Geezer Guides Fort Lauderdale

The Final Days of Our Grand Adventure

By Vicky Wells, on November 23rd, 2010

Our transportation, accommodation, food and entertainment cost so far
Nov 19 ~ Day #193	Budget to date	Spent today	Total to date	Daily average
Total	$19300	$31.47	$16915.10	$87.64
Miles by Road	Miles by Sea	Miles by Air	Miles by Train	Total Miles
16064.8	12056.7	7662	196	35979.5

Our transportation, accommodation, food and entertainment cost so far
Nov 20 ~ Day #194	Budget to date	Spent today	Total to date	Daily average
Total	$19400	$48.67	$16963.77	$87.44
Miles by Road	Miles by Sea	Miles by Air	Miles by Train	Total Miles
16064.8	12056.7	7662	196	35979.5

Our transportation, accommodation, food and entertainment cost so far
Nov 21 ~ Day #195	Budget to date	Spent today	Total to date	Daily average
Total	$19500	$31.47	$16995.24	$87.16
Miles by Road	Miles by Sea	Miles by Air	Miles by Train	Total Miles
16064.8	12056.7	7662	196	35979.5

Our transportation, accommodation, food and entertainment cost so far
Nov 22 ~ Day #196	Budget to date	Spent today	Total to date	Daily average
Total	$19600	$31.47	$17026.71	$86.87
Miles by Road	Miles by Sea	Miles by Air	Miles by Train	Total Miles
16064.8	12056.7	7662	196	35979.5

Our transportation, accommodation, food and entertainment cost so far
Nov 23 ~ Day #197	Budget to date	Spent today	Total to date	Daily average
Total	$19700	$15.00	$17041.71	$86.51
Miles by Road	Miles by Sea	Miles by Air	Miles by Train	Total Miles
16064.8+19.8=16084.6	12056.7	7662	196	35999.3

Current Location: Heading Home to Eleuthera, Bahamas

Combining Days

We have decided to combine our last few days into one post because we are really now just marking time until we head home to Eleuthera.

We will not be including our flight back to Eleuthera in our costs as we began our trip in Fort Lauderdale on May 11th and we will end it in Fort Lauderdale on November 23rd.

We will be including all the costs right up to our flight home, including the cost to get to the airport.

Each day’s expenses are itemized below and, of course, in the grids above that we have been including in each post.

Day 193, Friday, November 19, 2010

Accommodation: $31.47 (Camping)

Day 194, Saturday, November 20, 2010

Accommodations: $31.47 (Camping)
Food: $17.20 (Groceries)
Total: $48.67

We are trying to keep our grocery buying down to a minimum as we don’t want anything fresh left over on the day we leave.

Day 195, Sunday, November 21, 2010

Accommodations: $31.47 (Camping)

Day 196, Monday, November 22, 2010

Accommodations: $31.47 (Camping)

Day 197, Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Transportation: $18.00 consisting of:
Cab to TriRail – $15.00
TriRail to Airport $3.00

Mileage: 19.8

The Adventure Ends

It’s hard to believe that today is the last day of our almost seven month long adventure. And yet, it’s going to be good to get home.

One hundred and ninety-seven days is a long time to be traveling and living out of a suitcase or, in our case, backpacks.

We have had a terrific time and certainly enjoyed the journey. We will now enjoy the familiarity of our home in Eleuthera.

It will good to see old friends again and reconnect. Our very dear friends, V and B, will be picking us up at the airport when we arrive back in Eleuthera. It will be wonderful to see them again.

Recap Tomorrow

Stay tuned for the recap of our adventure in our post tomorrow.

