Sand and Sunshine

I have to apologize for being so spotty with posts the past two weeks. I did have the best intentions, but life somehow got into the way. The good news is that my grandma is home from the hospital after residing there for months.

And now for a photo brigade from the trip. This is where I got to spend a few hours (more than plenty of time to get a perfectly wonderful sunburn, despite three layers of SPF 50…) of my 24 hours in Florida. Trust me, I had tourist written all over me:  my camera was going off at every little object, I had a gorgeous tomato red sunburn, my Minnesota accent stuck out in the middle of the south…

**GIRLY ALERT** I did walk out of Florida with a cool new pair of DKNY sunglasses, bright purple skinny leg jeans (that I might show an outfit sometime later), an assortment of stuff from Forever21, and a bunch of new Victoria’s Secret supplies. I honestly didn’t mean to spend that much. They trapped me, forcing me to expand my closet. They will do that, you know.

After the short Florida stay, we were on our way at 06:00 back towards the lovely Minnesota. I have to admit I slept all but a half hour that my sister drove. I felt bad, however, she didn’t seem to mind. Five hours after starting out, just shy from Birmingham, AL, our engine started smelling hot despite the meter telling us it was normal temperature. We did the grown up thing and stopped at the next gas station we saw where some very nice gentlemen highly recommended we go visit a mechanic. Naturally, this lead to a several hundred-dollar bill and put us several hours behind our schedule. So much for being able to stop in Nashville, TN. Bummer.

We made it just short of Indianapolis, IN by night one, and decided we didn’t want to make it through the city. We saw housing signs on the next exit, perfectly placed for us. Sadly, the first place was full to the brim. Easy fix, just go to the second and only other place listed on the sign. We walked in to find mannequins in the entry. We must have been too tired to be terribly creeped out. A clue as to the environment of this place: a two queen sized bed room was only $39 for the night. True story. There was an ambiguous stain on the seat of one of the chairs in the room. There was dried toothpaste in the sink. The playboy channel was free. I am concerned this is the place is where hookers go to die.

But we made it out alive, and, as far as I can tell, well and disease free.

 

Lucky Find

To be honest, these two beauties are the real reason that I ended up with the poor, dilapidated little house picture I posted yesterday. My sister even suggested we stop. Whoa. But you can see why. I was afraid they were going to fly away before we could turn around, however, they didn’t even get scared when I creeped up next to them. Lovely life.