- Jul 1, 2020
- 3 min read

Finding My Place

23 hours and 23 minutes is a very long time to spend in a car. So, that's exactly what I did for the past five days. With a global pandemic taking place, vacations are immensely more difficult to plan; as a result, people are turning to long road trips.

Not only did my family and I have a lengthy excursion, but it was just as spontaneous. A lake house in Alabama was the goal but as a mechanism to preserve our sanity, we stopped halfway just for the night. Once we arrived in Alabama, I was devastated. The house and the lake itself were serene and beautiful. The hard part was the fact that it was my first summer vacation since my parents sold our beach house. Being as it was a second home and such a big part of my childhood replacing it was a punch in the gut.

After spending about a day and a half there, my mom found a place in Fort Myers, Florida. I was packed and in the car within seconds. Turns out she and I aren't lake people and we're also very impatient, which is horrible. I truly wanted to love it and quite honestly, I can't figure out why I didn't. Nonetheless, we were once again on the move.

This time we got it right. The minute we pulled up to the beach cottage we threw our stuff down, yanked on our bikinis, and sprinted into to the water. The rest of my time was spent in the sun, washed with sea water, and filled with salty foods. Now I'm home, reflecting on our adventures and dreaming about the next.

What I didn't mention was that I brought my camera. Lucky you! Here are the highlights of my trip captured in a snap.

No, this isn't where we stayed between Miami and Alabama. It was on the property, though. We actually stayed in a bit bigger of a "house" there in Ocala, FL.

This was a pony that they had, they also had horses and a kangaroo. I'm pretty sure that it was a wedding venue/bed and breakfast pre-corona.

We stopped at the little grand canyon in Georgia! It was super cool, the following photos are also from there.

This water was everywhere we walked, it was my favorite part. It was as if someone's hands were stretching out at us.

This was one of the canyons, I think that's the correct term. Some of them were climbable and I snatched that opportunity. Unfortunately, I was being stubborn and wore my flip flops which didn't go down well.

This dog was hilarious. He was just walking over the stream and tipped over into it. It did make him very happy to be cooled off, his entire side was red but...oh well!