my first taste of florida

 

Starting in the middle of August, I’m going to be calling the Sunshine State home. This is a pretty big leap for a mountain-loving girl bred and born in the Evergreen State, three thousand miles away… so I’m really glad my family had the opportunity to take a weeklong trip to scope out my future state of residence! We spent the majority of our time in Orlando, but we also visited my Bible school at its smaller central-Florida town location. Here are a few of my impressions…

(1) It’s flat.

Where are the mountains? Where are the hills? How do you people live without snowcapped peaks and varied terrain?! This one might take some getting used to… but who knows, maybe I’ll like it someday. Probably not as much as I like my Cascade Mountains though!

(2) It’s wet.

Everywhere. It’s so flat that water gathers all over the place—in fact, the whole state seemed like one big marsh to me. Even the air is wet… like the air in the bathroom after you take a scalding hot shower without turning the fan on.

(3) When it rains, it pours.

I left Florida wondering why on earth they call it the Sunshine State. I think I only saw the sun twice during our whole trip! It poured rain in sheets throughout our visit, which made photography literally impossible after my camera got too wet to function properly. So along with a Disneyworld pin and a charm for my bracelet, I left with a nasty cold and a broken camera as souvenirs. Thanks, Hurricane Debby!

We stayed at the Disneyworld Yacht Club Resort because those were the accommodations Dad was given for the work conference he had during the trip (no, at my house we don’t usually go on vacation just to go on vacation). It was an incredibly comfortable hotel! During our stay, we hit the Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom theme parks. I’m not a big theme park fan myself, but I got to see my hero Darth Vader up close and personal, so it was worth it. ;)

The crystal sculpture shop was my favorite place in Magic Kingdom. Shelves upon shelves of gorgeous crystal art! I saw a model of Cinderella’s castle that was priced at over $32,000. These smaller items were usually between $200 and $500.

Even though the parks weren’t necessarily my cup of tea, what counts is that Amy had a blast. She had her very first plane ride; she met the princesses, Mickey and Minnie Mouse, and Buzz and Woody; she went on most of the rides in Magic Kingdom—she loved it. AND she lost her first top tooth in the airport on our way home. ;)

My favorite part of the whole trip was, by far, the roadtrip we took from Orlando to Great Commission Bible Institute in Sebring. I loved what I saw of the city I’ll be living in, and thoroughly enjoyed getting a tour of the school from two GCBI alumni! I left more excited than ever for my upcoming year there, in spite of the changes it will bring. And now that I’ve been there and back, it doesn’t seem quite so far away either.

Parting shot: my favorite mountain. The one I can see from my living room window—the one I’ve taken countless sunset pictures of, always getting something unique. Home is such a beautiful place—I’m really going to miss it.