After convincing the boys that they should come with on a camping trip to Florida, Bob and Monika had their usual back-and-forth about leaving “as soon as possible after December 25th” (Bob) vs. “relaxed preparation and leave a day later” (Monika). To win this one, Bob had to buy the traveler’s checks and get the Trip-Tiks from AAA before they closed on Christmas Eve, and the whole family had to pack the Buick for the trip after Christmas dinner on Christmas Day. This the family did, with some cajoling from Bob.

The car lumbered out of the driveway at 6:30 a.m. on the 26th, sitting quite low on its springs. The cabin was packed solid with four people, snacks, books, pillows, Christmas Mouse, and other sundries while the trunck was filled to overflowing with luggage, camping gear, and food for 10 days. There wasn’t much room to move in the passenger compartment, but enough to spread out a book and read it, which is all this family really needed for traveling.

The “Holt Ears” detected that the car was pinging on mild, uphill grades--Bob and the boys could all hear it clearly while Monika didn’t hear a thing. Bob thought that maybe the car was starting to have carbon accumulation since it was up to 88,000 miles, and advised the others to ease off of the gas to avoid the ping. That helped, and he didn’t think anything more about it.

This day’s route led from Fairfax to Richmond, Virginia on I95, and then I85 to Atlanta. We called from the Georgia border around 4 p.m. to allert the family of one of Judson’s friends that we were arriving, and we arranged a meeting at 6 p.m. at Bertelucci’s, a pizza restaurant on the North side of Altanta. We had dinner with Mary and Toby James and their son Doug and daughter Wendy, who is Judson’s friend. The four young ‘uns and the four adults had separate conversations at each end of the table, but we all had a good time, lingering over three different pizzas for two hours.

They invited home after dinner, but they didn’t have any water since Toby was in the middle of a plumbing project to put a washbasin in the basement. We really didn’t have the time anyway since we had reservations for that night in Macon, Georgia, and had to regretfully continue on our way. We arrived in Macon about 9:30 and finally got to sleep arount 10:30.

December 27, Friday

The second day of driving is usually more wearing than the first since we don’t sleep as well in motel rooms as at home and start out more tired and irritable. This day was no exception, but by alternating drivers every hour or two we kept the fatigue at bay. However, the cramped quarters in the car induced a mild form of “cabin fever” and added to the irritation.

We crossed the Georgia border in the morning, and stopped for the obligatory free orange juice and brochures for places of interest. The suddne transition from a cold, foggy morning in Macon to the bright sunshine and warmth at the welcome station gave Bob a mild case of spring fever--he felt hot and lightheaded. Martin disdained the free orange juice and entertained himself by climbing a tree. He and Judson were put off by the crowd of old folks at the welcome center, and they informed us they hated Florida. That made Bob wonder if picking Florida for camping had been the right choice, but we pushed on.

The Florida State Campgrounds guide proved quite useful. We had initially intended on going back to Hillsborough State Park, but we found that Lake Griffin State Recreation Area also had camping and was as close or closer to Orlando. Bob tried calling them from Ocala to see if they had spaces available. Frustratingly, he couldn’t get through no matter how he tried, and none of the other parks in the area had spaces that could be reserved, so it was going to be catch-as-catch-can.

Monika started to worry about getting a campsite for the night as the afternoon wore on, which added to the tension. To cap it off, driving over to the campsite involved a critical turn at an intersection which had no route markings whatsoever. So we kept on going straight, which naturally was the wrong choice, and drove all the way through the town of Leesburg before we we sure we had taken the wrong road. Bob was watching the time tick by while thinking about all the campgrounds filling up, and getting a good tension headache while we searched for the correct route to the campground.

We finally worked it out and found the campground. Much to our relief, they had campsites available and gave us #3. It was a small campground with just one loop of about 18 campsites set in a ring around the bathrooms, but all of the sites were in the woods and shaded, which we liked. We were all cranky and irritable from the two days of cramped quarters as we unpacked the car and made camp. While we were setting up the tents, Judson said he was probably going to be depressed all week because we were camping in Florida, and Bob and Monika really began to wonder about whether this all was such a good idea or not. But the tickets to Sea World were non-refundable, so we decided to at least stay and do that before heading home.

