Our first university visit was ironically two hours later at Valdosta State University near the Georgia/Florida border. Tessa had sent them some volleyball video earlier so we thought we would stop and take a look around. Believe it or not, the photos on the website were better than the actual campus.  Didn’t look very well maintained and there was like a canopy of unmanaged trees which kinda made Tessa feel claustrophobic. We walked around a bit and then drove around the campus as well. It was good for Tessa and Delaney to get a feel of what type of university they went to attend – rural/city, small/large, etc.  I had driven the whole trip in the dark, so Heather took over for the last 3-4 hours.

We then stopped at the University of Florida since we have driven through Gainesville so many times but never stopped. It wasn’t very walkable so we drove mostly through campus.  It is a large university 60k+, so we expected something like OSU and it had that feel.  Nice campus though.

Arrived at The Westgate Town Center & Villas at 1:15p and was able to check in to our unit in building 5700 overlooking Swan lake. We then walked over and had lunch at the Draft’s Bar and then spent the rest of the day at the pool.  We came back and had some snacks and all turned in early.

Saturday 4/8

We got up after a 11+ hour sleep (that drive is taxing), and then we had some breakfast and drove from Kissimmee to Bradenton Beach & AMI, Florida for the next few days.  

Sunday 4/9

Happy Easter from Bradenton Beach! 

Monday 4/10

After returning from Bradenton Beach & AMI, we spent the remainder of the day at Disney Springs. We had lunch at The Polite Pig (awesome brisket sandwich) and made our normal stop at Gideons. We got chocolate chip, peanut butter crunch, cookies and cream and pistachio toffee cookies.  We then took the Disney bus over to Caribbean Beach Resort to board the Disney Skyline to Epcot and Hollywood Studios. We arrived back to the resort in the evening and took it easy the rest of the night.

Tuesday 4/11

We got up and had breakfast and the girls and I walked over to Shipwreck Island Waterpark on the other side of Swan Lake from where we are staying.  We stayed there all morning and came back and had lunch with Heather before heading back to the waterpark.  Afterwards we played putt-putt, pickle-ball, and hung out near Hershey’s Ice Cream and the arcade. Heather made an awesome sausage pasta for dinner. Tomorrow… Epcot!

Wednesday 4/12

We spent the day at Disney’s Epcot! 

Thursday 4/13

We found out earlier in the week that Tessa got the Friday afternoon spot for the JVA World Championship in Louisville, so we had to cut our vacation a day short.  We got up and packed up and left Orlando by 7a.  I drove all day and we stopped overnight in Bowling Green, KY. 

Friday 4/14-4/16 

Tessa’s volleyball tournament at the Louisville Expo Center.