So my husband and I got to attend DEMA (Diver’s Equipment & Marketing Association) 2017, Go Dive Now. This is a yearly show that bounces between Las Vegas and Orlando, although I’ve heard a rumor that they are adding New Orleans into the mix in a couple years. But this was the year that DEMA was in Orlando. That means we hopped a plane with Deb and Grady and flew to Orlando, Florida.
Where to Eat
The first question is…. Where to eat in Orlando. Oh gosh. We were there at the Orange County Convention Center on International Drive. Let me just tell you there were gobs of GREAT places to eat, but here’s what we chose… And let’s just say, YUM!
Dunkin Donuts
7440-A International Drive, Orlando, FL 32819
We actually had a Dunkin Donuts almost right outside our hotel room. Not quite but pretty darn close. In fact, we had a lot of breakfast places right in that area. The first day we were there, hubby and I chose to walk here and get breakfast. Good choice!
Sunday was our first home game of season. We won the season opening game against the Patriots. I’m not sure they were happy about that… lol.
Sunday was season opeing home game though. That meant it was a loud and proud day. It was a lot busier than preseason games… Wow! We didn’t get our “normal” spot on the grass for tailgating. That was fine with me. I’m easy going.
We decided to eat breakfast. One of the ladies walking around said that that was a new one on her. Most people were doing steaks and burgers, etc. I thought to myself, this isn’t the first time we’ve done breakfast….
The gates were supposed to open at 8:30. They opened at 7. There was a guy from Arkansas who is a season ticket holder who left home at like who knows when to be the first one in the gate. They said he’d been at the gate since 3am. Crazy. I’m not that crazy, although I kept saying we needed to have our heads examined because we were up at 5am driving to KC.
And we’re finally back for the rest of the story… aka AC & UB’s part 2. Let’s just start off by saying we had so much fun that I kind of hated to leave. But, let’s look more in depth at the fun we had…
Wednesday
Aloha (that’s the horse) is one of the best, kid friendliest horses but she had one flaw… she’s a PITA (pain in the @$$) when it comes to saddling her. She’s extremely frustrating. UB & Tbug worked on that all week to the point that by mid week Tbug was saddling Aloha by herself. Now that may not sound like much, but that’s HUGE!
AC had Wednesday off. She had a hair appointment while we were working horses. When she was done, we were just finishing up with riding. Remember, southern Oklahoma in July=try to beat the heat working horses. When it gets hot, the horses and cows get tired, hey do you blame them? The summer I spent with AC & UB, we worked horses at midnight so that it wasn’t so darn hot. At least 6am is better than midnight… I think….
Anyway, as we were getting done riding for the day, AC pulled into the driveway. UB decided we needed to run in to town and eat at Scout. This restaurant was interesting, but the food was excellent. This early morning stuff got to Abug and she slept all through lunch.
Over a year ago, my aunt and uncle made Tbug a deal that she could come down and spend a week with them at their house, riding horses. Last summer, hubby and I couldn’t get her there. At Thanksgiving they made the offer again. Hubby and I knew we were going to get her there this year, No. Matter. What.
They extended this offer to me when I was a teenager and I actually got to spend a couple different weeks with them. I’m telling you, other than it’s hot in Southern Oklahoma in July, it was an excellent experience and when I told hubby, we knew it would be a good thing for Tbug. Spending an entire week with UB and working on her horsemanship skills. What better way to spend a week than riding horses…
Earlier this spring Tbug’s mom said that she had 3 weeks this entire summer that she had nothing going on. The first was the week of the 4th of July, the other 2 were the first 2 weeks of August. I finally got it worked out between all of our schedules that we were going down the week of 4th of July. Tbug got home from Cheer camp Friday June 30th at 11something at night and we made arrangements to meet up with her mom around 4 something July 1st to head to AC & UB’s.
Friday Night
Friday evening after hubby got off work, we spent the evening checking the running lights/break lights on the trailer. We figured if we were going to be driving at 4 something in the morning and beating the sun awake, we better have lights on and working. Out of like 30 lights, at least half were burned out (or so we thought). We ran to Walmart to buy new light bulbs, when we got home hubby went to replacing lights. Out of all those lightbulbs that “didn’t work” only 2 had to be replaced. The rest were just a loose connection that hubby tightened up. Not bad for a 23 year old trailer.
Saturday
I wasn’t kidding when I said we got up and left before the sun even rose. Who knew 3 something existed? Hubby and I had a pile of stuff to load up first thing, then we loaded horses, ourselves, and headed out to meet up with Tbug and her mom. They were on their way to North Carolina. I guess we’re all crazy… getting up early to drive somewhere, right? Serious, crazy… lol.
If you would have told me that this year I would see one of the 7 Wonders of the World, I’d have laughed in your face. Not because I don’t want to, but this is the closest I’ve been to seeing one….
In 2007 Chichén Itzá was added to the list of the 7 Wonders of the World. The Mayan people were simply outstanding people who I swear had to be high as a kite. Unless you are a history buff, I would highly recommend getting a tour guide if you ever come here. There is way to much that you would miss out on information wise otherwise! Holy Cow though, this place is amazing.
About half of our group or so stayed an extra few days in Cozumel. 3 different families brought their mothers/fathers/daughters and we wanted to play “tourist” with the additional family members. One of our excursions were to jump on the ferry and travel across to the mainland. Our destination… Chichén Itzá.
If you ever have the opportunity to go to Cozumel, I’d definitely suggest taking the ferry across to the mainland. It was about 45 minutes. The cab driver that dropped us off at the ferry station recommended to buy a one way ticket since there are multiple ferry companies that travel back and forth and they won’t accept another ferry companies tickets. It just keeps you from getting stuck for 3 tickets when you only need two.
So this is a real pirate ship that travels around Cozumel but it is actually a dinner cruise from what I’ve researched.
In May we headed to Cozumel Mexico. By the time we left I think we all needed a vacation. It was hubby, Abug, my mom, my MIL, and me who were able to go this year along with some other people to round out our trip. It was a lot of fun and after the way my day started I’m ready for some more Vitamin D and Vitamin Sea until my attitude changes!
I keep mentioning Cozumel and our trip. Are you sick of hearing about it yet without hearing about it? Yeah, me too! haha. So here is 1 of a couple posts on Cozumel… But this one is Why You Should Visit Cozumel!
1. The SCUBA Diving! Oh my gosh, the SCUBA diving in Cozumel is amazing. The water temperature is like 80-84 degrees F year round (26-29˚C). The sealife is out of this world. There are reef and nurse sharks, turtles galore, fish of all shapes, sizes, and colors, and so much more, including if you’re lucky a potential Hammer Head Shark AND Seahorses. No, the sharks aren’t scary. At first I thought they would be, but they aren’t. When people yell or give the Shark sign, others go running, camera in hand. The visibility seems endless. You could be at the surface, see the ocean floor, take off for it and it’s sitting at 80-100 feet down. I mean the visibility is a dream.