The boys went off exploring the park. Judson came back after a short while and informed us that Martin had wandered off into the swamp by himself. Curbine their worry, Monika and Bob waited for Martin to return. He related that he had bushwhacked through the undergrowth and mud of the swamp to the park’s boundary. The bad news was that his boots were pretty muddy. The good news was that this experience cured him of wanting to go down to the Everglades and camp, so we could remove that goal from the itinerary. This simplified things quite a bit as the further drive down to the southern tip of Florida would have been another pretty full day’s driving. Bob at least was relieved to not have to face another long drive just then.

One big plus for this campground was the free firewood they offered when possible. The firewood was kiln-dried scrapwood from a lumberyard. That type of wood starts on fire easily and burns very cleanly without smoke and very little ash, so it made for very nice campfires every morning and evening until that supply was exhausted.

We turned in after an evening meal and campfire and found the one negative part of the campground, which was its proximity to Route 301. The traffic noise plus the unaccustomed hardness of our Army surplus cots made it slightly harder to get to sleep than it otherwise would have been, but we were all so exhausted that we dropped off pretty quickly anyway.

December 28, Saturday

We all had a long but broken night’s sleep. Monika and Bob awakened each time they had to turn over on their cots. Judson had decided to sleep in the parent’s tent and was kept awake by Bob’s snoring even though he used the earplugs Bob gave him. Martin was sleeping alone in a separate tent which he had pitched on a slight slope. He also had slightly over-inflated his sleeping pad with the result that he tended to roll off of it and slide downhill in his tent during the night. Martin, Bob, and Monika were also catching up on sleep deficits accumulated during the hectic work period prior to Christmas. All in all, we were still tired and cranky that morning.

It was very foggy in the morning and Bob didn’t even clearly notice the dawn as it changed so gradually from darkness to greyish light in the morning. The fog deadened the road noise and made the camground somewhat spooky, with the occassional condensation dripping off the trees onto our tents. Monika had noticed a Wynn-Dixie store the previous evening which she thought was “1 block” back up the road. Monika and Bob walked over to the store for fresh milk, fruit, and whatever fat-free rolls or muffins they could find for breakfast. The “1 block” turned out to be more like 3/4 of a mile, but having fresh milk and fruit for breakfast was worth it. This morning walk to the Wynn-Dixie was really very pleasant except where the thick grass forced us to work right next to 301 with the traffic roaring by. If Monika got too close to the street, Bob would start howling to show proper husbandly concern. This pre-breakfast walk became a morning ritual every day that we were in the campground.

The fog still thick after breakfast, with visibility down to 1/4 mile or less. This made Bob drive very carefully down to Sea World in Orlando. The peculiar lighting made him constantly strain his eyes to see the traffic ahead and he was glad to get to Sea World without incident. Sea World is about 1/2 aquatic zoo and 1/2 shows or rides with aquatic themes. The Shamu killer whale show had been cancelled because a new baby killer whale had been born the previous day, and the mother and baby were still using the main performance tank, which is apparently the largest tank there. The “Baywatch” show was impressive in terms of stunts, but it was done at an ear-splitting volume which may have contributed to Judson getting a headache later in the day.

The fog finally lifted about noon while we had lunch, which made things look a little more cheerful although it might have made Judson’s headache worse. We all enjoyed the Arctic ride and exhibit, the Clyde and Seamore seal and sealion show, and the manatee and penguin exhibits the most. By the time we worked our way around to the coral reef aquarium exhibits, everyone was ready to go but Bob, who was outvoted.

After dinner back at camp, we had another roaring campfire which was fun. Bob finally convinced Judson to take a couple of aspirin, and Judson’s headache cleared up. Martin moved his tent to a flatter spot before turning in for the night, and we all had a good long night’s sleep.

