Edge of Seventeen

I went to Orlando today to celebrate Gina's 17th Birthday. She turned 17 last week. It was very foggy this morning on the entire drive. Fortunately, visibility was good, the fog being up above the surface. It was a little scary though, thinking about the huge pileup on this highway (I-4) last week.

I made good time; not running into any backed up traffic passing by the Disney area. I arrived around 11:00 am. We went to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch. Gina had her chicken salad and I had my favorite Bang Bang Chicken and Shrimp. We had the Tex Mex egg rolls for our appetizer. For dessert, Gina had the Peanut Butter Cookie dough Cheesecake and I had the Pistachio Cheesecake. We ended up with doggie bags for our dinners and our desserts!

Then we went to the Regal theaters in the same Winter Park Village complex. We saw 27 Dresses. It was a cute romantic comedy. I was surprised that the audience was so responsive, cheering at one scene and applauding at the end. It was fun! We snuck in our candy that we bought at Albertson's.

Then we did some shopping at Target and then back to drop Gina home. I left around 6:45 pm and ran into a torrential downpour driving on the highway thru Orlando. I never have driven in such a heavy rain . . . instant lack of visibility. Almost all of the cars slowed to a crawl and put on their flashers. Many drivers pulled off on the side of the road. It rained all the way to just east of Tampa where it slowed to a misty drizzle. By the time I hit the Howard Franklin Bridge across Tampa Bay, it had stopped completely. It was a fun day, but good to be back home!