Florida - January 18, 2003 - January 29, 2003

We spent the 18th and 19th driving as far as Gainesville, Florida, overnighting on the 18th in Knoxville, Tennessee. On the 20th we made the short drive to Palmetto, Florida where Lynda's brother, Gerry, and his wife Cathy reside. While visiting Gerry and Cathy that weekend we stayed in a nearby Airbnb. Actually we had a room in a lovely house in a gated community not far from the Brown's. While there we also had dinner with Ryan and Anna and the kids, Olivia and Austin. Sunday, the 20th we caravaned with the Browns to Bonita Springs where Lynda and Gerry's cousin, Karen Hubert and her husband, Butch live. We visited for an hour in their high rise condo and then had a wonderful buffet brunch at the clubhouse in their gated community. After lunch we drove across Florida to Singer Island, near Palm Beach. Our friends, Lyn and Don Johnson, invited us to join them at their time share condo. We spent the week with them. Their time share was part of a vacation condo run by Marriott. We participated in Bingo (Tim won the Grand Championship!), trivia and a wine tasting and cheese party. Much time was spent playing Wizard (Tim was the Grand Loser!) and just generally sitting around visiting and drinking. We did take a drive into Palm Beach one day. Two highlights of the trip were driving by the iconic Breakers Hotel and driving by Mar-a-Logo, former President Trumps compound. The main entrance was blocked by a SUV with an armed Secret Service agent along side. Not very welcoming. While with the Johnson's we celebrated our 54th Wedding Anniversary. We also called Jilayne who was with Rob in Aruba celebrating her **th birthday. We left Florida on Saturday, January 28 for home. Overnight was spent in Ashville, NC and we arrived home on Sunday evening. We had a great time on a much needed vacation. The weather was good; temperatures mostly in the 70's. The only bad weather was Sunday coming home. It pretty much rained constantly from Ashville to Toledo. Unfortunately, we were greeted at home by six inches of snow and temps in the 20's. Oh well. We will always have memories of a nice time in Florida.