Day 2 - Saturday, Oct. 23, 2010

Wow, day 2 and I am blogging again - I am a Superstar! I only had a part-time day today. I oriented myself with the conference area (it is huge) and had one class (Tired Cops: Strategies for Promoting Officer Safety by Managing Fatigue and Work Hours). Sounds exciting doesn't it? I won't bore you with more than that.

Rita speaking now - While Scott was doing that, Noah and I had breakfast at this place where the waiter sounded just like Donald Duck. Then we came back to play chess outside with huge chess pieces. OK. Now back to Scott.....

We had our confernce shuttle running today, so getting there and back wasn't an issue. At about noon we hopped in our rental car to head out of Orlando (isn't that what everyone does when they come here on holiday?) We were going to head to Ponce Inlet to a Mantatee cruise. But, last night we called to confirm because we didn't get our email tickets and they told us their boat is down for emergency service and closed until Tuesday. So, we headed to Tampa in hopes of seeing Lexi, but that didn't work either. :-( We did go to the Tampa Zoo, which was totally awsome (see a couple of the photos attached that Rita took. We bought a card reader just for you Dawn!

After a few hours at the zoo, Noah was feeling worse - he was getting a little ill on the way there. We decided to head home and stopped at the Flying J on I-4. They tried to overcharge me, but I did't let them. The bast(*%^s. Once we arrived back in Orlando we went to the Prime Outlet Mall at the north end of International Drive to see whats what up there. This is a very touristy area - like WI Dells. At the mall Noah bought a watch and almost bought a t-shirt, but took a photo of it instead and saved $12. Rita bought a spring coat because she was cold (it was 75 degrees).

We tried to find a grocery store, and found one, but it was tiny so we kept going and decided to stop at one about 1/2 mile from our hotel. So, we headed south on International Drive. Of course, the first block had a souvenir store (one of many on I-Drive). We bought a few souvenirs and Noah bought a t-shirt and I bought the card reader. Funny story here; I asked the guy if they had one and he told me it was $14.99. The sticker was $49.99. I told him $15 was more than what I wanted to spend, so he said how 'bout $10 - so I said "Ok".

The road was very, very busy for about 15 blocks then opened up, but we all thoroughly enjoyed the sights and sounds of Orlando. At one point we had a very hot Ford Mustang in front of us. They kept revving their engine, and I finally put our 4 cylinder PT Cruiser in neutral and revved my engine a little bit. I was very cool there for a second - NOT.

We found our grocery store, picked up a few items for breakfast and to snack on. The store was attached to a bar/restaurant and we ordered some food to go. So, it took longer and Rita found a pair of shoes to buy (again, is anyone surprised?) Still waiting for the food so we had a drink (2 for 1 special going up you know). Put $10 more of gas in the car, pick up a 6 pack of Stella and back to the room.

Time to relax, blog and get Noah in bed. Rita and I might hit the hot tub quick and take a long earned sleep. Again, thanks for reading and letting me share our adventures. Now, for a few of Rita's photos....