Tobin Family Website

We are on our way back home after a fun week in Florida.  We were supposed to check out on Sunday morning, but there were Thunderstorms rolling in this afternoon (Saturday), so…..after spending all morning in the pool we loaded up the car and headed north.  We left the resort at about 2PM and drove about 350 miles and landed just across the Georgia border for the evening.  We plan to get up early tomorrow and may well drive the 670 miles the rest of the way home.  It will be good to get home, and I don’t plan to return to work until Wednesday.  

Yesterday, we spent the day traveling down into the Keys.  We didn’t go all the way to Key West…we stopped at Long Key.  It was an enjoyable and beautiful day trip (and we avoided a rainy day at the resort).  We ended back up at the resort in the evening for a dip in the pool & hot tub.  I will post more pictures after we return, but have included an early evening shot of the pool below.

 

Delaney celebrates her 8th Birthday on Monday, so we hope to be back home in time to celebrate. 

I have not been making updates to the website as promised because since the resort has limited internet access.  They have an internet room with about 8 computers, but they are constantly being used by kids staying at the resort.  That is ok, because we have been having a blast doing other things! 

We have been pretty much hanging at the pools and having a great time between thunderstorms!  We left VA on Friday morning and took a leisurely three dayas to drive the 1,024 miles to Weston.  We drove nearly 600 miles the first day and stayed in Savannah, GA/.  The second day, we drove about 300 miles to Melbourne, FL.  We drove the rest of the way (about 160 miles) on Sunday. 

Sunday morning, I managed to hit a curb in the parking lot and gashed our sidewall.  Fortunately, the tire did not deflate….but since it was tirewall damage, I needed to get it fixed.  Unfortunately, there were no tire places open on Sunday that carried the 235-55-R19 tires that I needed for the Pacifica, so we had to chance it for the last 160 miles.  On Monday morning, I was able to get two new front tires at the local Chrysler dealership.  Since there is only one brand that makes tires for this car, tey are outrageously expensive.  The tires were $244 each!!  It cost me as much for 2 tires on this car as it did for 4 tires on my 300.  AT least we had 30,000 miles on the other ones so I didn’t feel too bad. 

Monday and Tuesday were spent mostly in the pool and around the Weston village.  It is a great wandering pool with a waterfall in the middle.  The kids have become really good swimmers, and are having a blast.  They also have a hot tub that is the size of a small pool.  It is nice in the evening after a swim to get you warmed back up before going back to the room.  The pools are open untill 11PM, and we have been staying until closing most nights.

Yesterday, we ventured into te Everglades and spent the day seeing the sights there.  It was absolutely beautiful, and teaming with wildlife, including exotic birds, snakes, bugs and (of course) alligators.  We drove from east to west and stopped about midway at the Seminole Indian reservation.  They had a museum that we toured.  The kids really enjoyed it.  I bought each of the kids real alligator heads (teeth included).  It is a bit morbid, but also pretty neat. 

After the musem, we trekked the rest of the way across the peninsula to Naples and then ended up at Marcos Island where we spent the rest of the afternoon swimming in the Gulf of Mexico.  It was absolutely beautiful there.  The beach we went to was across a lagoon (that we had to wade across).  As such, there were very few people out there.  Fortunately, there were no nude sunbathers (I thought we might get a surprise since it was somewhat remote).  There were MILLIONS of shells there.  We got some beautful intact shells.  The water was 87 degrees and there was practically no surf.  You could wade out several hundred yards and it was still only waist deep.  It was really fun!

Today we will likely stay close to the resort.  I want to make a trip down into the keys before we leave, but that may come tomorrow.  We check back out on Sunday and make the trek home.  We will probably do te return trip in two days, but we will see.  I will post pictures when we get back to VA.