Spring Break in Florida

I had a wonderful spring break. We had a week off and it was nice to have some time off for classes. 4 students, Jacob, Todd, Patty, my roommate Julie, and I (left to right in the picture)loaded up my Honda and set out Friday afternoon around three and headed to the New Tribes Mission Headquarters in Sanford, Florida. There was still snow on the ground and we were eager to get to warmer weather.


Our first stop was Niagara Falls. Night was coming on and and the cold prompted us to head south. We wandered around for about a half hour or so, climbed back into the tight car and continued south. My roommate, Julie, was eager with anticipation as we traveled because the farthest south she had ever been was Durham. We traveled through the night and were awoke by the occational announcements that we had crossed another stated line.

Morning dawned somewhere in Virginia or maybe North Carolina. We were all tired and cramped from the long nights drive. We stopped at a rest area and unfolded ourselves from of the car. We had a picnic breakfast of bagels and bread. The air was cool, the sun inviting, the flowers and trees were in bloom, and we enjoyed every minute of it. Some of us played Frisbee while others stretched out on the picnic blanket thankful for the space to stretch out. We all wandered to stretch our legs and take in the wonderful spring air and admiring God's wonderful creation. After a long while and a look at the map we got back on the road. We were half way there!


After several more hours of driving we were tired and hungry. I don't think anyone slept very well in the car. We stopped just across the state line in Georgia for lunch. The weather was warm and the trees were lush and green, birds chirped happily all around us, and even a few ants joined us for the picnic. After lunch we all laid out on the grass and rested. None of us wanted to get back in the car. We consoled ourselves with the fact that there was a beach about 1 1/2 hours away. With that in mind we crammed back into the car.


Georgia was new territory for most of us so we decided to get of the interstate and take the scenic route to St. Simmons Beach. We drove through the small towns looking at the scenery of the South. The highlight for the Canadians was the Piggly Wiggly store that we went into. They had never been in one. We made it to the beach in the late afternoon, all of us happy to see the water. It was windy and the water was cold but that didn't stop us from rolling up our pant legs and wading in it. We attempted to play volleyball but the winds were too strong so we all took to exploring the beach to see what we could find. A sting ray and a few jelly fish that had washed up on shore, hermit crabs and snails. Looking at us from a distance we probably looked like giddy 12 year olds not college kids.

We booked rooms at the Headquarters guest house starting Sunday night it was Saturday night when we got to Florida. We tried calling the guest house to see if we could bump the reservation up to that night but could not get a hold of anybody. None of us wanted to spend another night in the car so we decided to try our luck. We made it to Sanford at 9 pm, Saturday night, tired and weary. We called security and told them our situation, they in turn called the hostess, who thankfully informed us that our rooms were ready and we could certainly come a day early. Praise the Lord, a bed to sleep in and a shower! Tommorrow, the beach!

Two of Todd's brothers Tim and Jeremy met us in Florida. We had a pretty exciting group. We spent most of the week at the beach, taking walks, playing volley and frisbee, building sand castles, digging holes, going for walks, boogie boarding, and my favorite laying on the beach blanket absorbing the sun. When we went to other places to, the Daytona Race Track, Blue Springs State Park, NASA, or the parking lot anyway it was too expensive for us to get in.


We left Florida, Saturday morning, weary and tired from the wonderful week that we had. It snowed in Virgina and we almost turned around and headed back. We got back to school Sunday morning, the trip home was quite a bit faster and less eventful than on the way down since we didn't stop as much. The sun was shining in and it was warm, a nice welcome home. We were all thankful that it wasn't snowing! We all headed off to our homes to catch up on some much needed sleep. What a great week!