End of Our TransAtlantic Cruise

By Vicky Wells, on November 8th, 2010

Our transportation, accommodation, food and entertainment cost so far
Nov 08 ~ Day #182	Budget to date	Spent today	Total to date	Daily average
Total	$18200	$61.47	$16323.39	$89.69
Miles by Road	Miles by Sea	Miles by Air	Miles by Train	Total Miles
15551+15=15566	8185.5+3871.2=12056.7	7662	168+28=196	35480.7

Current Location: Davie, Florida

Today’s Total Expenses: $51.47

Transportation: $30.00
consisting of:
$10.00 – cab from cruise port to TriRail
$5.00 – TriRail
$15.00 – cab from TriRail to pick up our car

Accommodation: $31.47 (camping)

Miles Traveled Today:
Road Miles: 15 (Fort Lauderdale to Davie, Florida)
Sea Miles: 3871.2 (3364 Nautical Miles – La Palma to Miami)
Train Miles: 28 (TriRail Miami to Fort Lauderdale)

Disembarking in Miami

Our ship had actually arrived in Miami late last night, so the disembarkation process was able to start very early in the morning – 7:00am!

If you wanted your luggage taken off the ship for you, you needed to have it outside your stateroom door the night before.

Fortunately, we were traveling with backpacks so when we disembarked we were able to carry all our luggage with us and not have to wait for our group to be called. People that had put their luggage out the night before had been sorted into groups and had to leave their staterooms and wait in designated areas for their group to be called. We could get off when we liked because we could take our luggage with us.

Long Line Up for U.S. Customs and Immigration

After a leisurely breakfast, we headed back to our room, picked up our loaded backpacks, a carry-on bag and our laptop computer, also in its own bag, and headed to the gangway to leave the ship.

The line up for customs and immigration was HUGE!

Standing there with fully loaded backpacks got pretty tired after the first half hour. Mine wasn’t too bad as it is actually smaller than Geoff’s. However, Geoff has a bad back and just standing around is difficult for him. But, standing around with a heavy backpack was just too much. He needed to take his backpack off.

The line was pretty bunched up so I had to ask the people behind us to back up a little bit so Geoff could actually get his backpack off.

We then edged our way up to Immigration for the next little while, pushing our luggage along bit by bit.

Best U.S. Immigration Officer EVER

Some people may not know this, but the immigration lines that say U.S. Citizens can also be used by Canadians. That’s because Canadians don’t need to be finger printed or have their photos taken.

So, as we got closer to the front of the line, I mentioned to the person that was directing people to various immigration officers that we were Canadian.

We were immediately whisked out of the long line and right to an available immigration officer.

I think I’ve mentioned before that I never like dealing with government officials. You never know what they’ll be like. With some people, if you put them in a uniform, they feel like they have to be officious and obnoxious.

Well, not this guy. He was smiling and happy and pleasant.

As he scanned our passports he actually started joking with us. And then he said, “Oh, Wait a minute. We can’t let you through too fast. We can’t have any Americans thinking that Canadians can get through the lines faster than they can.” And he then started to tap his fingers on the counter and whistle. Then he said, smiling, “I guess that’s long enough.”

We told him that this was our best experience ever and he said he thought Canadians were great. He said, “I’ve never gotten any attitude from a Canadian.” And, after a short pause, a little smirk passed over his face and he said, “Of course, that could have something to do with the fact that I carry a gun!”

We all chuckled. Geoff and I thanked him again and we were on our way. He had even marked our card so that we didn’t have to stop at Customs.

Camping Again

Before leaving Florida in early September we had prepaid our camping fees so we didn’t have to worry when we came back. The receipt was a little cryptic, though, so I had said to the manager, “You had better be here when we get back.” And he had assured us that he would be.

Well, as I’m sure you’ve already guessed, he wasn’t there any more.

It took a little sorting out but the new management accepted the receipt (that goodness we had one and that we’d kept it) and all was well.

Moving Day

By Vicky Wells, on August 27th, 2010

Our transportation, accommodation, food and entertainment cost so far
Aug 27 ~ Day #109	Budget to date	Spent today	Total to date	Daily average
Total	$10900	$93.19	$9376.57	$86.02
Miles by Road	Miles by Sea	Miles by Air	Miles by Train	Total Miles
13580+273=13853	4451	000	69	18373

Current Location: Davie, Florida

Transportation: $30.00
Accommodation: $27.20
Food: $35.99

Today’s Total Expenses: $93.19

Condo to Camping

Today we made the transition from a one-bedroom condo back to our tent. It actually isn’t as difficult as you might think.

