Back in Orlando

Well, it’s been a long, tiring week, but we’re back in Orlando, Florida, getting ready to head home tomorrow…Well, Shel and Quinn go home tomorrow, I go on a business trip (direct from Orlando) to San Jose, California.  Whew.  I’ll be tired by the time I get home.

So, how was the rest of the trip?

• Getting to Florida:  We were flying a bit of a Milk Run to get down here, and our plane had trouble with it’s parking brake before we even left Calgary, so we missed our first connection in Las Vegas.  As it turned out, even though we had to wait a little longer, we got on a flight direct from Vegas to Orlando (rather than the original Vegas-Charlotte-Orlando route we were supposed to take).  The down side is that we got into our hotel pretty late at night.
• Orlando Parks:  First, we spent 3 days at the Disney Parks.  First day at the Animal Kingdom, which is basically a Disney Themed Zoo.  It was well done and we really enjoyed it.  That evening we spent at Epcot Centre.  Also fairly cool.  The Second day we went to the “Magic Kingdom” which is very similar to California version.  And the Third day we went back to Epcot.  I certainly enjoyed it more than I thought I would.  The Fourth day was spent at the Universal Studios Parks (there are two).  I can tell you that by the end of the fourth day we were getting pretty tired.
• Cape Canaveral:  After being at the parks for 4 days, we spent a couple days in Cape Canaveral.  Mostly relaxing, but the high point for me was watching the launch of a Delta II rocket carrying a GPS satellite to orbit.  Very awe inspiring, but in some ways anti-climactic.  You don’t get all the cool views like you do on TV, just — WOOSH — and it’s a speck in the sky.  I tried to take picures and video, and while this isn’t MY video, mine’s not TOO different from this.  The rest of the time in Canaveral was spent resting or going to the Kennedy Space Center.
• Cruising: After that, we had a three day cruise down to Nassau, Bahamas.  Nice little trip.  The first night at sea was very windy and we all were a little green from the rocking of the ship.  Dinner was not easy, but the next day we woke up in Nassau and spent the day poking around the market and shops, bought a few little trinkets, and then went to a beach.  Sadly, because of the wind, our snorkeling excursion was cancelled and the waves at the beach were really too big to enjoy swimming, so we went back to the boat for the evening.  What can you do?  The next day was an “at sea” day heading back to Port Canaveral.  The weather was BEAUTIFUL.  Great day at the pool, mini golf, water slides, the whole nine yards.

We had to get off the ship early (up at 5:45) in the morning, so now we’re back at a hotel in Orlando.  shelley and Quinn go home tomorrow (another Milk Run) and I travel with them to Philadelphia, then they go Las Vegas-Calgary and I go to San Jose, California from a business trip — one more week on the road.  Ah well, others want the computer now so I’ll let them have it.  More later I guess.