Florida Vacation

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=82 BGCOLOR="#003333" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" ><B>Holderfield's Adventures</B></FONT><B>     |   </B><B>  </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Holderfields Adventures"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="About Us"><U>About Us</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Latest News"><U>Latest News</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Our Family History"><U>Our Family History</U></A>   |   <B>Florida Vacation</B>   |   <A HREF="id33.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Airplane Photos"><U>Airplane Photos</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id34.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Sallisaw Flyin, 1999"><U>Sallisaw Flyin, 1999</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id35.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Poteau Flyin"><U>Poteau Fly-in</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id36.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Winter Wonderland"><U>Winter Wonderland</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id37.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Last Flight"><U>The Last Flight</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id38.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="A Flight of Three"><U>A Flight of Three</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id39.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Duck Hunt, Canadian River"><U>Duck Hunt, Canadian River</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id40.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Danny and Dennis, Eufaula Cove, 2000"><U>Danny and Dennis, Eufaula Cove, 2000</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id41.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Dannys Page"><U>Danny's Page</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id42.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Hunting Scenes"><U>Hunting Scenes</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id43.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Byrd Family"><U>The Byrd Family</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id44.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Hunting Stories"><U>Hunting Stories</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id45.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Kayla Graduates Kindergarten"><U>Kayla Graduates Kindergarten</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id46.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Pioneer Journey"><U>Pioneer Journey</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id47.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Graysons Day with Papa"><U>Grayson's Day with Papa</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id48.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Our Family, 1979"><U>Our Family, 1979</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id49.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Colorado Gold"><U>Colorado Gold</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id50.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Grandkid Ball Players, 2003"><U>Grandkid Ball Players, 2003</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id20.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Around the House"><U>Around the House</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id21.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Party Time"><U>Party Time</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id22.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Family Get To Gethers"><U>Family Get To Gethers</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id23.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Friends and Relatives"><U>Friends and Relatives</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id24.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Us"><U>Contact Us</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id25.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Other"><U>Other</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id26.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Flying with Eagles"><U>Flying with Eagles</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id27.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Marilyn Byrd Family Reunion"><U>Marilyn Byrd Family Reunion</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id28.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Canadian Fishing"><U>Canadian Fishing</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id29.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Cooper Lake Monster Bass"><U>Cooper Lake Monster Bass</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id30.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Lake Fork Bass"><U>Lake Fork Bass</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id31.