Waking up in Florida knowing we are almost home and free of the cats for a night were my thoughts first thing December 17, 2014. I love my cats but they were all screwed up with sleeping all day in the car and running around like maniacs all night.  I needed some sleep. We were headed to Tallahassee because it was the last Costco and the closest to home.

Roy informed me we were going to take the beach route and I had no idea how wonderful that was. We stopped for gas and Hardee’s for breakfast and steak biscuits were on sale 2 for $2.22. OMG, what a deal!!! Both the gas station and the Hardee’s were on the bad side of town, I am not sure Pensacola has a good side of town. We never found it.

After breakfast the first stop we made was a beach shop in Pensacola Beach. I got a shirt because all my long sleeve shirts were dirty and I was going to be in need once we got to Georgia before all our household goods got there. We also got another refrigerator magnet because you always need another one. Then it was off to the beach. The sand was the whitest sand I had ever seen. I made a heart and wrote our names in the sand, as I have done since our first trip to San Diego . We then walked down the beach and collected sea shells. Really good sea shells. California doesn’t have many sea shells and the ones they have are basically mussel shells. Pensacola Beach had a variation of shells and the beach was beautiful.

We drove thru the neighborhoods, thinking we could do this, except financially. The place was basically deserted being a chilly December day.  We would live there full-time. So nice being near the water. The water was probably warm but the air outside wasn’t so we didn’t test it. We got to a parking area and we stopped to walk on the beach some more and I saw my first dolphin in the wild. It was awesome. We collected more sea shells. I seem to be attracted to the transparent ones . I collected those and broken sand dollars that were huge. It was still cool out so we wandered back to the car. Plus it was almost lunch time and there was a beer at McGuires Irish Pub in Destin calling his name. http://www.mcguiresirishpub.com/index.php Roy had the Nathan’s special and a bowl of bean soup. I had fish and chips and it was a lot of food. I managed to eat all the fish but didn’t make it through all the chips. Didn’t need all the carbs anyway. Plus I had been munching on the Irish bread and butter. I love butter!  After we ate, we wandered thru the gift shop and couldn’t find anything we had to have. After seeing all the stuff we already own, it was hard to buy anything else we didn’t really need.

Back on the road and headed to Tallahassee. We drove thru all the small towns along the beach and it kept running through my mind “Could I live here? ” “Is this where I want to retire?” This is a hard decision when there is so much world out there.

Have you made this decision? If so, Why did you pick where you live? We know we want to be near water, Ocean is preferred, but there is the gulf, rivers and lakes. So much to think about, I am so glad we have a year plus to check out all these places we are interested in.

We made it to Tallahassee and by mistake I believed Residence Inn when they said they were pet friendly. They are for $100. Roy yelled them down to $50 for the night. They said they were going to have to have someone come in and clean up after the pets after we left? Roy let them know that he knew that was BS. We paid the $50 but we will never stay at a Residence Inn again, with or without pets. Best part we get up to our  room and the carpet is all wet. Not just damp but wet. The carpet cleaners must have just walked out. I get on the phone and start complaining. They charged $50 for pets and we have a room with wet carpet. I don’t think so. I told the guy at the front desk he better find me a room with dry carpet…and he did. The room was nice but I am sure the cats didn’t get $50 use out of it.

Since we had such a big lunch neither of us was really hungry, so we just hung around the hotel, playing online and watching TV. Roy did go across the street to the gas station to get Diet Coke because all they had was Pepsi. The hotel caters to Seminole students. We were right by the campus  which is why they charge for pets because of the college kids.

December 17, 2014,  we get up and go down for breakfast because it’s free. I had a bagel with cream cheese and jelly. I should have made a waffle but it’s always a hassle to get it out of the iron. We had a relaxing breakfast because we knew Costco didn’t open till 10. We take our time loading up the luggage/cats and head the direction of the Costco. It was an easy trip, straight down the road from the hotel. We got there before 10 but the Bass Pro Shop was open. We wandered through it for a while and couldn’t find anything we had to have. So out we go and Costco is finally open, YEAH!! We  knew we needed a couple of things that were left in the trailer. We couldn’t get too much because there wasn’t any room in the Jeep. The place was empty. Being so close to Christmas you would think they would have had more business but no one was there. In Tucson there is a long line at the register the minute they open. We took our two items and headed for home.

We made it home by 12 and had to wait for the realtor to give us the keys.  We are HOME! !

We have made many trips from Home, so I will have those next week. Georgia is a beautiful state with so much to offer everyone.

Happy Travels,

Kelly