With all the tenting we’ve done on this trip the tent and inflatable mattress have become quite familiar and comfortable.

Geoff is now an expert at setting the tent up quickly and getting the mattress in place in the back of the Jeep.

We are here now until we leave for Europe in just a little over a week’s time.

We’re staying in another naturist resort. Yes, we’re very comfortable with that and, hey, it means a lot less laundry!

However, this resort was established in the late 60s and at that time it was out in the middle of nowhere. Now it’s actually surrounded by subdivisions with lots of houses.

Trying to Find the Cheapest Gas

We always try to make sure we get the best deal on gas whenever we need to fill up but this time we left it a little late and spent a little too much time trying to find the best price.

We pushed it so far this time that we almost ran out of gas! And, the gas station we did stop at had pretty high prices compared to what we had seen in the Orlando area and on the drive down to Fort Lauderdale. So, we just put $30 worth and headed back to the campground.

We aren’t planning to do much in the way of driving during this stay anyway. I expect we’ll head out for groceries in a few days and then the car will go into storage while we’re in Europe.

Fort Lauderdale to Land O’Lakes, Florida

By Vicky Wells, on May 11th, 2010

Our transportation, accommodation, food and entertainment cost so far
May 11 ~ Day # 1	Budget to date	Spent today	Total to date	Daily average
Total	$100	$185.15	$185.15	$185.15

Econo Lodge

Current Location: Lake Como Resort
Mileage: 296 Total: 296
Today’s Total Expenses: $185.15
Transportation: Started with full tank
Toll: $2.50
Accommodation: $49.08
Food: $133.57
Entertainment: $0.00

Econo Lodge in Dania Beach

Before embarking on our “official” trip we spent two days in the Econo Lodge in Dania Beach to give us a chance to get organized and get the car serviced. I guess those two days count as T minus 2 and T minus 1.

We got a really good deal on the stay as we have a Choice Privileges card and Econo Lodge is part of the group. We had earned a free night stay with our loyalty card and paid for the other night.

Although older, the motel was clean, the pool was great and the staff were friendly.

All-in-all it was a great deal for the money.
Mostly running around and shopping

Even though today is officially the first day of the trip, we still had a lot of running around to do and a lot of things to buy.

We made a final stop at our mail forwarding address to makes sure there wasn’t any more mail for us before we left.

The poor car just looked so packed full of stuff. Truly, we have yet to get organized but hope this process will happen along the way.

Thank goodness for our Magellan GPS. With a few minor exceptions it has guided us accurately to wherever we told it we wanted to go.

Recap of our equipment

So, let’s do a quick recap of what we’ve actually got with us for the trip. In order to save money and try to bring this adventure in on budget we plan to do some camping along the way.

Now, there’s a real leap of faith. I haven’t camped in more years than I care to admit to and the same goes for Geoff. But, we tried to select the equipment we would need logically. We’ll see how that works out.

What we have for the trip:

*Koolatron cooler – that’s the type that can be either hot or cold and plugs into your cigarette lighter or power outlet in your car/RV.

*Sportz SUV Tent – this tent actually attaches to the back of your SUV giving you way more space with the tent and SUV combined. We’re traveling in a 1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee, so this kind of tent seemed ideal for us. (More about setting it up later)

*Truckbedz – we opted for an inflatable mattress that was designed to fit the back of the Jeep. It inflates and deflates quickly and this also meant that we wouldn’t have to sleep on the ground – something I particularly didn’t want to do.

*Jetboil Helios cooking system – this was purchased with an eye to both size and convenience. Reviews on this system also seemed pretty good. (More later about cooking our first supper with this system)

These were the main purchases. Other items that were, of course, needed were dishes, cutlery, cooking utensils and the usual stuff like paper towels, etc.

A Car Full of Food

One of the toughest things was keeping down the amount of food we were purchasing. For one thing, food is very expensive in the Bahamas, so everything looked like such a good deal. However, the cooler and car will only hold so much. We had to be really conservative on anything that needed refrigeration.