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mule Deer County"><U>Mule Deer County</U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#003333" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=398 BGCOLOR="#006633" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <I>Florida Vacation</I></div> <div> VACATION TO FLORIDA </div> <div> MAY 2000</div> <bR> <div> Planning for a vacation can be almost as much fun as the vacation itself.  For weeks, Chele and Trina planned, got on the Internet to make reservations, made food lists, got clothing ready, fixed up the TV in the Suburban, and generally made themselves busy waiting for the big day.</div> <bR> <div> The big day was about to arrive.  Everything had fallen in place and clothes were packed and ready to place in the Suburban.  That's when they found the MOUSE!  Yes, a mouse had gotten into the Suburban, had crawled into an opening it couldn't get out of and had DIED!!!  Chele called frantically saying they had the Suburban taken apart and they were supposed to leave the next day.  She started a frantic search for a NEW Suburban, but time was too short! </div> <div> <IMG SRC="0c000c00.jpg" border=0 width="256" height="192" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> When I passed Bryan on the road out of Quinton, he looked as if he had been tumbled inside a clothes dryer.  I didn't realize what he meant when he said his day had started off horribly, until I got to their house.  There, scattered about the yard was the inside of their Suburban.  The one they would be leaving in the next day.  I mean the pieces were taken out leaving a bare inside, no seat in the back, no carpet, no carpet cushion, no trim, no spare, no side panels, nothing!</div> <bR> <div> Chele met me at the door and red faced announced the MOUSE smell was still in the Suburban, even though they had taken the whole car apart, and put a hose inside the side panels, the smell was still there.  We looked the situation over and decided to reassemble the car.  With Chele and Kelsey's help, we got the insides back in the car within about three hours.  We decided to do this to keep Bryan from having a stroke the night before leaving for vacation!</div> <bR> <div> The next morning they loaded up the clothes, put the carriers on top of the Suburban, put their groceries and ice chests inside where they were in easy reach, got the games for the VCR and TV and loaded up the kids, ready to head to Florida.  That's when the battery just made a slight clicking sound when the starter was engaged…I wasn't there but can imagine the hair starting to raise on the back of Bryan's neck as the blood rushes to his face and he clenched his fist around the steering wheel, trying not to scream and alarm the children.</div> <bR> <div> According to Chele, he calmly got out of the suburban, hooked up the charger and in no time had the engine purring like a kitten.  At last, they were off to Florida.</div> <bR> <div> Now Linda and I had made arrangements to meet them in Ocean City, about 70 miles east of  Gulfport LA.  We would not leave until Friday and planned to spend the night with them at the Condo they had rented for two nights.  We waited impatiently to head out and after two days waiting, we were on our way.</div> <bR> <div> We had a nice, uneventful trip and I thoroughly enjoyed her company and she mine until we reached the stretch between Shreveport and Alexandria.  I started off with almost a half tank of gas thinking that would be more than adequate.  Little did I know that there would not be one Gas Station easily accessed from the interstate?  When we were still 30 miles out of Alexandria, the gauge went to empty, then below.  As we became more apprehensive at each exit that did not have facilities, the gauge went DEAD, no movement, even when I rocked the Explorer side to side.  We were still over 10 miles out of Alexandria, with all gas gone when we passed an Exit and I saw a little store with two gas pumps off in the distance.  Since I was already past the exit, I went over the median, over the other road and down the side of the embankment to the road to the store.  Our book says the tank will hold 20.7 gallons of gas.  When I filled the tank, we would have had less than ½ gallon usable fuel had I not stopped.  That would have left us walking on into Alexandria.  It was worth risking a ticket to get gas!</div> <bR> <div> When we arrived at the Condos, we found the whole family, and Bill and Trina's family at the Pool.  That is except for Bill.  Linda and I helped ourselves into the condo since it wasn't locked and finding no one downstairs, I went upstairs looking for them.   Bill was sound asleep!  Of course I had to wake him up to find out where everyone was, and after mumbling a few unintelligible words, I made out they were in the pool. </div> <div> <IMG SRC="0c200c00.jpg" border=0 width="256" height="192" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> Linda and I went to the pool and watched some water aerobatics by our grandkids, and also watched our son-in-law go through comical gyrations to combat the green-headed horseflies that were attacking his head.