Thanks to everyone who posted Christmas wishes, and sent us all the beautiful Christmas cards! Sorry I haven't posted much lately, but it has been a whirlwind few days.
After duty coverage for work, and working our designated holidays, we were preparing for my family to assemble at our house for our Christmas get together. Matt also got to come home right after Christmas and he really wanted to go to the Capital One Bowl for part of his Christmas present, so right after everyone left we (Matt, Jon and myself....Ali and Drew had school the next day) made a whirlwind trip for an overnighter in Orlando.
No visit to Disney, but we did eat again at House of Blues in DTD for dinner the one night we were there. They totally changed the menu (since we were there for Lisa's wish trip and Rachel's premiere performance on their stage) and no longer had the VooDoo shrimp appetizer, which disappointed Jonathan and I greatly!
(While I was there I had to get some pictures of Ragland Road and the
Lego Store, just as a reminder of my days working Security for Disney! Have spoon, will travel.....right Rosie???)
Sadly I wasn't able to meet up with Poolrat Pat while we were there......maybe next time Pat!
Then this past weekend Ali and I followed Matt back to Virginia for his report back to the Navy. We had some furniture for him to use in his apartment that he couldn't get in his car, and we got to help him shop for some other stuff while we were there to finish off his Christmas.
Now that I am finally back and getting into a routine following days off after Christmas, it is back to the tight schedules and extra hours at work in preparation for the second installation this spring of the big project I am working on. Hopefully since it is the second time around, it won't take me away quite as much as I was last spring.
I know it has been over a year now since we took the trip that is the subject of this TR, but I promise to finish it up really soon! (Okay, like THAT is going to appease some of you......lol) I do have most of the final update written, so............
And I promise to also make it back to so many of you guy's TRs and PTRs that I have been absent from. BTW, I also made a promise at New Year's to lose some weight, and be a lot nicer to my friends too, so you should all know now how serious I am about all these promises.......
I thought maybe the mods had closed out his TR due to inactivity or something...
I need to get an update and our xmas DLR photos posted too!
Eventually everything was done, and loaded in both vehicles for the trip home. Matthew and I headed down the hall to the front desk to check out while the rest of the family went to wait for us at the cars. We quickly checked out and joined them.
I was surprised when we got there that the Christmas decorations were still up, but I didnt take any more pictures since the camera was packed away in the car. When we got through eating we still had 3 Counter Service credits and 5 Snack credits left on our dining plan. We looked through all the available items and chose things we could easily eat on the trip home so we wouldn't have to make so many stops and we could get home a little quicker. We got some pre-made sandwiches, containers of fresh fruit, and bottles of water.
I let Matthew lead the way with his GPS, which put us on the Toll Road headed for the Florida Turnpike. After an anxious moment at the first toll booth we finally made it to the Turnpike. Time to get serious about the ride home as every glimpse of Disney hotels and parks was behind us. We hadnt gone but just a short distance when we reached an area where they were doing construction and there was a slight lane shift to the right. The SUV in front of Matthew must not have been paying attention because when the lanes all shifted to the right, he decided to continue going straight ahead
..right through one of the barrels. 
The driver tried to swerve and hit his brakes, which made him almost lose control but luckily he was able to come to a stop without causing a major pileup. It seems that almost every time we head home at some point there is a wreck that causes a long delay. For now at least, we werent in for a repeat. 
As a sick version of bumper cars began just ahead of us, I quickly moved to the right lane as Matthew hit his brakes hard to slow down. As I went by he managed to pull over behind me as traffic all around us slowed. With a number of cars damaged on the left side of the road and into the concrete barriers, we managed to slowly pass all of the mayhem on the right and soon return to normal speed. Im guessing a lot of traffic not far behind us wasnt as lucky getting past the mess. 
Marv's home!!! 
When he does he really wants us to go on a trip, and of course he would like to go to Florida again. Right now we just don't know when that will be so I can't start the planning process yet. 
