Patti and I are joining Ron and Nang at a vacation home Ron booked at a resort in Orlando in early March. Estimated temperature then in Orlando: 77 degrees, in Ohio: COLD.

Stone Mountain Ga. 2011 Highland Games

Stone Mtn, Ga Oct 2011

We had a mini family reunion At Stone Mountain. (Our 2nd annual). Me and Patti/Ron and Nang/Brandon, Jodie, and Cameron/Veronika, Dan and Adeline/ Brandon’s Father in law Rufus and his wife Susan.

Thursday 10/13/11
Patti and I left Fairborn Thursday afternoon at 2 pm. We had all our gear loaded into the Camry. We had leased a RV motor home and would pick it up the next day 6 miles from the park near Atlanta. Patti and I drove for 5 hours and spent the night just north of Knoxville at a Holiday Inn.

Friday 10/14/11
The next morning we enjoyed our complimentary breakfast- complimentary being one of my favorite things, and we were on our way by 9 am.

We arrived at our RV rental place in Tucker, GA on the west side of Atlanta about 12:30 pm. We could not check into the park until 2:00 pm so Patti and I got lunch at a little local Mexican place. After lunch we went to ‘Great Escapes’ to get the RV. It was a 27’ Class A, about 11 years old. The manager gave us a 45 minute ‘how to’ walk around. Patti followed me in the Camry and we drove the 6 miles to the campground. The drive there was easy. I was still a little nervous driving the rig.

We got to the campground fine. I got a tad cranky when I found out they had double booked my lake view site that was next to Ron’s site. The other ‘bookee’ got there before me. I made my reservation in June and confirmed it a week prior to the trip. All was good till I got there.

We ended up with a large site, not on the water but it was large enough for 2 rigs and it was a full hook up. Ron moved over and onto our site. Technically we were not supposed to put 2 RVs on one site. But I think they knew by now that ‘Clan Little’ was a cranky clan.

Patti and I made chili for the entire group for Friday night. I know- chili, and sitting around the campfire later… Blazing saddles ‘Little’ style. We did have a campfire that night and socialized and had smores and toasted marshmallows and talked… and laughed.

Saturday 10/15/11
We had a community cooking area. The next morning Patti and I had fried potatoes, bacon and fried eggs. Ron fixed omelets and potatoes for his family. I love the smell of camp cooking. Both RVs had stoves but it is more fun to cook outdoors. I have propane 2 burner stove that I used.

After breakfast clean up we took the campground shuttle bus to the other side of the park to go to the Highland games. We got there in time for the opening ceremonies. The opening ceremonies consisted of a combined mass band made up of 300 pipers and 200 drummers. The music was awesome. It sent a chill to my bones and watered my eyes.

We walked around for a bit and saw all the different family clan tents and exhibits. There was a guy holding a 50 pound mace and challenging others to hold it for a count of ten. I saw a Navy guy do it and he did ok getting wobbly about 7 seconds. I asked they guy if my Soldier Nephew (Brandon) could try it. Brandon made it look easy. I decided not to try it and did not embarrass myself or the USAF.

I got a couple of corn dogs for lunch from a food vendor. I am fairly certain corn dogs are a traditional Scottish food. I bought Patti a Scottish hooded sweatshirt and I got a t-shirt that said, “Scotch: Making white men dance since 1494”.

That night we cooked steaks on the grill and had baked potatoes (Microwaves in the RVs came in handy for the taters). ‘Camp Little’ was a little smaller tonight. Veronika and her family had to leave because her husband had to work Sunday and Jody and Cameron had left for home earlier as well.

Sleeping in the RV beat the heck out of a tent. We had a queen sized bed, fridge w/freezer, and bathroom w/shower. We were near a camp shower and bathroom but the bathroom in the RV was convenient for those middle of the nights when nature called.

Sunday 10/16/11

I cooked French toast and sausage, and Brandon made breakfast sandwiches. Around Noon, Rufus, his wife Susan and Brandon left. This left just me and Patti and Ron and Nang. I am not sure why folks kept leaving- The chili had already worked its way through Ron.

In the afternoon the four of us took a drive around the park. We found a covered bridge that was very pretty (you can see it in Nang’s Facebook album).

Sadly, we did a few chores to break camp then grilled pork chops for dinner and had some more baked potatoes. We ate a little early because we had decided to go to a story teller tour at the plantation at the park. It was fun. The story tellers were very good and the stories were post civil war era with some ghost and humor mixed together.

