February 26, 2012: Homeward Bound

I was not looking forward to driving through Tampa.   I am glad it was Sunday as the traffic should be less.  Well, that was what I thought. We got into Tampa and the traffic was horrible. I hate driving on I-4 or anywhere around that area. I was glad to drop off the rental car and be done with that part.

The flight home was a different story.    I had these two kids sitting behind me who kicked my seat for almost the full 2 hour flight.  I was so pissed. Finally, I pushed the button and slammed my seat back into their laps. I think that helped make my point for a little while.    The mother barely did anything to them. I would have separated those kids.    

There was a nice family sitting next to me.  Their son was afraid of flying and crying throughout the flight.  The father said he was from Grand Haven.  He was pretty nice.  The mother was sitting in front of us with the daughter.

Jeanne and Kevin Reenders picked us up from the airport and we went for a wonderful dinner at Turk's Restaurant in Nunica.  That cheeseburger was fantastic.  I loved the bar cheese and chips too.

When we got home, we went inside and Maggie came to see us. I think she was happy to have us home and we were glad to be home.

My mom and I have wanted to move to Florida for many years and have travelled there on several occasions checking it out.    We both agree that the traffic is terrible around there.    It is a nice place to go on vacation in the winter.    

I have been following the job market and news around Florida and North Carolina and it's bad. The unemployment rate in Ft. Myers was around 12% for the past year.     My mom read in an article that Tampa has a high rate of suicides due partly to lack of jobs and people getting depressed about their situations.   

Steve Dykema moved down to Florida 3 years ago and wasn't able to find a good paying job, nor was his wife able to find out.   I read on his facebook he was glad to be moving back to Michigan, as he thought the people in Florida were rude and crackheads, not to mention the bad traffic, especially in the winter months.
Leah said she wants to move in about 5 years.    She said the summers are so hot and miserable.      I think she misses her family and friends back in Michigan.

So, now, we have to figure out what our next step will be in our lives, as moving out of state was our plans for many years.