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We arrived back home last night a little after 6:00pm It was a mixed blessing. Part of us wants to be home yet part of us wants to be back with the family. The trip home was really something, the flights were packed like sardines and then we hit a little rough weather. The pilots were great and did everything they could to avert the rough spots but it still reminded me of being a sardine in a can that had been tossed into a blender. LAX was a joke. Those people that work there have to be the most unfriendly people I have ever met. When I asked them a question I was looked at and treated like I was a total "idiot that fell off the planet turnip". It was hard but I kept my cool as best as I could. I found myself getting frustrated alot.

Laurie was frustrated because she could not find anywhere to have a cigarette. She would have to go outside and then come back through security ech time she had to have one. I have no idea why she did not take some nicorette or something with her, we had talked about it before we left home. Anyway it sure makes me glad I quit that nasty habit long ago.We really enjoyed ourselves while in Florida. I found everyone that I had contact with pleasant, they have a tendency to treat everyone with diginity and respect. It was a nice change of pace for me.

Florida is a Beautiful State I am quite impressed with the cleanliness of it. I do not know what I expected but with the very large population in that area I guess I expected it to be more like Southern California. Boy was I wrong. I was also surprised to find highways that are layed out in a way that really makes sense. And I only came across a couple of places where the road was under construction, unlike Oregon where you cannot drive anywhere without the roads being under construction. Our highway engineers could learn alot from Florida.

The beach was interesting to me. I am used to the grainy sand we have here but in Florida it was more like a talcum powder. It actually supported your weight when you walked across it. And the beach was clean. Everywhere you looked there were people but I saw very little trash scattered around. When we walked on the beach we all left our shoes in a pile up by a grandstand where they preform music ( something you do not see in Oregon) I expected to come back to nothing. But when we came back, to my surprise the shoes were exactly as we had left them.

I had to laugh when I heard the news announcer warning everyone that the temp of the water had dropped by one degree and that the water temp was now 83 degrees. I know it had to do with the weather and the possibility of storms caused by the changes in water temp but the thought that crossed my mind was " what is this, is he afraid they might get a chill?" Our water temp here in Oregon never seems to get above 56 degrees, even in the hotest of summers. It was a nice treat to be able to walk in the water without freezing your toes off.

I think I can speak for both of us when I say that we are going to be making the trip again. Now that Laurie "knows" that she can do it.