No campfire tonight. Ron did visit for a bit and chatted with us in our RV.

Monday 10/16/11
Time to go. Transferred all the gear from the RV to the car and cleaned it for turn in. We said our good byes with Ron and Nang and left camp around 9 am. Again, Patti was following in the Camry as I drove the RV.

Leaving the park and entering the highway we had to merge from the right during late morning Atlanta traffic, cross 3 lanes and exit left in about ¼ mile. On a fun scale that rated below having a tooth pulled. But, we made it through and across the traffic. Got the RV gassed up and then turned back in.

An 8 ½ hour drive home with a lunch stop at Shoneys.

Sea Dragon Pirate Cruise- Panama City Beach

Arrg! While in PCB we all went on a Pirate cruise. The Grandkids loved it (ok, so I had fun too). Non-stop activities for the kids, dolphins next to the ship and an shipboard bar with inexpensive Corona. The life of a Pirate is good.

Stone Mountain- Oct 2011

(In the Pic: My Nephew Brandon and me at the camp site in Stone Mountain last fall. Are the mullets real? Maybe.)

Working on the details for a return visit to Stone Mountain this fall. We are looking at the weekend of the Scottish Highland games in October. There is an RV site left near the one Ron has reserved. More to come.

Update: RV and site are reserved. See ya all there.

Majestic Beach Resort- Panama City Beach, Aug 2011

Time for a bi-annual trip back to PCB. Mom and Dean and Ron and Nang live about 30 miles north of the beach so we get to combine visiting with some sand and sun. This will be our 3rd stay at the Majestic Beach Towers. This time we booked through a 3rd party agent and saved about half the cost of what the resort wanted to charge. Our son Jason is bringing his family (separate condo, thank you) and our Grand daughter Payton from Cleveland will be coming as well.

Fiesta Americana Condessa- March 2011

Fiesta Americana Condesa
Cancun
3/22/11 to 3/29/11

Day 1
3/22/11 Tuesday

The alarm was set for 3 am. Leaving for vacation makes that a little easier to take. Josh gave us a ride to the Dayton airport. We flew Delta to Detroit for a connection to Cancun. Since we booked last minute our travel agent had to get a little creative with the connections.. We left late from Dayton because our flight attendant overslept but still got into Detroit a few minutes early. The flight was only about 36 minutes. The layover in Detroit was 3 ½ hours but technology helped pass the time- between the laptop and kindle we were able to occupy the time.

The flight to Cancun took about 3 hours. We landed about noon and zipped through customs and immigration -the advantages of traveling to Cancun on a weekday vs. weekend. Our bags were already there. They made the earlier flight. Our Delta shuttle van was outside and we arrived at the resort about 1pm. We were disappointed our room was not ready. Check in was 3pm but in the past at all the other resorts we have gone to the room was always ready. No big deal, we went to a buffet lunch and then got acquainted with the lobby bar.

We had some ‘Delta vacation dollars’ we could use for some various perks. We did opt for a room upgrade. We ended up on the beach with a 2 room suite with a Jacuzzi on the balcony. Our room was still not actually ready at 3pm so we sat on the balcony and enjoyed the view while housekeeping finished getting it ready. The room has free Wi-Fi and I had the lap top on the internet in minutes. The room safe was also large enough to store the laptop in when we were not in the room.

Technology has made it a smaller world. I fired off a message to Jason asking him to water the house plants. The weather on day one- about 80 degrees, sunny and breezy. We were tired from a long day and ordered room service for dinner. The room had a table and chairs and they sat it up just like it was in one of the resort restaurants- complete with centerpiece.

Tired, we called it a night at 10:30 pm (12:30 am in Ohio).


Day 2
3/23/11 Wednesday

I woke up at 6:15 local. My body clock seldom changes even on vacation. I felt like I had slept in. I checked out the coffee maker in the rom. Thanks to the upgrade we did not get a coffee maker, we got an espresso maker. Yuck. We never used it. It was a 5 minute round trip morning walk for a couple of cups of coffee. After our coffee on the balcony we went to the buffet near our building the Moon Tower. The breakfast buffet was fine. Resort average, no complaints. They had cook-to-order omelets and most anything you could think to have. The fresh fruit was really good. Patti had strawberry juice. We were there at 8:30 am, what I would call ‘breakfast prime time’. There were plenty of tables, great service and no waiting even for the omelet I ordered.