December 29, Sunday

Are usual custom is to alternate days with intense activity with days of really low stress, and this was our low stress day. It was foggy again, and after breakfast we sat and watched our morning campfire while we decided what to do. We definitely did not want to drive much at all, so we looked on the maps and in the guidebooks for something to do in the area. Bob wanted to see the Venetian Gardens which were just down the road South of Leesburg, but Monika found a Volksmarch in a state park about 20 miles away so we decided on that.

We managed to lose our way twice on the half-hour drive to the park, which was almost but not quite a record. We knew something was odd when we finally found the park but were met at the gate by Boy Scouts who were guiding cars into an adjacent farmer’s field for parking. Coincidentally, this park was hosting an annual re-enactment of a famous Seminole Indian vs. U.S. Army battle on this weekend. Both Seminole and Army re-enactors had their camps set up and were giving side shows of dancing or weapon firings as well as the main battle reinactment. Other vendors with related craft goods were in the park, and we found two very nice serapes, a colorful red one for Monika and a nice black-accented one for Martin.

When we asked the girl at the desk about the Volksmarch, she said she didn’t know a thing about it. We first had to explain what a Volksmarch was, but she wouldn’t let us come in the office and look for the box with starting materials. Bob and Monika were ready to give up when Martin peeked in the office and espied the Volksmarch box sitting on the floor. It still took some doing before we could convince her to let us use the box and sign up for the walk, but finally she asked a custodian about it and let us have it.

The Florida Volksmarch Association had laid out a very nice Volksmarch with about 1/2 of the distance inside the park. We first looped around the paths in the park, and Martin felt so energetic that he did some extra jogging. He was used to working out riding his bicycle and missed the exercise. The trail continued by following the perimeter fence of the park for a full circle and exitting the park for the second half in the nearby town. The town loop included a park and recreation area which had several ball diamonds and a jogging track. Judson was overheated and tired, so he sat in a swing while the rest of us followed the jogging track. Once again Martin had energy to burn and jogged it rather than walking it like Bob and Monika. It was a hot day and we used most of the water we carry during the march.

After getting our cards stamped, Bob wanted to stay and watch the re-enactment (the Seminoles were scheduled to win), but Monika and the boys were desperate to eat and drink something, so Bob was outvoted and we drove to a nearby Kentucky Fried Chicken for lunch. We didn’t get lost on our drive back, so we arrived back in Leesburg around 3 p.m. Bob was hoping to get over to the Venetian Gardens, but the boys needed swimsuits if we were going to go to the beach while down in Floriday (a distinct possibility), so we pulled into a strip mall on 301 South of the Wynn-Dixie.

Bob caught sight of a “remainder” store that specifically said tools were included, so he went there while Monika and the boys shopped for swimsuits at the department store in the complex. Bob got lost in the tool section for an hour or two until Monika and the boys pried him out of it. But he bought a 15” adjustable wrench for $8.00, a set of hole punches, and a flexible adaptor for a power screwdriver. Judson found Christmas tree lights on sale and a volleyball, and Martin bought a fishing rod and all the auxilliary goodies like floats, sinkers, hooks, flies, line, and the whole nine yards. Afterwards Martin wanted to try out his new fishing tackle and it was too late to go to the Venetian Gardens, so we returned to camp.

Martin painstakingly assembled his fishing gear and attacked the fish in Lake Griffin. We saw him snag and pull towards shore a small islet of intertwined hyacinth and rushes. He didn’t bother to land it because we were practicing catch and release. After more practice casting he later on also caught a tree and other types of vegetation. The net result was that several bobbers were left in the lake but Martin did not damage any fish or anyone else, and had some great material for his improvisational sketches.