</div> <bR> <div> We watched them play in the pool with their water toys and Chele and Grayson showed us how they could slide down the big water slide that was located at the end of the pool.</div> <bR> <div> After finishing their swim, we all cleaned up and went looking for a place to eat.  We found a SeaFood restaurant that looked good.  We ate shrimp, and as a treat, I ordered oysters on the half shell.  These were quite tasty except they baked them instead of steaming them like most places.  I really prefer them steamed!</div> <bR> <div> That's when Grayson discovered we had a low tire on our Explorer.  We went by a Gas Station that had air and we aired the tire up.  I also went to Wal-Mart and bought a tire gauge since we would need it on the rest of the trip for the slow leak.  I guess when I went down the embankment to get gas I must have gotten something in our tire.  Oh well,!</div> <bR> <div> After a night on the rubber air mattress, I was ready for movement toward Florida.  We got up and headed out to the Alligator farm.  That's right, An alligator farm where they raise alligators for their hides, their meat and their heads.  Wild alligators and we were going to get in the middle of them in a boat!  </div> <div>  <IMG SRC="0c4ecac0.jpg" border=0 width="236" height="172" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> I wanted to have my camera handy in case I might need a last shot of one of the gang.  As we walked into the office, the gentleman behind the desk greeted us with open arms.  Except on the one arm he had a large snake curled around his…Not wanting to get too friendly, we kept our distance and signed up for the Airboat tour.  That was an adventure into the jaws of Hell…We were told we were more than welcome to look around the grounds and along the board walkway.  We didn't know it at the time, but these alligators are hungry all the time and attempt to eat anything that moves.  The guide later told us that they eat possums, hogs, and anything else they can catch.  He said if we fall in among them to be very calm and not make a commotion.  Yea! Right!</div> <bR> <div> The Airboat tour was an adventure in itself.  The tour guide was a quadriplegic that got around quite easily from the dock to the airboat.   I really wanted to ask him what had happened, but felt it might be in poor taste (no pun intended).  He was very knowledgeable about the environment and the alligators and was quite interesting in his descriptions of the workings of the farm.  His experience in gathering the Alligators that escaped during the Hurricane was also very interesting, as they had to be retrieved from all the ponds in the area that were on other peoples property.</div> <div> <IMG SRC="0c6e6ac0.jpg" border=0 width="230" height="172" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> Feeding an Alligator dogfood can be a frightening experience.  Especially when they are only a few feet away and they have been known to make leaps to catch a prey.  I kept warning the kids to watch their hands as they went about feeding the gators. </div> <div> <IMG SRC="0c859030.jpg" border=0 width="345" height="259" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> The ride on the Airboat was exhilarating.  The eight-cylinder engine pushed the boat along at a good clip and as we moved through the swamp, gators were crowding the shoreline and jumping into the water.  Some gators were already in the water and as we passed would flip their tails and disappear.  The airboat ride became more exciting when the guide decided to show us some water aerobatics and dumped gallons of water into the boat in a fast, reverse turn that soaked Chele.  The swamp water has an unforgettable odor! </div> <div> <IMG SRC="0ca39eb0.jpg" border=0 width="313" height="235" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <bR> <div> As we departed the gator farm, we were on our way to Florida.  We moved through the roads and towns together, keeping in touch with our handy dandy radios.  That is until the batteries started to go.  At the most critical time as we were coming into Panama City Beach, my batteries went dead.  Now Linda and I knew Bryan and Chele would be at the Summit Condos, but we didn't know that on Memorial Day Weekend, it would be impossible to go along the Beach Frontage Road to get there!  We were two hours moving less than one mile along that road, and to beat that, we went past the Summit Condos and on down to Scampy's a Seafood Restaurant that Linda dearly loves for their keylime pie, but happens to be some three miles farther down the beach from the Summit Condos.</div> <div> <IMG SRC="0ccb3460.jpg" border=0 width="435" height="326" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> We turned around and headed back along the Beach Frontage Road, and were jammed in a virtual living mass of teen-agers and party goers that brought traffic to a stand-still.  Linda required me to stop on three occasions so she could RUSH to the rest room.  