We went to a Palapa near the beach and read and watched the waves. Most of the beach was red flagged for heavy surf. I walked out about thigh high deep. There were yellow flagged areas bordering the resort you could swim/wade in the ocean at. We tried a couple of the ‘Miami Vice’ tropical drinks we had heard about. They were cold and frozen, but way to sweet for either one of us.

We then went to the upper pool. It was a little cool at first but you would quickly get used to it. Patti and I stopped by the Lobby bar. Bartender Manu took good care of us. I had some blue Agave tequila. Several actually, and put a hurting on some Canadian club and coke. I was 0 and 4 with bar games against Manu. We were tipping and the drinks kept getting stronger. We meet Tammy and Will from Pittsburg and they became our vacation buddies.

Back to the room for a nap. Afterwards we did some reading on the balcony. We had dinner at the main buffet. The selection is ok, but they could use a few more choices. The food quality was good.

The resort is one of the older ones but is still in good shape. It is very nicely landscaped. There is a lush tropical atrium in each tower that is 7 stories tall with creeks running through them.

Day 3
3/24/11 Thursday

I forced myself to stay in bed till 6:15. Got up and relaxed on the balcony reading and watching the ocean. Strenuous, I know. Even at 6:15 I am up to late to catch a sunrise over the ocean. But I’m sure not going to set an alarm to get up any earlier.

We had room service for breakfast. The ham and cheese omelets were very good. I think room service food quality is actually a notch up from the buffet. We went down to the palapas and sat under the shade for a while. Before noon though, we were hot and moved to the upper pool. The pool is a little cool getting in but we got adjusted quickly. We found out the upper pool is slightly heated. The key word there being ‘slightly’.

Usually by now we would have been best friends with the swim up bar staff. But the water in the lower pool was colder and we had very good pool side waiter service. (we never did use the swim up bar). We had a couple of chairs under some palms and with the shade and breeze it was much cooler than the beach. A sunny day, warm and humid about 84 degrees. Even with sun screen we were getting plenty of sun.

We went to the Tex-Mex beach buffet for lunch. It was ok, again could have used a few more choices. Not a big complaint just an observation. Back to the room for the afternoon nap/read on the balcony routine.

We went to the Mexican restaurant for dinner. For the appetizer Patti had taqitos and I had a crab quesadilla. My salad course was shaped chilled cream corn topped with bacon. It was very good. My entrée was shredded BBQ duck with onions and cilantro with tortillas, also good.

A late movie on HBO then lights out.

Day 4
3/25/11 Friday

Our 34th Anniversary! After the buffet we went to our beach spot. The waves had calmed some so I went out into the ocean for a bit. The waves were still strong. The water temp was about the same as the pool, maybe slightly warmer. Got a couple of cheese burgers from a carry out window near the beach. They were very good.

For our anniversary dinner we had decided to go to the Italian restaurant on the resort. The ‘Rosato’ had a 90 minute wait. We used the wait time wisely and had a few drinks with Tammy and Will at the lobby bar. Patti also met a lady from the Cleveland area who worked for the gas company. Patti did a little networking for Heather.

The Italian dinner was outstanding. It seems like the best Italian restaurants we have been to have been in Mexico. Maybe we could get outstanding Mexican in Italy. When I went to check us in at the Italian restaurant there was a guy throwing a fit over complying with the dress code. Yeah the dress code was harsh- you had to wear pants and a shirt with a collar. He was wearing a t-shirt. He was throwing a fit because he was from Italy, “I’m Italian. This is an Italian restaurant. The dress code does not apply to me.” Really?

I had eggplant parmesan for an appetizer and Patti had layered tomatoes and cheese. We shared a pasta lasagna course for two that rocked. For entrées Patti had beef tips in sauce over a potato type cake. I had bacon wrapped grilled shrimp . Our taste buds were doing back flips. The desert was a sampler plate of various treats including crème brulee. Since it was our anniversary that also brought out a small chocolate cake with a misspelled ‘Happy Aniversary’ iced on it. A thoughtful gesture.


Day 5
3/26/11 Saturday

I slept in till 7:15! Oh no, I am sleeping away the vacation! I was a little late to reserve a palaypa so I reserved a shady spot at the upper pool. A new routine, lasting rest of the vacation. We had breakfast at the main buffet, food quality was better than beachside.

Went to the pool and visited with Tammy and Will. It was their last day. The pool had warmed up a bit. We enjoyed walking around with a drink in our hand. For lunch I tried the little seaside seafood place ‘La Cervicheria’. I had read prior to coming that they had good fish tacos and they were excellent. They also had a very good made to order shrimp cocktail with a chunk of avocado garnish. Patti had chicken strips and quesadilla from the take out window.