December 30, Monday

Our group consensus was to try some new “Disney” thing, so we once again left in the foggy morning to drive to Disney’s MGM Studios. We hit quite a backup in the road along the commercial strip West of the Disney main entrance (about a 30 minute wait), but still went in shortly after they opened. The cool fog may have kept some folks at home, but in any event we went on several rides and did not have to wait in any long lines before noon. The Star Wars ride was fun and the back lot tour interesting. After lunch the lines were extensive. We waited 70 minutes for the Twilight Zone Hotel ride (lots of fun) and another 30-40 minutes for the Indiana Jones stunt show and another ride, which pretty much consumed the afternoon.

We all agreed that the Indiana Jones stunt show was the most impressive part of the MGM studios. That show used three different sets, a cast of at least 10 persons, and showed very interesting stunts. Otherwise, we felt that MGM Studios was, like Universal Studios, a “been there, done that” type of attraction.

After some final shopping, we left MGM Studios between 5 and 6 p.m. It was clear that we wouldn’t get back to camp before dark, so we stopped and had dinner in a Perkins in the strip West of the main entrance. Bob had one of those big salads with the huge bread bowl that is really filling. Our server did not speak English well and was otherwise inept, and Martin made a bet with Judson about how many errors would be in our order. Sure enough, Judson’s steak was medium well rather than medium rare, and she forgot who had which order. Martin also had to ask the hostess for Judson’s A-1 steak sauce which the waitress forgot to bring, but otherwise the food was fine.

Bob noticed on the way back that the “Check Engine Soon” light was coming on intermittently, but did not think it was too significant. The car was running all right and the “Fasten Seat Belt” light had been coming on at odd times in this car for years. So he figured it was just another temporary glitch in the warning lights. In any event, we all returned to camp, had the evening campfire, and went to bed early.

December 31, Tuesday

No fog in the morning, which was the first time since we arrived in Florida. After a very liesurely breakfast and morning fire, we tried to get consensus on what to do. The discussion covered the Kennedy Space Center and other options that involved moving the campsite, but in the end we decided on going to Daytona Beach for the day while keeping the campsite where it was. This turned out later to be a very fortunate decision. As we drove over to the beach, the “Check Engine Soon” warning light started to flicker on more frequently and the car seemed to hesitate slightly at odd moments. This was very subtle (Which is spelled with a “b” Martin), so Bob still wasn’t sure if something was really wrong or not.

We arrived in Daytona Beach shortly before lunch and found that surprisingly we could drive up and park next to the beach for free--many of the beach towns farther South on the coast charge a fee. We had lunch at a Burger King and used their bathrooms to change into our swimsuits since there did not seem to be a public bathhouse in the area. Actually in Martin’s case he changed into a pair of boxer shorts that looked like a swimsuit since he had bought a swimsuit that was too small. He doesn’t generally wear boxer shorts, but in this case thought he was buying a pair of regular shorts but bought the boxers by mistake--so one error helped solve the problem caused by the other error, a fortuitous event.

Once we spread our towels, Judson and Martin went into the water (68 degrees, I think) and played frisbee. Monika and Bob found the water too cold for comfort and they lay down on their towels and watched the passing scene. The curious custom in Daytona Beach is that the beach is also a two-way street upon which the natives and visitors constantly drive up and down the beach. This causes a very curious mix of cars, pedestrians, and beach. Vendors of bicycles, ATVs, and jet boats were located about every 200 feet and their vehicles contributed to stream of humanity. We were never clear on whether cars or people had the right of way, but the speed limit of 15 mph was observed so it was reasonably safe.

Indeed, the driving was slowly partly because the object of this whole exercise was to see other people on the beach and be seen by them. It seemed to be a flagrant form of making impressions in general and perhaps attempting to initiate social interactions with the opposite gender in particular. Bob found it fascinating and very reminiscent of “Scooping the Loop” or the repetitive driving around the town square that used to occur in many midwestern towns on Friday or Saturday night. The same social dispay processes seemed to be at work, but the street is down the beach instead of around the town square and the total number of people is far higher.

The car that caught his attention in particular was a flashy sports car that had darkened windows. Three young women were in the car and yelled at people in the crowd as they passed. The word “TRICKS” was written in huge letters on the rear window. Putting two and three together, Bob immediately came up with six. If he was right, that certainly was a unique way of using the beach to advertise.