After several hours, we showed up at the Summit and were spied by sharp-eyed Bill from the 13th floor balcony.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> The Summit Condos are located right on the Beach!  They are a landmark in that stretch of beach, rising over 18 stories high and having rooms that all have beachfront views.  Bill and Trina has a Condo on the 13th floor  while Bryan and Chele's are on the 4th floor.  Linda and I had brought our Air Mattress to sleep on since their Condo is a Large one Bedroom.  Bunkbeds in the hall for the kids meant Linda and I had the whole front room floor to ourselves. </div> <bR> <div> Everyone was pretty tired and after a quick stroll to the beach, we settled in and went to bed.  We had eaten a huge all-you-can-eat-steak at Ryan's Cafeteria and everyone slept like a log, knowing that when morning arrived, we would begin our Panama City Beach Adventure.</div> <bR> <div> Early morning on the white sandy beach, the sun rises over the edge of the Condo and casts long shadows across the breaking waves.  Chele and Trina rounded all of us up to see this sunrise and have do-nuts on the beach.  It was a beautiful sunrise, and after eating the do-nuts, I looked around and could not see Trina anywhere.  She had watched the sunrise and quitely went to her room where she caught up on her lost sleep! </div> <div> <IMG SRC="0ce40f00.jpg" border=0 width="320" height="240" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> The white Sandy Beaches are fantastic!  We rented lounge chairs with Beach Umbrellas and on the first day, Linda and I lay in the shade of the umbrella drinking cokes and watching the grandkids play with Bryan, Chele, Bill and Trina.  The cool breeze off the ocean was quite comfortable and it wasn't until the evening that I realized the portions of my legs that I hadn't covered with sunscreen were TOASTED!  Even though I was in the shade, the glare off the white sand was like being in a tanning bed.  The rest of the trip, I was destined to protect my cooked legs… </div> <div> <IMG SRC="0d040f00.jpg" border=0 width="320" height="240" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> The Memorial Day crowd had quite a time on the frontage road, and just as much on the beaches at night.  Looking from our 4th floor perch, I could watch the goings on at the beach and was highly entertained.  Huge crowds would gather, talk, yell, play ball on the beach under the night lights, and generally have a great time.  I wondered why they were not swimming in the surf, until Bryan told me about the jelly fish.  The large Portiguese Man-of war had been floating in on the surf.  It would not be until a day later that these disappeared and the beach became safe for swimming.  </div> <bR> <div> Another reason was an off-shore storm had whipped the seas into big breakers that formed rip-tides, prompting the Coast Guard to post red flag warnings for swimmers.  Two drownings occurred up the beach from where we were staying and most swimmers were now heeding the warnings.</div> <bR> <div> Chele, Trina and Linda went shopping and came back with some real goodies.  They fixed the most delecious fresh fried shrimp and boiled shrimp that I have eaten.  It was hard to keep from over-eating with this excellent food.  The kids surprised me that they also enjoyed the shrimp cooked at the Condo!  We had planned to eat on the beach, but the high winds had changed our minds, since sand in your shrimp is not GOOD!</div> <bR> <div> Speaking of high winds, Bryan and Bill bought small stunt kites and proceeded to fly them on the beach.  This was great fun and everyone on the beach enjoyed watching them fly.  It was later that we found the 85 inch stunt kites.  We entertained the entire beach as the three of us flew them in loops, dives and swoops and on more than one occasion, the noise of the diving kite caused the people walking along the beach to pick up their pace to get free of these hellish dive bombers.</div> <div> <IMG SRC="0d214cf0.jpg" border=0 width="276" height="207" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div>  </div> <div> Its amazing how easy the kids were to watch at the beach.  They played in the sand, waded in the Ocean, built sand castles, and generally had a great time.  Kelsey, Kayla and Jeromy picked up sea shells by the hands full and spent a lot of time sitting in the shade of the umbrellas watching the beach crowd move about.</div> <bR> <div> Their main hang-out was the pool!  They loved the pool and Bryan and Bill would take them down in the morning while the pool was still shaded.  Linda and I would go down and watch them swim and play with the water toys.  It was exciting to see Kayla begin to swim, bravely going under the water with her mask on and picking up objects off the bottom.  Kelsey took to the water like a duck.  She showed me she could swim across the pool without putting her foot on bottom.   </div> <div> <IMG SRC="0d440f00.jpg" border=0 width="320" height="240" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> Grayson had to wear earplugs and have a guard around his head to hold them in.  