St Augustine and Ponce Inlet 10/30/10

Lighthouse at Ponce Inlet Sunset from outside seating at Down the Hatch restaurant on Ponce Inlet

The Fountain of Youth in St Augustine

Kirk and I drove North along the East coast to St Augustine. Not so much for the tour, but to drive around and find places that we would like to visit while we are here. It is only about a 30-45 minute drive, so will be easy to get back to when we have the time. St Augustine is a quaint town. It is the oldest town in the nation. San Marcos Fort, Matanzas Inlet, Flagler College, the Fountain of Youth, and many unique shops are just a few of the attractions in St Augustine. That evening we drove south along the east coast to Ponce Inlet for dinner at Down The Hatch. Now this is a pretty cool place. Prior to seeing a beautiful sunset, we were able to see a few dolphin in the inlet. The lighthouse on the inlet was also nice!

Minnesota trip 10-19-10 to 10-24-10

Lunch at Cocoa Beach after Kirk picked me up at the Orlando airport.

Adyson's Girl Scout troop served at the Women's Prayer Breakfast that I was able to attend in MN.

My beautiful girls, Bella and Adyson.

Bella at the Aquarium in the Mall of America.

After only spending 2 days in Florida I (Reina) flew out of Orlando Int'l airport to Minnesota. I really miss the grandkids (my kids too) and like Kirk says "she has to get her grandbaby fix". Bella (Ben and Nicki's daughter) was staying with the girls as Ben was in harvest and Nicki was going to classes for her work. So I was able to spend time with little Bella. She has grown so much since I saw her in July. She is so happy and fun. We took her to the Aquarium at the Mall of America. I was so sad to have to see her go back home, but I know her mom and dad missed her too. She is going to be a big sister this coming May, 2011. I think it is great that her and her sibling will be so close in age. Adyson was a joy as usual. She is in Girl Scouts (Brownies) now and loves it. I also got to see her in her swimming class. Her Brownie troop served the Women's Prayer breakfast the saturday I was there, so we all signed up to go to support her. I also won the big door prize at the breakfast...how fun! We did so many things while there, but I did miss Kirk and was glad to be home. When Kirk picked me up at the airport we drove to Cocoa Beach and had lunch, then drove over to the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral. We didn't get to tour the Center as it was close to closing time, but will go back when we can.

Headed toward Florida 10-15-10 to 10-17-10

We left Mission, TX 10/15 and headed East. Unfortunately, we have not sold our Chrysler, so I had to follow Kirk all the way to FL. The car is not towable and we have our jeep that is towable. So, fortunately, we have 2 cars while we are here. Our first stop was Vinton, LA. We found a nice little RV park just off I-10 and stayed the night. While there, we had excellent cajon food at a local restaurant (sorry, but I don't remember the name). We left the next morning and stayed that night in Gulf Shores, AL. Now that's a place that is very difficult to spend just one day. We stayed at the State Park which is great and drove downtown to the Shrimp Basket. Some of the best shrimp I've ever had. While at the restaurant a lady at the table near ours asked if we wanted tickets to the Brad Paisley concert for the next night......UGH!!.....I had to say no because we were leaving the next morning. For a brief moment I thought about staying one more night just to go to the concert, but it really would have thrown us off our schedule. She was giving them away as she was also leaving that night. She did manage to give them to one of the waitresses. The beaches are awesome at Gulf Shores. We will definitely go back when we can spend more time. After reluctantly leaving Gulf Shores, we headed toward our destination. We arrived at Flagler Beach, FL near where I would be working, and spent the night at Beverly Beach RV Resort on the beach. We were staying there only one night as the next day we would look for a park/resort where we could stay for the 3 months that I would be working here. Flagler Beach is awesome. We ate at one of the restaurants on the beach (The Golden Lion) with outside seating (most have outside seating that overlook the ocean). The people we've met so far are so nice and informative. We drove around and searched for an RV Resort the next day and found the Encore RV Resort in Ormond Beach. It's a nice sized park with everything we need and only 15 minutes from my work.

Nate and Lindsey's Wedding 10-10-10

One week before we were to leave The Valley in Tx, Nate (Kirk's son) and Lindsey were getting married near Houston, TX. Kirk and I drove there for the weekend (it's about 6 hours one-way). We did not have enough time to take the RV so we found a great place to board Lily and Chuy (they love this girl, she trims their nails, bathes them, takes them for long walks, lets them be together in a room of their own instead of a kennel, and even expresses the glands...ewww! All this for $15/night per dog) and headed off in the car for The Woodlands, TX. The wedding was very small but lovely. I do believe they are a wonderful match and really compliment each other. Nate's mom made all the flowers and did a great job. Nate and Lindsey's good friends (Aaron and Misty) graciously opened their home for the reception. The preacher did an awesome job marrying them, and the weather could not have been more perfect. Best Wishes Nate and Lindsey!