Martin came in from the cold (water, that is), and watched the family stuff so that Bob and Monika could take a hike. They hiked North and South along the beach to see what they could, which was beachfront high-rises as far as the eye could see in both directions. To the South was also a very minor concrete boardwalk and pier with four or five arcades, go karts, and little else. The rides looked boring and appeared rustly and ill-maintained, and did not tempt us at all.

However, walking back, Bob found some bronze plaques recounting the history of land speed records which were set at Daytona Beach. They were set in the boardwalk among two rows of palm trees and covered the history from 1903 when the steamers held the records to 1936 when the record went over 300mph. It must have been a kick to drive along a 9-mile stretch of beach at 300 mph, but also bloody dangerous.

We piled back into the car, filled up, and headed back to the campsite. The car began to hesitate and miss more noticeably, and the yellow warning light came on more often. At first Bob and Judson thought it might be a bad tank of gasoline, but it was just too much of a pattern. Bob didn’t like the trend that was developing, and he decided to get some fuel injector cleaner whenever possible and see if that would help. He was slightly relieved to get back to camp and turn his attention to cooking and just watching the campfire after dinner, but the car kept intruding on his thoughts. Maybe it was the oxygen sensor, he thought. The last time the car had missed and died like this the oxygen sensor was bad.

Judson took a shower and washed his hair while Martin climbed the large, spreading live oak tree at our campsite to try to force the squirrels to stop throwing acorns down on our tents. Martin was successful in getting a fair ways up the tree, but not in confronting the squirrels. This led him to quip, “One climbs trees, the other washes his hair, but together they fight crime!”

January 1, Wednesday

Bob wanted to see some state parks on the West coast of Florida, and after some suasion the rest of the family went along. He had, after all, been outvoted already twice on this vacation. Bob’s plan was to first visit Homosassa Springs, then the ruins of a Civil-War era sugar plantation and refinery, and then go South along the coast to see anything else that was interesting. Monika always complains that he tries to pack too much into a day, but he just tries to get the maximum for the time available.

We set off with Martin driving, but the started missing more severely and frequently. It started to die at intersections, which confirmed Bob’s idea that it was the oxygen sensor as the main problem. When he saw an auto parts store that was open, Bob called a halt and bought an oxygen sensor and the best quality injector clearner that he could find. Putting the injector clearner in immediately, we continued on to Homosassa Springs State Park with all of us hoping the car would run better, but it didn’t.

We stopped at the park Visitor’s Center with a sense of relief and bought the entrance tickets. The park operates small electric pontoon ferry boats from the Visitor’s Center to the park entrance. The ride along the creek is very quiet and typically waterfowl and turtles are around. The trees arch overhead to close over the glass-smooth, tanin-stained water of the creek, and it is easy to imagine that this is the way most streams in Florida would look in a natural environment. Monika and Bob felt the boat ride was almost worth the price of the admission itself.

Homosassa Springs State Park was converted from a private zoo with exotic animals to a state park featuring native Florida animals in 1989. The only exotic left is Lou, a hippopotamus that no one else was willing to take off their hands. The “shows” were really informational lectures about the animals rather than shows like those featured at Sea World or Disney. We attended a lecture/shows about snakes, alligators, and manatees which were low-key but very informative, and walked amongst the other caged wild animals such as deer, cougar, owl, etc.

We were finished about 3 p.m. and Bob wanted to carry on to the other parks but Monika was too worried about the car so we decided to keep our eyes open for a Buick dealer and headed back. Sure enough, it continued to run very poorly on the way back and not a single town had a Buick dealer, so Bob decided to change the oxygen sensor as his last ditch effort at fixing the problem. He had to first locate and buy the correct wrenches to do the job. We located those at the Wal-Mart in Leesburg on the way back. As Bob limped the car back down the 301 to the campground, he saw a Buick dealer right across from the Wynn-Dixie! Knowing that he at least had a back-up plan, Bob started in changing the oxygen sensor while the sun was setting.

