It is hot in Florida, mid 70's which was a pleasant surprise having come from cold Washington, suddenly we did not need our jackets and jumpers. We had to walk about a mile to the bus stop to get the number 11 to the airport to collect our car. The train stations are not in a central location. We just missed a bus so had to wait 25 mins for the next one and then it was about 30 minutes to the airport. We were renting a car from Alamo and there was a queue, I was not impressed. Linda was dispatched to find a Starbucks, which she did and returned with my cappuccino. It took an hour to get to the front of the queue. We then completed the admin process and walked to the car lot to select a car, I had to try a few out before deciding on a Toyota Camry in sky blue. I like driving automatics as it is easy and it has Bluetooth for my country music as well as cruise control. We then drove to our hotel at Buena Vista, Orlando, it was a Hilton Homewood suite, which means you get a bedroom and lounge. We unpacked and had a coffee, before going for a drive. Linda wanted to visit the shops and so we went to the Premium Outlets to have a look round. I needed a pair of shorts for the next stage of our trip, so tried a few on and found that due to my weight loss I could get into a 34" pair, Linda was not amused as they were smaller than hers! However, she has now been down the gym and swimming several times to improve her figure, however it has not stopped her eating Reece's chocolates. I also got a few tops as all mine are too big.
The hotel had a free evening meal so we went and enjoyed it. It was BBQ chicken and vegetables, the sauce was probably not too good for you, but the chicken contains protein. However, to make sure I went to the gym in the evening for a short workout. On Wednesday I was up early and went for a run, I saw a few rodents hanging around, one was called Micky. As it was warm I did a short run, only 4.5 miles today. After breakfast, we went for a drive around Orlando, finding Linda's favourite shop, Walmart. She had a wander around and bought a couple of things. We drove around International Drive looking at the sights. It was warm so we went back to the hotel and sat by the pool and did some reading.
On Thursday I was up at 6.30 and went for a run, Linda was still asleep when I got back so I had to wake her up. We had breakfast, finished packing the cases and then it was on the road. We were off to Tampa and it was a simple journey, follow Interstate 4. I found a Starbucks so we could get our drinks for the journey, then it was engage cruise control, sit back and relax. It was about a two hour trip as we went past Tampa to St Petersburg to have a walk round. It had a nice marina with lots of posh boats (yachts I think is the technical term) and it was sunny. Linda was thirsty so we stopped for tea and she had a peanut butter chocolate mousse cake, I hate to think of the calories in it, I had nothing. We then drove back to Tampa and went to another Walmart for her and Staples for me, I got a nice new bag for work, bright red, at least I shouldn't forget to pick it up. We bought some fruit and salad dishes in Walmart for our dinner.
Next stop was the hotel which is near Tampa airport. We have to pack the cases properly tonight. Fortunately, the hotel had a gym so after dinner I had a hour and a half workout, Linda did about three quarters of an hour. We both felt better after this. We were watching the news about the death of Nelson Mandela on the news. It was interesting as we have visited South Africa and seen his cell on Robben Island. I also have a couple of his sketches on my wall at home. We have an early flight in the morning to San Juan in the Caribbean, we need to get up at 5am.