Vacations being hard work, we continued the tradition of the afternoon siesta. After the nap I was updating my journal when a felt a rain drop. It was followed by 3 more. I looked up- a rogue cloud. That was the extent of the afternoon shower.

Service at the resort has been outstanding. We heard from a bartender that with tips they make about 22 dollars a day for an 11 hour day- Two dollars an hour. He said it was good money. The only service at the resort maybe lacking is housekeeping. It was inconsistent. Some days they did not come, other days no water. You could call and get water sent up. No major complaint, again just an observation. Service at the pool, bar and restaurant were very good.

My star ratings- 1 being bad, 5 being outstanding
Overall: 4
Value: 5
Landscaping: 5
Pool: 3.5
Beach: 3.5
Room service: 4
Buffets: 3.5
Mexican restaurant: 3
Italian restaurant: 5
Seafood restaurant: 5
Coffee bar: 4
Front desk: 3 (were not entirely truthful on the cost of an upgrade)
Housekeeping: 3

Day 6
3/27/11 Sunday

We had a little excitement this morning. We were in the living room and both heard dripping. I went into the bedroom and saw a small puddle by the door. I looked up and saw that water was dripping from an air conditioning panel. I called the front desk:

Dan: Yes, this is Mister XXXX in 410. We have a water leak.
Desk: No problem sir. Would you like 1 bottle or 2?
Dan: No bottles. Water is leaking… we need maintenance.
Desk: Oh, please do not be afraid we will fix it.

They finally got the message.. To funny. It took two trips but they were responsive and got it taken care of.

Today was a rerun of yesterday- buffet, pool, buffet, nap. That night we sat in the lobby bar for a drink and listened to the entertainment staff host music trivia. We got an ice cream cone from the coffee bar and headed back to the room.

Day 7
3/28/11 Monday

The last full day. We had a leisurely morning in the room, coffee on the balcony. We went to the main buffet for breakfast. Then to the upper pool. (our most recent routine). It seemed every day the upper pool was a degree or two warmer. Slightly cool still, but it only took a minute to get used to it.

Read, relaxed, had a few drinks. Back to the room around 1 pm. We took an afternoon siesta. I went down and reconfirmed our flights and pick up times for tomorrow- no changes. We ended up skipping lunch and used the Jacuzzi one last time on the balcony.

We were mostly packed before dinner. We went to the main buffet again. This time they also had an Asian buffet since they had just started remodeling the Asian restaurant. After dinner we went to the coffee shop in the lobby for coffee and ice cream.

Spent a few minutes in the gift shop, not a great selection or prices but we did get some coasters. Every night there is entertainment in the theater but we usually did not go. This night was a Michael Jackson tribute. It was about 45 minutes long and was not bad. We then headed back to the room to finish up packing.


Day 8
3/29/11 Tuesday
Trip home

Had a wake up call for 6 am and we were in the lobby in the lobby by 6:40 to check out. Carlos had told us an aprox. cost for our upgrade. He was off by about 160 dollars. We did not figure that out till we got home. Our shuttle was on time at 7am. Check in at the airport went smoothly. We had breakfast at the airport and Patti bought a few birthday presents for some coworkers in the gift shops.

It was a 2 hour flight to Atlanta we had a 2 hour layover. Most of that was taken up by immigration and customs. Very slow this trip. I think the must have had about 6 international flights land about the same time. By the time we got to the gate for the Delta flight we only had to wait 20 minutes to board.

A 1 hour flight and landed in Dayton at about 6pm. Josh and Ashley met us in front of package claim. Got home and got mostly unpacked. We had Taco Bell for dinner. Hey, we didn’t have tacos the entire time we were in Mexico.

It was 86 degrees the day we left Cancun, we had snow flurries the day after getting home. A good time and good value.

Techno travel...

.

I remember not long ago when preparing for a trip meant buying a good used paperback or two and a couple of rolls of film.

Now?

1. Download 2-3 ebooks into the Kindle.
2. Does the resort have wifi for the laptop?
3. Don’t forget the cell phone charger.
4. Clear the memory card for the camera.

Well, thanks to a tax refund among other things it looks like we are going on a vacation after all. Booked into the Fiesta Americana Condessa late March. trip journal to follow...

Side note:
<---- That kinda looks like my cat Sandy except the cat in the pic has little furry things. Sandy does not - and Sandy isn't going on vaction either. Even if he does like playing in the suitcases.