Similar to so many episodes in their past, Monika was holding the flashlight while Bob was once again deep in the bowels of a decrepit old car. The sensor was on the exhaust manifold in back of the engine, which made it both hot and hard to reach (Ouch!). Bob finally got the old one off and the new one on, and they took off for a test drive in the dark. Unfortunately although the car ran better, the warning light was still on and it was still missing occasionally. Discouraged, Bob decided he had exhausted his options and would drive the car to the dealer the following day.

January 2, Thursday

Bob and Monika drove the Buick over to the dealer and waited until they received the diagnosis. The dealer thought it was clogged injectors, old spark plug wires, etc. and needed a good tune up to the tune of $460. The good news was that they could get it done by 11:00 and we could be on our way for the trip back home. We choked a little at the price but agreed. We walked back by the Wynn-Dixie for breakfast stuff and told the boys about it. Martin went fishing while the rest of us read our books and waited until 11:00. Martin and Bob went to pick up the car while Monika and Judson finished packing away the tents and policed the campsite.

Unfortunately, the dealer told them that there was a more serious problem with the car--the timing chain had slipped a notch on its sprocket and could break at any time. We waited an hour to get an estimate of another $430 and Bob authorized the work as he saw the danger of breaking down on the road back was just too great. The dealer said it would be done by 4 or 5 p.m. at the latest.

They left to return to camp, but detoured to the Wynn-Dixie so that Martin could pick up lunch essentials and Bob could pick out a 27th Anniversary Cupcake (and candles) for Monika. Loaded with lettuce, mustard, three kinds of sandwich meat, a cupcake and candles, they developed a “good news--bad news” routine to break the news to Monika as they returned to the campsite. It went like this:

Martin: The good news is that the fuel injection work is all done.
Bob: The bad news is that the car needs more work.
Martin: The good news is that they can work on it this afternoon.
Bob: The bad news is it won’t be done until 4 or 5 this evening.
Martin: The good news is that we brought stuff for lunch.

Bob hid behind a tree and put five candles on the cupcake--he was thinking about going for 27 candles, but it would have really chopped up the frosting on that cupcake. The boys held Monika (ever curious) off while Bob lighted the candles and then came over to her while singing “Happy Anniversary” (which is the same basic lyrics as Happy Birthday, just with “anniversary” substituted for “birthday”).

Using Judson’s volleyball, we had a little two-on-two game at the volleyball court at the campground. We played parents against the kids. Fortunately we didn’t keep score, but the boys were almost as bad as the parents.

After the game we all read for a while and relaxed as best we could. Monika was very nervous about whether we would really be leaving that night or not. We finally decided to renew the campsite for another night just in case. That was fortunate, because when we walked back over to the dealers at 5, the car was still in pieces. The dealer was apologetic but said the best he could do is have it the following morning. The walk wasn’t a total loss, however, since we crossed the street to a small steakhouse and had a very nice family dinner to celebrate Bob and Monika’s anniversary. It was dark by the time we returned to camp, so we had the memorable experience of setting up the tents in the dark, working mostly by flashlight and by feel.

January 3, Friday

Stifling the impulse to call the dealer early, we had a liesurely breakfast, tore down the tents, and packed everything before calling around 10 a.m. The car was ready, so Bob and Monika walked one last time to the Buick dealer while Judson and Martin cleaned up the campsite. They grabbed the car, drove back to the campsite, packed, and were on the road by 10:38 a.m. Bob took the first stretch to Jacksonville, most of which was a 4-lane but not limited access road. Stoplights and driving through towns held down the average speed.

At Jacksonville we had lunch and started rotating drivers for the rest of the afternoon and evening. It was a long day of driving, but filled with interesting conversation concerning Monika’s parents, grandparents, and conversation from each son. In particular we got a classic “Martin story” from Martin which went like this: I went to my my class in the math building, but found there were not enough seats for me because the foreign langu