Davidson Travel

As you can see, Lindley (and her parents) left this morning to return home. Actually, my home since theirs has been gutted by the remodeler for remodeling. Anyhoo, their trip was the most recent travel for this Christmas vacation.

Let me give you an overview. Originally, Steve, Molly, and I were going to go to Disney World to meet up with my brother and his family. We had two rooms (one December 24-31 and one December 26-January 2) and John had one (December 26-December 31). We flippity-flopped rooms so that we were basically all over the World, but everybody had a place to stay.

Maribeth decided to return to Nashville and go with us to Disney while Mathieu is in Cuba, so instead of spending our life savings on airfare, we decided to drive to Orlando. So, Steve, Maribeth, Molly and I drove down on Christmas Eve. We all stayed in one room until the 26th when Maribeth and Molly moved over to the one John had but changed over to Molly. John, Anne, David, and Michael came down on the 26th and stayed in the one that we had but changed over to them.

Sam, Lynnette, and Lindley flew to Texas for Christmas with the Ogles. Once Mississippi State was headed to the Gator Bowl, Sam, Lynnette, and Lindley decided to join us in Orlando with a side trip for Sam and Steve to Jacksonville for the big game. So, S/L/L flew back to Nashville on the 28th and down to Orlando on the 31st. Meanwhile, Molly flew back to Nashville on the 30th.

By the time S/L/L got into town, we were out of two of the rooms and needed more space. So we packed up and moved to a 4-bedroom place where the towel bar fell off the wall, we couldn't check in until 6pm (crunching the timeline for Lindley's 7:30 bedtime, which got even crunchier when the requested crib was not in any of the four bedrooms), and one of the kitchen stools was broken. The saving grace of this place was that we could see all the Disney fireworks from our balcony.

Anyhoo, S/L/L flew back this morning. Steve, Maribeth, and I were originally going to drive back today. However, Maribeth could get a good deal at Shades of Green because she is now a military wife. Steve, on the other hand, needs to stay at Marriott for a few nights so he can get some more points so he can achieve his platinum (or gold or diamond or superstar) status and get free nights, or free ice, or something like it. So, he and Maribeth have decided to stay another week. This had been made possible by the fact that Steve's company recently was bought and he has some free time.

So, we three were going to all drive home on Thursday and Steve and Maribeth were going to fly back on Sunday. That seemed sort of crazy (the going home part - the other part seems perfectly sane after already having been down here a week), so I suggested they just remain here for a few days before the Marriott/Shades of Green trip. That seemed acceptable to them, except for my part.

Since there are a few bills that need paying at home, I needed to return and pay them. If Steve was going to fly home, he would need his golf club travel bag. We also have a car load of luggage and stuff from the family members who have come and left. So, I got a pretty good deal on a rental car that I will pick up tomorrow night and drive home Thursday, after I pack it to the gills with all the stuff that is currently packed in Steve's car.

Eventually we will all end up back home. I'm not sure exactly when, or how, or where. But I guess that's the good thing about our family - we're always at home when we're together.

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Today's blessings: taking Sam, Lynnette, and Lindley to the airport; First Watch with Steve; shopping with Maribeth; Red Lobster for dinner via Steve