This didn't stop him from diving under the water and jumping off the edge of the pool.  He would shout "Watch out Below!"  and would bail off into the water, come up rubbing the water out of his eyes and do it over again.  </div> <bR> <div> One of the evening meals was spent on board a ship on a dinner cruise.  The whole bunch of us, Kids included, boarded the  "Captain Anderson" and as we cruised in the bay, had a fantastic meal and live entertainment, including gospel music.  The kids even got to be a part of the entertainment as they were invited to come up and participate in the singing of "This Little Light".  It was great to see them enjoying themselves and all of us had a great time on the cruise and will want to go back again next year.  (Correction)  Bryan got queezy and said he didn't think he could handle another  trip next year! </div> <div> <IMG SRC="0d6660c0.jpg" border=0 width="358" height="268" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> We rented a pontoon boat and headed for Shell Island.  Linda and I had gone to Shell Island one time before when we actually got out and snorkeled with the Dolphins.  Linda and enjoyed that, but we were limited to a short time on the party boat.  With the Pontoon Boat, we were able to go at our own pace and have the boat for a whole day.  It was interesting to see the dolphins surface, go to them and watch as they circled around the boat.  Its unlawful to feed them so we could only try to take photos while shaking our hands at them, hoping they would come closer. </div> <div> <IMG SRC="0d8a63c0.jpg" border=0 width="422" height="316" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> The 45 min. trip to Shell Island gave us a time to relax and watch the other boats in the bay.  Also, we could watch the F15's as they screamed by overhead on their way to the Air Base that was just across the bay.  This would divert my attention on several occasions as they made 90 degree banks and lost altitude as they flew their landing pattern.</div> <bR> <div> When we arrived at Shell Island, Bryan and Bill were a little disapointed because the Island was occupied by people.  On their previous visit, they had been the only ones there and had found a treasure of shells that had been washed up by a recent storm.  This time, many of the shells had been picked up by the Memorial Day crowd.  The kids and Bryan, Chele, Linda, Bill and Trina had to work really hard to find the fine collection of shells they ended up with. </div> <div>  <IMG SRC="0da26dc0.jpg" border=0 width="294" height="220" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> We had fried chicken for lunch that Chele and Trina had gotten at Wal-Mart.  This really hit the spot and all of us enjoyed the lunch and were ready to go exploring for sea shells in the bay.  We boated around in the shallow water and as one of the kids or grown-ups spotted shells on the bottom, Bryan would put on the snorkel and mask and dive to get them.  They ended up with some really neat shells and we got photos of a live star fish before we turned in back. </div> <div> <IMG SRC="0dc40f00.jpg" border=0 width="320" height="240" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> Finally, It was time Linda and I headed for Oklahoma.  We were relunctant to leave and actually stayed a day longer than we had planned, but we were having too much fun to leave.  The night before we planned to go we all went to the go-cart track and Linda and I watched as the whole clan paired off in high performance go-carts and raced around a spiral track that went up several stories high and spiraled back down.  The race was brisk and in the third lap, Chele and Kayla  passed Bryan and Kelsey on the track.  Bryan said his machine was slow, but I wondered if it might not have been Chele's expert racing!  Trina and Grayson raced with Bill and Jeromy.. </div> <div> <IMG SRC="0de660c0.jpg" border=0 width="358" height="268" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> Linda and I bid farewell to Kayla, Kelsey and Grayson and let them know we would be gone when they awoke the next morning.  We had our Explorer packed and ready to go as we planned to leave before daylight the next morning.  At one o'clock I asked Linda if she was asleep and she said she was now, so we got up and headed for Oklahoma.  </div> <bR> <div> The traffic that had snarled our progress coming into the beach area was non-existent this time of the morning so we made great time as we traveled west.  We stopped a couple times when we needed something to drink to wake us up or to get directions on how to get back on the right road, but by sun-up, we were well on our way to Shreveport.</div> <bR> <div> We took turns driving and before sunset the same day, pulled into our driveway.  Tired and with many happy memories.  Linda and I looked at each other and both understood that come next year, we would be looking forward to going back to Panama City Beach and hopefully by then having our own Condo in the Summit.</div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>