Pancakes for breakfast at Kelly’s this morning. Chris and Kelly had plain while I decided to drop some chocolate chips into mine. Mmm, good. Despite having the pancakes, however, today is a sad day. Today we departed from Kelly for the last time, not knowing if or when we would ever meet up with her again. Its back to reality for Kelly now and soon for Chris and I as well.

Kelly, thank you so much for the wonderful time. You were a blast to hang out with and you made the trip worth while. We roughed it at times and you stuck with us and you were always there to calm the moments of frustration. The memories you helped create are enough to last a lifetime and for that, you will always be a great friend and never forgotten. Hopefully at some point down the road (pun intended) we can get together again and create some more lasting memories while remembering the time we packed ourselves into a Jeep and drove around the country together. It may have been 43 days this time, but you are the kind of person someone could travel with forever.

Well, back on the road. Not far for Chris and I today as we headed to Guelph, Ontario to hang out with some more friends we haven’t seen in a while. We played 9-hole round of golf with our friend Ted before returning to his place to play some poker and have dinner with him and his girlfriend Danielle. That evening we hit the town for pool, drinks, free pizza, and good times. Oh yeah, the good times were finalized when we got pulled over on the way home thanks to some yelling out the car window… *caugh, Ted, caugh*. Danielle was our designated driver, so we got to go free after the officer quizzed her. We laughed afterwards. An afternoon and evening well spent in Guelph. Thanks Ted and D.

Congratulations to Italy, the 2006 World Cup Champions of soccer.

As I had predicted, Italy took the World Cup. I never saw the match, but I found out the news on the front page of the paper this morning. Today, it’s off to Daytona Beach. We got up at 8:30am and headed out after breakfast.

All there is to say is, all that you have heard about Daytona Beach being a party beach is 100% true. A really long beach, Daytona Beach is cool in that you can drive on it, so everyone drives onto the beach and finds their own little space. But be careful. We parked next to a Jeep with two attractive girls hanging out and before we knew it, guys were flocking, creating a much louder spot on the beach. I can’t even imagine what this place is like during Spring Break. Pure mayhem I would imagine. No shell hunting here either. The waves were much too large mixing up the water with the sand.

We spent a couple of hours at Daytona Beach, but soon we had to head out to find a new campground to spend the night at. Today, we ended up at St. Augustine and grabbed a campsite at the local KOA situated at St. Augustine Beach. We were flabbergasted at the $8 they charged us for a third person, but we were happy to be able to rest after the driving. We had our dinner, swam in a very dirty pool (we found more than one band-aid), and played our usual Yahtzee. A special night tonight. I got my first Yahtzee since we started playing… and still lost to Chris.

After an excellent night of sleep, for me anyway, we had an early rise and headed off to Universal Studios. We arrived at the gate right at opening, 9:00am. By 9:30am we were in line for our first ride, The Hulk. By 10:00am, we had all ridden on the best rollercoaster ride we had all been on. Wow. What a way to start the morning. I seriously almost blacked out because my body wasn’t ready for such a mind-blowing experience so early. Still, I survived and it was fun.

We spent the entire day (9:00am - 10:00pm) walking around, seeing the attractions and shows, and sampling some of the food. Mainly, funnel cake. Chris and I both got the large funnel sundae. Chris managed to put his away, however, I couldn’t do it. It was too much. We made sure to put off the rollercoasters for a bit after. Universal Studios has changed slightly since I was last there around eleven years ago, but much of it has remained the same. The main difference was that it is now twice the size with the inclusion of Island Of Adventure.

The final show at 9:45pm was excellent and the fireworks were definitely the highlight. After the show, it was a quick ride back to the campground in which we lost a map right out the window on the highway. When we returned, it was straight to bed for our tired feet.

Not a bad morning today. Off to another beach, Miami Beach. Before we got there, we stopped at a very large memorial. The Haulocaust Memorial.

I won’t get into too much detail, but I’m sure you’ve all heard of it. It’s a black marble wall with hundreds of thousands of names listed on it, names of Jewish families sent to death by Hitler many years ago. Besides the light sound of a childrens choir repeating on speakers throughout the memorial and some car horns in the distant Miami rush of traffic, the memorial was silent. The statues presented at the memorial were striking. Many people couldn’t stand to look at them. I had a hard time myself. Powerful images of people suffering. I took a few photos of the giant hand that reaches to the sky, but that was all. Something to check out if you are ever in Miami.

After the memorial, it was off to the beach. The main strip down the Miami Beach coast is littered with huge hotels and condos. If I had to describe Miami in two words, they would easily be “Condominium” and “Construction”. Buildings were going up left and right. Soon we found a beach and spent a few hours swimming and of course, shell hunting. This beach was a gold mine for beautiful shells.

We had lunch, then it was back on the road, heading to Orlando. We wanted to get as close as possible as we had plans to hit Universal Studios and wanted to be able to get to the gates for opening. The first campground we had picked out was in Kimmissee. We got there at 5:40… CLOSED! We quickly picked out another and headed there, only to find out it was way too much money. It was another 20 miles to the next KOA, but we had no choice. In the end, it turned out great. We got a campsite for two nights and they gave us the second night for free. Excellent. Tomorrow, we hit the land of FUN. Because we had no firewood and we are on our last propane canister, we decided to hit up a Bob Evans down the street for dinner. Funny enough, that’s one of my uncles’ names.

Oh yeah. We played Yahtzee again. And again, Chris won and I lost. Go figure.

A beach day was planned for today, so we woke up around our usual time, had a morning dip in the pool, ate some breakfast, and headed out. Our destination was Nokomis Beach, just past Venice (Florida, of course).

After grabbing some lunch and tossing it in the small cooler we have, we headed off. Now, Nokomis Beach is located on Nokomis Island and half of the island is private real estate. So before parking for the beach, we headed down the island to survey the homes. This place is pure tropical paradise living. Homes so large they looked fit for kings and queens. Easily the largest homes I have ever seen. Even bigger than Beverly Hills. Yes, really!

These homes were so big, and the island is so narrow, that they would have a huge gated mansion on one side of the road, with matching beach houses on the other side overlooking the turqios ocean water than splashed against the white sand beaches that outlines the entire island. This is one place I highly recommend checking out. One, for the homes to see. Two, for the beach. This beach was similar to the beach on Sanibel Island. White sand, covered with millions of shells. We spent the entire time rotating between wearing the goggles to hunt for Sea Dollars (shells that have unique patterns on them) and other shiney objects and neat things. The Sea Dollars came by the hundreds, but they were 30 feet off shore and most were still alive, so finding a dead shell to keep was a true hunt. Both Chris and I came across a couple of Hermit Crabs who were in no way planning to give up their homes, but we still managed to find a bunch of available shells for taking. Did you know that taking a live shell from the ocean in Florida is against the law? We didn’t, but now do. And so do you.

Anyway, a great day at agreat beach. Again, highly recommended. When I’m rich, I’ll be keeping this location on my mind as a place to build a home, for sure.

Back to the house now after our day of swimming and shell searching for another fine meal cooked once again by Chris and since it’s the 4th of July, we just had to set off some fireworks. They have been going off since 10am this morning, so we thought we would join the fun and join in the celebration of our neighbouring country by blowing a small piece of it up. After, it was ice cream, Yahtzee, and laundry before heading to bed. Tomorrow, I’ve got an appointment to take the Jeep into the shop for an inspection. Let’s hope all is well.