Yippee!  We're on our way! What a thrill!  We'd been waiting for our trip to get here for months.  Finally!  Yorkiefest was over and it was time for our big trip to Florida.  I had not had a vacation in over three years, and Cheri had not had one since 1996!  We were long overdue for some fun.  We both wanted to take our dogs, so we had searched and searched for someplace dog friendly, near the beach, with some activities we'd like to do.  We found The Lorelei on Treasure Island, and it was great. The day we left, Friday, September 5th, 2003, was a beautiful day.  We couldn't believe our luck with the weather the whole trip.  We had a long drive ahead of us and weren't sure if we would drive through or not, it depended on how we felt.  Although Cheri and Rudy got to my house at around 10:00 a.m., we ran around the area, stopping for snorkel gear and getting some last minute items, and didn't actually leave the Cincinnati area until 1 or 2.  We had packed the car tight, had the dogs cleaned and ready, and were off on our Excellent Adventure! The trip went amazingly well.  Cheri drove all the way to Atlanta.  We stopped quite often at rest areas, and at the Cracker Barrell, where we put a blanket out on the lawn and had a picnic.  It was great fun and we were so excited to get to Florida.  We talked and laughed and contantly remarked at how wonderful our dogs were.  It started getting dark and we were trying to reach Atlanta.  We made it and found a Motel 8 that we decided to stay in.  Well, it was a horrible place and the room was not even cleaned from the last guest, but we were so tired and it was past midnight, that we just stayed there anyway.  There were some creepy people around and we got up and out of there as soon as we could in the morning, and off we went to Florida!   As we got closer, we got into a bit of rain, but really lucked out, because a storm had been in the area the day before, and it was passing through Georgia as we were. We got to Treasure Island tired, and a bit cranky, but we were just THRILLED when we saw how cute this place was!   We had made it and couldn't wait to enjoy the wonderful Florida weather and see all the things we wanted to see!

Me and Rudy at my apartment before we left.

Cheri and Elvis as we're getting ready to leave.

Toby got very tired and slept under the dash on the floor.

Little Elvis in the carseat.

Going through Kentucky towards Tennessee.

Cheri and the boys at the Tennesee Welcome area.

Me and Toby and Elvis somewhere in Georgia?

Sweet Rudy sitting in his momma's lap.

Elvis finally got tired of the carseat and sat in the back window like a bobble dog.

During the daylight I was busy trying to post all the Yorkiefest pictures on the website.

Getting into Atlanta, Toby decided to sit up on the cooler.

Our nasty room in Atlanta.  Towels were on the floor, the beds were unmade, it was filthy.

Towels were still laying on the sink.  YUK!

Had to get online in Atlanta and check in with the Yappers and let everyone know we made it safely to Atlanta.

Toby was laying anywhere and everywhere that he could.  We called him Mr. Comfy.

Rudy was ONLY comfortable on his mom's lap.

Meanwhile, Toby has no trouble getting comfy.

Going out of Georgia was the only hint of rain we had.  We had just missed a big storm in the area of Florida we were going to.

Our first palm tree sighting!

Cheri giving the thumbs up when we first saw the ocean.

We see the ocean!!

Cheri and the boys at the last rest area we stopped at.

We've made it to Treasure Island!

The Bilmar Hotel on the strip in Treasure Island. This is across from our hotel, the Lorelei and also is where Sloppy Joe's on the beach is.

The Treasure Island clock tower.

Pulling in to the strip on Treasure Island.

Treasure Island beach boardwalk.