Our first grocery shopping trip was to Costco. Now that was really difficult because of the sizes normally sold there. We did buy some stuff but not nearly as much as a normal Costco trip. Costco has always been an outing for us and it’s just amazing how much will just jump in the cart. However, we exercised surprising restraint and only bought things like canned chili and packets of soup in a bowl. One of the best things we got were salt and pepper grinders all ready full of sea salt and peppercorns – can’t be without our salt and pepper.

Just before getting to our camping spot for the night we stopped at a Wal-Mart Super Center to pick up just a few more items. We got a set of Coleman dishes and cutlery so we actually had something to eat dinner on, as well as a few utensils like a spatula and the always-essential can opener.

With the car now bulging (and I thought I may have heard a few groans as well), we headed to Lake Como Resort to camp for the night. This meant setting up the tent for the first time, inflating the mattress for the first time and using the Jetboil system for the first time. That’s a lot of firsts for people our age.

After finding our campsite we began the process of figuring out the tent. We opened it up, checked all the parts we had and began to read the instructions. I guess we looked a little perplexed as a neighbor came by to ask if we needed any help. He had noticed us poring over the instruction booklet.

In a bit the methodology became clear and we started to assembly the tent and attach it to the car. As with anything new, once you’ve got it figured out subsequent attempts become easier.

Then our thoughts turned to dinner. Geoff set up the Jetboil, and they sure named this product right. We were having spaghetti and meat sauce for dinner and we began boiling the water for the spaghetti which, amazingly, only took a minute or two to boil. When it was ready we took that off the burned and cooked the ground beef and then added the spaghetti sauce that also cooked in record time.

It was a bit awkward but everything came out great and we enjoyed spaghetti and meat sauce as well as salad and garlic bread for dinner. Not bad for our first camping meal.

It was now time to think about heading off to bed for the night in our new tent. At this point we began to question if we wanted to sleep in the back of the car, which seemed like it would be cramped. Remember, we’re used to sleeping in a king-size bed. So, we decided to inflate the mattress and just lay it on the floor of the tent. Well, as I mentioned earlier, it was specifically made to fit in the back of the car, so it has a rather odd shape. We made a valiant attempt to sleep on this hourglass-shaped mattress on the bottom of the tent, but neither of us could sleep because we kept falling off the edge of the mattress.

About 2am Geoff suggested that we put the mattress in the back of the Jeep where it was meant to be in the first place. So that’s what we did and you know what, because we had the sides of the car to lean against and we weren’t falling off the edges of the mattress, we actually felt like we had more room and were able to get a reasonable amount of sleep.

After our first day of camping I’m pleased to say that we are still married, still talking to each other and both without any major injury. Not bad! Now on to day two …

Daytona Bike Week

By Geoff Wells, on March 2nd, 2010

Daytona Beach is only about 50 miles NE of Orlando and is currently home to Bike Week. It was not part of our original vacation plan to visit but after stumbling upon the Spyder at Central Florida PowerSports we couldn’t pass up the chance to test drive one. Since neither of us has a motorcycle license the only way we could ride one is on the track.

We were up bright and early, packed and cleaned up the suite. Hard to believe we created so much garbage in just a week. We were charged a standard cleaning fee anyway so we could have just left it – Oh, well!

The sun was shining, the drive was easy and in no time we were following dozens of motorcycles to the Daytona Speedway. As you might expect the grounds are huge and packed with exhibitors. We hadn’t given any thought to finding the Spyder exhibit once we arrived but once again fate was smiling on us as we were directed into the parking lot right next to – you guessed it – the Spyder exhibit.

The staff were signing people up for test drives but we would only be able to drive around the test track they had set up. We got to drive both the sport model and the touring model, which is the one we are interested in.

Vicky had never driven a motorcycle before but had no difficulty learning the simple controls.

Several Spyder dealers and customizers had supplied bikes fitted out with available 3rd party add-ons and paint jobs.

We spent a little time wandering around the exhibits but we had to leave much earlier than we wanted if we were to make the last train from Fort Lauderdale to Miami. It turns out that it was a good thing we didn’t try to push the time too much. We arrived in Fort Lauderdale and put out car back in storage with lots of time to spare. In fact, if the cab had arrived in a reasonable time, we could have caught an earlier train back to Miami airport. As it was, we had to make several desperate calls to the cab company and then just made it for the last train.

