Day 4 - Bienvenido a Miami...

Frankie enjoys a Florida rest stop.

TGIF!!

You might read that as 'Thank God It's Friday' but we're changing it (because we can do that..) to 'Thank Goodness It's Florida'!!  We're here - and officially arrived in Miami mid-Friday afternoon.  We were planning to be here earlier but after such a long day Thursday (we had dinner at 11pm), we decided we would sleep in until 8am and leave for Miami at 9am.

It all went off without a hitch, though when the alarm went off, Terri and I both said to each other "I don't wanna get up..."  Thankfully, we have two wonderful pups who refused to let us sleep any longer...Did you sense the sarcasm there?  Can you guess who's writing this yet?

If you said 'yes' and 'Jeremy all the way' - you are correct!!

This last drive took us down the coast of Florida.  When we looked at the drive on a map, we were expecting lush greenery on one side and clear, blue ocean on the other.  Instead, there was lush greenery on the one side and lush greenery on the other.  Apparently, one inch DOES = 10mi – and we could not see the ocean from the highway.  Speaking of the highway, more four lane interstate again – and because we left a little later today, it was wide open and smooth driving….Until just outside Ft. Lauderdale…then things slowed to a crawl for a bit.

I wish I had more excitement to tell you about from the drive, but it was pretty straightforward today.  Oh wait, we DID see a truck that had this on the side of it: Capt. Chips Artistic Taxidermy & Lawn Care.

Ok, does this mean this company will provide you with formerly LIVE lawn ornaments?  If so, creepy!  “No, don’t trim that hedge into a dog, just stuff my dog!!”  

Ya, that IS very creepy.

Once we got to Miami, Terri took over and navigated us to the hotel.  Having been here so many times, she knew exactly where we were headed as soon as we got onto the Palmetto Expressway.  I was like ‘Let’s get out the Garmin!!’ as I was oblivious, despite having been here myself a few weeks ago and having driven up and down the Palmetto.  I have some studying to do!!  If I know where I’m going, I’m totally confident driving…if I don’t, I’m VERY nervous….hence my pal Garmin.

We’re now staying at the ‘Candlewood Inn & Suites’ and when Terri looked up a description of the room this morning, it said ‘studio suites’, which had her intrigued.  I was skeptical for a number of reasons.  Let me explain:

Day 1 – Quality Inn & Suites (in Council Bluffs, IA) – A mediocre suite at best with a horrifying bathroom but unbelievable fast wireless….like, unreal fast!!  I downloaded three TV shows overnight – and anyone who downloads TV shows knows that’s pretty awesome!  That bathroom though – ugh!

The tub at the Quality Inn

Day 2 – Drury Inn (in Paducah, KY) – We found this one as a 2^nd choice after the Comfort Inn we were booked into wouldn’t allow pets.  It was decent with a better bathroom and mediocre wireless.

Day 3 – Howard Johnson (in Jacksonville, FL) – What a DUMP.  I didn’t realize there was that much menthol spray left in the world.  WOW – that room was MINTY.  If I took that aroma, bottled it, swished it in my mouth and spit it out, when I breathed on you, I’d freeze your face.  It was seriously stinky!  And the bathroom – whoa.  I’ll take a good bathroom in a crappy room any day of the week versus the opposite.  A poor bathroom is a sign of a poor hotel, in my opinion.  And the wireless – it was out more than it was in.  I even called the front desk to inquire if there was a wireless issue; “No Sir there is not, but I’ll reset it for you ok?”  Now, imagine that in a monotone, I-hate-my-job southern drawl and you can likely read between the lines like I did (Sir, go p!ss up a flagpole).  HoJo, you used to be a decent hotel at a reasonable price, ‘wha happen?’

So, Terri goes in and grabs a cart for all of our crap (travelling with dogs IS like travelling with kids!) and comes out with an amazed look on her face. 

“This room is unreal, just wait,” she says.

“Uh huh.”

My darling wife was right – as usual.  This room is amazing.  It has a kitchenette, a huge flat-screen HDTV, a full-size fridge and a CLEAN, awesome bathroom!  That’s not even the best part….they have complimentary guest laundry and a mini grocery store that is based on the honor system.  Everything has a price on it.  You take something, you mark it off on a little slip along with your room #, drop it into the slot and they put it onto your bill!  It’s very cool.  The hotel also has a huge park next door for the pups.  Save the best for last!!  If we have to stay here for a week or two until we get our stuff/utilities set-up, not going to be a problem!

Our new mini grocery store - until we hit up Target.

Groceries on the honor system!  Amazing!

One last thing about the pups.  Going into this trip, we were VERY leery about what might lie ahead.  Frankie with her barfing, Jonny with his growling and then the heat.  We were really worried about them spending three full days in the car, but they have been amazing!  Yes, they were drugged most days but they slept and got up when we stopped to let them stretch their legs.  They endured – and as I said to Terri, as miserable as they might be, they have their Masters with them so it makes it less miserable.  As stupid as this will sound, I actually think the time has allowed us to bond a bit more with them – especially Jonny (the new kid).  He is truly Mr. Cuddles and loved laying on the lap of whomever was in the passenger seat.  Frankie was happy to have the back seat to herself.  Neither of them barfed…Until we got into the hotel room here…and it was Jonny, not Frankie!!

Frankie & Jonny sleeping - how is that comfy Jonny?

We’re now settled in but Terri got a migraine aura within 15-minutes of being here.  She took a wafer and is now resting comfortably.  She has some studying to do for work tomorrow so hopefully the wafer will kick-in allowing her to do some reading.  The dogs are sleeping and I’m doing laundry.

Our new life begins…

Oh, podcasts…Here’s what we listened to (and liked) today and yesterday.  As an aside, I would recommend each of these podcasts.  They are fantastic!

The Nerdist – interviews with Ana Gasteyer, Carla Gugino, Connie Britton, Michael Emerson.

Here’s The Thing (by Alec Baldwin) – interviews with Michael Douglas, Lorne Michaels, David Letterman.

Jay & Dan Podcast – TSN.  Even if you don’t watch ‘Sportscentre’, this pod is hilarious!  Oh did Terri and I laugh!

Rich Eisen (NFL Network) – interviews with Kyle Chandler, Erin Andrews, Adam Carolla, Alec Baldwin, Matt Damon, Larry David.