rain is better than 6.

It looked good when I started, it actually still looks good. But there's rain ahead!

That's the offending cloud. 5 minutes later it was gone. The drive up the Key's was

uneventful after that. Though you always have to watch out for the speed traps. I've

gotta give Waze credit for allowing others to post where the traps are. It's not 100%,

but it's pretty close. I'm out of the Key's at 8 am, just in time for Miami rush hour.

Since I skirted the outside, I hit the same stoppages due to construction, as hit comming

down. The only backups where the off ramps going into Miami. I fill up outside

of Miami and take a break.

This is me having a break after the black cloud of death. I'm on the toll road, so not as

many exits. So I can see the black cloud, though, of course, it's right after the exit. Next

exit 9 miles. So no worries, I'll have plenty of time to get off. Nope, it headed right for

me. Then the rain starts, and ahead I can see the wall of water. Overpass, so I pull over

and wait it out. 10 minutes later, it's like it never happened. It's past 10 am, so time for a

break, and something to drink and snack on.

A lot less of a load, it just packed a lot easier with that care package sent.

This is what I get to stare at hours on end. Peace of mind voltage and TPMS. They just

make the ride a little less stressful.

I don't find palm trees my size very often, so why not take a tropical picture.

Shade is important down here.

The cooler full of ice and drinks. Plus it doesn't leak all over my top case like all the

others did. The rest of the ride was uneventful. Though I did pass through a cold front,

the temperatures dropped 5 degrees in about 5 minutes. This put it down to around 75

degrees.

View from room, Disney is over there.

I'm staying at the Holiday Inn in Celebration, which is across from Disney over Interstate 4.

I was hoping, and they did, let me check in early. The good thing about Orlando, that if your

in the area, you can get some great rates. I'm staying at a nice Holiday Inn resort for $65 a

night, all taxes and extra's in. Competition is good. After that, I hit up the nearest supermarket

to stock up on supplies, no free breakfast buffet here. It's still early, so why not hit up

some of the local pawn shops which are just down the street. I did find 2 watches, though

I didn't buy them. One was mispriced. I almost got a G-Shock Mudmaster for $40, then

the clerk realized the mistake. Still @ $100 the asking price, it's a good deal. But let's

see what other watches I can find first. That wasted a few hours.


I'm still feeling pretty good, so I decide to head over to Disney Springs.

It's like 10 minutes away. Plus I'm getting hungry for some dinner.

It's just getting dark when I arrive. They built a new parking garage as well. I'm in

grapefruit, level 2, though it looks like a orange to me.

Earl of Sandwich, finally, I can eat there. Usually I've eaten somewhere else

when I remember to go there. Not this time. I'm there.

Actually, it was pretty good, and for Disney, reasonably priced. The line ups to order

were reasonable as well.

Still too early, so I'm not even going near it. Though the Christmas Hunted house rocks.

Not a lefty, though I didn't know about left handed spoons.

These popped up fast. Though nothing that I didn't see at Disneyland.

Nope, I'll think I'll pass.

Just some of the Christmas characters that they have "walking" around.

The World of Disney is so huge, it has it's own Starbucks. I'm not on a souvenir hunt, so

I couldn't be bothered to go in. My parking garage is by here, so at least it's easy to remember

where I'm parked.

It's impressive, but for me it's, what's inside to hold it up? How many peices did you

transport it? What do you do with the lego afterwards? How long to make it?

Since Disney owns everything, I might as look in the Marvel store.

I actually liked these, they are $100, but they are cool.

Me: "Do you have gloves that I can try on?", "Over at the front counter, sir"

I must say, for $99, I can rule the universe. Oddly, I couldn't snap my fingers. I guess I

will have to work on that. The stones even light up, and yes, you can carry drinks with

it.

The house of blues here is huge.

It's that shitbox Dodge, they were good cars for their time. I might pick this up.

Like Vegas, what goes up, must come down. Even, the few years from my last visit to

Disney Springs, you can see the changes.

Disney Springs does look good at night, but boy, the temps have sure taken a nosedive.

I keep a sweater in the trailer, so no problems for me. But there are lot's of guests walking

around in t-shirts from this afternoon, freezing their butts off. It's dropped down to the mid

50's.

Yes, one day, I will stay at a Disney Resort.

More massive Lego art.


I did a full circuit of Disney Springs. The big push you notice is the Star Wars tie in's

with different retailers. Coach, etc. It seemed that every different store had some item

that was Star Wars related. Well, that's about it for tonight. I head back to the bike and

head over to the hotel. I've got some blogs to catch up on.



Today's mileage

340 miles or 547 km

Totals for this part of the trip

4449 miles or 7160 km