Turned out to be a pretty long day but we’re glad we had the chance to ride the Spyder. We have been invited to tour the factory when we get back to Canada. We hope to do that some time in July.

If you’re interested in one of these machines, be sure to check out our post then as I’m sure we will have some great video of them being made.

Orlando Practice Run

By Geoff Wells, on February 24th, 2010

North Eleuthera Airport (ELH)

Orlando vacation ~ Day one

Now that we have decided to spend the next few years traveling around Europe and blogging about our adventures, we thought it might be a good idea to get in a few practice runs.

One of the rules of living in the Bahamas is that you can only stay for six months at a time. You can get a homeowners card that allows you to stay longer but we have never bothered. Anyway, since we had to leave because our six months was up, we decided to have a mini-vacation in Orlando.

Part of what we plan to do on our adventures is travel as cheaply as possible and document everything we spend. We want to show that it is possible to travel a lot in your retirement years without spending a fortune.

We’ll talk more about timeshare later but for now know that we exchanged into a resort in Orlando where we plan to spend a week. Timeshare (now they call it vacation ownership) can be a great way to save money but one of the downsides is actually getting to the resort.

American Airlines Special

American Airlines currently runs a $69 one way special (plus taxes – total $396.40 return for two) from Eleuthera to Miami on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. This is way better than the $704 we normally pay to fly into Fort Lauderdale with the other carriers that service the island. The only problem is we keep a car in storage close to the Fort Lauderdale Airport so now we have to get from Miami to Fort Lauderdale.

We figured a taxi was out of the question as it would have eaten up any savings on the airfare. We checked for limo and shuttle services between airports but it was still more than we wanted to pay. The best price we found was at shuttlediscount.com but it was still going to cost almost $80 for both of us.

Then we remembered the Tri-Rail system that runs parallel to I95 from Miami to West Palm and beyond. A quick check online at http://www.tri-rail.com and we discovered the trip from Miami Airport to Fort Lauderdale Airport was just $1.90 each for seniors and that included a free shuttle bus from arrivals at the airport to the train station. Add a $15 (including tip) taxi ride from the station to our storage unit and we had a pretty sweet deal.

Air travel is increasingly becoming a royal pain in the ass even from a one room terminal like North Eleuthera. We still had to arrive two hours before the flight and sit and wait for the plane to arrive.

We arrived at the North Eleuthera Airport at 11:30am for a 1:30pm flight to Miami. The flight was more or less on time, which is rare for here, but we got into the wrong line up at customs. The guy ahead of us was interviewed for a long time and finally got hauled away. Of course this meant we missed the train we had planned to catch and had to wait another hour at the station. We finally got to our car in Fort Lauderdale at about 5:30pm ready for the 3-4 hour drive to Orlando. After reconnecting the battery it started immediately (I love my Jeep) and we were off.

Hard To Beat Denny’s

Before getting on the highway we stopped at Denny’s for the first food we had had since breakfast. It’s tough to beat their senior specials – huge salad, grilled Talapia, two sides and coffee for just $20 including tip.

We had printed out our Google maps to the resort before we left home but somehow they didn’t seem to match the reality of the street we were on when we eventually made it to Orlando. Anyway after a couple of stops to ask directions we got to the Celebrity Resort – Orlando around 11:30pm just 12 hours after leaving home. We were looking forward to crawling into bed for a well deserved rest but the days adventures were not over yet.

Because we booked on short notice the only unit available for exchange was a studio which can often mean very limited cooking facilities. When we got to our assigned unit we quickly discovered, as we had feared, that it was small and only had a microwave and bar fridge. Worst of all it had not been cleaned since the previous guests. Needless to say, after traveling all day, we were not happy.

The resort staff were very apologetic and immediately offered us an upgrade to a one-bedroom unit which we gratefully accepted.

So it worked out well and we got a beautiful unit with a full kitchen just across from the pool. It was a long day but we are here and looking forward to our first vacation in several years.

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