Phillips family around the world in 68days

Day 31 –  October 31 – Halloween Weather – Very warm and muggy – 85f So the big day had finally arrived – Halloween in the USA. Unfortunately there had been a bit of an accident on the Saturday night on the way home. I hadn’t driven in the hire car since that night, so none of us had gone inside. Lucy had wet herself while sleeping when returning from Camp Winona – it was a very late night and it didn’t appear to be a big accident. However, when we went to get into the car to drive over to Deland – it smelled like an overused kitty litter try. Wow did that smell assault the nostrils. It was windows down the whole drive to Deland, Katie and Lucy were off to see Jessica at her place and I was tasked with the clean up job. Kathy and I attempted to find a detailer to help out, but as it was late in the afternoon, the only one open wasn’t taking walk in’s and was fully booked until next Tuesday. Damn. So it was too the internet that I turned for help – google so often the saviour. T...

Day 29-30 –  October 29-30 – Deland Football, Camp Winona, Sunday Roast at the beach Weather – We got some rain – but it’s still warm – most days sunny, some good surf Sorry for the lack of updates – we’ve been pretty busy this weekend – back and forth between Deland and New Smyrna. Saturday was a bit of an accidently busy day. We had planned to catch up with Kristin and Jessica and their kids and partners in the evening at Camp Winona for a Halloween thing, but then in the morning Mac mentioned that he had tickets to the Stetson University football match in town, and it was the Homecoming game – so a big game for the team. So I jump in on that and we went into town to see the first half of the game (The Gators vs Georgia game was happening later in the day and there was a watching party planned for back at the house). Anyway, we drove on in – and the whole area around the stadium was buzzing with tailgate parties, and marquees and huge camper vans, with people eating and drink...

Day 26-28 –  October 26-28 – The Beach, Discovery Cove Weather – We got some rain – but it’s still warm – most days sunny Ok – so probably a good time for an update. We’re starting to settle into a routine here – I like to get up and watch the sunrise – often with Lucy. Katie is working from home – so her hours are 2pm to 10pm, so not conducive to getting up at the crack of dawn… We typically hit the beach, and then have a swim, hang out with Wiley and Chi, have more swims – it’s a tough life. If Rusty’s not working, we will probably all go to the beach. Maybe do dinner together - So that’s pretty much a day in the life for us for the next few weeks. I think this is going to be a pretty cool spot for a few weeks. So, that’s the backdrop to the next few weeks – if I’m not blogging as much as I was, well, I’m probably just at the beach. I will go over the last few days  though, as we’ve done a few things that are a bit exciting – and then we have Halloween coming up as wel...

Day 24-25 –  October 24-25 – Deland to New Smyrna Beach Weather – Sunny – very warm, 28c Picking up the car, new condo by the beach, lots of swimming, Hanging out with Rusty, Chi and Wiley. Finally settled in to the Condo, which will be our base of operations for the next 3 weeks. We’re staying by, actually I should say, on , the beach.  We’re on the 5 th floor of the Moontide condo which, when the tide is high, looks like you are in a cruise ship. The view is straight out into the ocean, and that’s all you can see. I feel like the place should be moving like a ship sometimes. The condo is located across the road from Rusty and Chi, so we can walk across to each other’s place within 2 mins. It’s great to spend time with them again, and I know Lucy is loving spending time with Wiley who is 3 and a half – once again taking on role of older cousin very seriously. We have the beach right in front of us, however, with the recent hurricane, a lot of the sand was eroded and so...

Day 21-23 –  October 21-23 – Deland Florida USA Weather – Increasingly sunny – warm to very warm – high of 28c Homecoming Parade, Swimming in the lake, Stand-up paddle boarding Ok – So it 3 day update in one hit. Day one which was the Friday, also happened to be homecoming. This is a bit of a big deal here in Deland. Homecoming is a high school thing – and it’s connected to the local high school – Deland High which has around 3000 students in yrs 9-12. During homecoming, they close off the main street and then have a parade down town which goes for probably about an hour. During this weird event, they have a bunch of SUV’s, trucks, etc, where teachers, school and district board members and then students who are elected, stand out the top of a moon roof or on the back of a pick-up truck, and throw candy to the crowd. They have the homecoming King and Queen – seniors – so year 12’s, who are driven down the main street and people clap and it’s all very strange to me. But it’s ...