... in Kissimmee

January 17 - 23

From Nashville we drove as far as Lake City, which is an hour south of the GA/FL border. I had not been looking forward to Atlanta but I white-knuckled it right through the city with very few delays. When we finally arrived in Orlando we were greeted with sunny skies and 22 C. Total distance was 3300 km and final tally for gas was $120 USD. Love the Toyota Hybrid and US gas prices, which are more in line with reality.

Week One was spent at the Wyndham Cypress Palms in Kissimmee. We had a one bedroom/one bathroom condo that worked out well. After the long drive we chose to relax for most of the week. We went for lunch at the Golden Corral to meet with 17 members of my Timeshare Users Group (TUG), a forum for timeshare owners. The "lunch" lasted 6 hours! There were lots of interesting people and travel stories. Other activities were Disney Springs (a dining, shopping and entertainment district); the Morse Museum in Winter Park (the world's largest collection of Tiffany glass, jewellery & art which was amazing); and of course some limited shopping at our favourite US store, Ross (the dollar exchange rate is a strong deterrent).

We were watching Jimmy Kimmel's interview with actor Jeff Daniels. Daniels was telling the story of life in Michigan where he grew up. We laughed heartily when he spoke of snowbirds....."In Michigan we call them pussies"!!Read more