I'm back...

and I am EXHAUSTED.

Here is a run down of the trip:

• Thursday night - stay up late packing and preparing
• Friday morning - wake up to 8" of snow on the ground and finish packing - harrowing drive to work on unplowed roads - work all day - at 5pm left to drive to airport (my wonderful Dad brought my hubby to the airport so we'd only have one car there)
• Friday evening - fly to Orlando (arrive at 10:30pm) pick up rental car - DRIVE 98 miles to Gainesville - check into crap motel - get to bed at 2am
• Saturday morning - get up at 8am - get showered and dressed and repack everything into suitcase. Take hubby over to Target where we have to pay retail for 3 days supply of his mood stabilizing drug because he forgot to pack his pills. Get to the site by 9:45 am. Work from 10am - 7pm to pay for the trip (rental car, my airfare and 2 nights hotel).
  
• Saturday night - eat at Steak and Shake - not my choice but hubby really, really wanted to eat there. Then drive the 98 miles back to Orlando to check into our super nice hotel for 2 nights. Arrive at 10pm and check in, crash.
• Sunday morning - wake up around 7am - feeling somewhat refreshed, enjoy great continental breakfast at hotel (for me bagel with cream cheese, a glass of milk and a banana, for hubby - cereal, yogurt, and an english muffin) they had oatmeal and fresh fruit and juices and all kinds of pastries and such. It was a really nice spread. Then wait for shuttle to Universal Studios - when it was 1/2 an hour late we gave up - took our car and just paid the $11 to park which turned out better anyway as it put us much closer to the wheelchair rental counter than where the bus dropped off.
• Sunday - what a nice day - it was sunny and warm but not too warm and there was a nice breeze so it felt great. We went through everything we wanted to see and left the park around 5:30 to go have margaritas and dinner at Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville restaurant. It was the best steak I've had in a long, long time and it was so relaxed and fun. I had a mango frozen rita and hubby had TWO Patron rita's on the rocks. His were so strong that he was really quite tipsy after 2 of them! LOL We then went back to the hotel and relaxed watching TV and chilling out.
  
  - Sidebar about the hotel - this place was great - we had a King Suite, it had a great bathroom, a cushy soft bed that I LOVED, a sitting area with a sectional sofa, and ... a 42" LCD TV in the room! (could turn to be viewable from either bed or sofa here's a picture:
  It also had a small wet bar area with a fridge and a sink, coffee maker, etc. The Hyatt Place Universal Studios and I would highly recommend this place if you don't need resort amenities (pool is very small, no room service but a decent menu at the counter downstairs that you can just go pick up) but still want a nice room.
• Monday - Islands of Adventure was PACKED, far busier than Universal the day before, we end up paying the extra $45 per person for the express pass or we wouldn't have time to ride most of the rides what with the hour long lines. It was HOT too and I have the sunburned nose and shoulders to show for it. We rode the Spiderman Ride - it was great as we remembered. We rode the Hulk Coaster and it was awesome! Then we headed around through the other areas - stopping in Jurassic Park for lunch - ending up at the Dueling Dragons coaster - made the mistake of riding one side and then hopping right on the other side - my equilibrium had not recovered and the second ride left me nauseous and dizzy, took me awhile to recover. No more thrill rides that day (there weren't any left anyway). Around 3pm we left the park - drove to the airport - sat there for 2-3 hours waiting for our flight. Got home at 11:45 last night and unpacked and went to bed.
  
• Tuesday - I'm at work - sunburned shoulders, nose and forehead, exhausted, but still glad I went. I will sleep well tonight and probably will be in bed by 8:30.

So there you have it the whirlwind vacation.