Thursday dawned late as DIF began to set in. We had planned on shopping in Phillipsburg but just didn’t get going early enough. Hung out at the pool while laundering some necessities in the free machines at OC. Bring your own soap. Left late in the afternoon to shop. Worked out OK. Gulmohar’s was out of airbags but did bubble wrap a couple of bottles for us. HH at OC. Ken & Jayne were back and we got to finally meet them. What a fun pair as well as their son Jake. Rancho for dinner. I had a great sirloin steak and Cindy had a very good salmon steak. A funny thing happened after dinner. The door to the dock was open and one of the local dock rodents scurried thru it and right out the front. Took all of 2-4 seconds. I told the waitress who was appalled and immediately shut the door. Apparently I’m not the only one who takes an occasional shortcut!!! I was told that they always keep the door closed just for this reason and someone getting takeaway food for the yachts docked in the rear left it open. I’ll still go back. The food & service were excellent as they were on our last visit there.

Friday was more of the same. Beach walking, pool sunning, HH. Off to dinner at Simpson Bay Greenhouse. Had the lobster since it was the special of the evening. We were dissapointed with quality of food & service. Lobster was exceptionally dry & overcooked. Can’t do that to lobster of any kind but especially not warm water ones. Waitress seated us at a dirty table. I made her clean it again and then she came by only once after delivering the food. I had to flag her down for the check. This was not the experience we had on our last visit there. They’ll get another chance. Just maybe not for lobster.

Saturday was checkout day. So sad to go. We met many neat people at OC. I hope RCI is able to place us there again. I’m not going to do a list of names as I’ll surely forget someone. I hope they all read this board as I want to thank everyone for making our trip a great one. What a friendly group. Special thanks to Bill, Elaine, Ken, & Jayne. We left very early for the airport. Lesley picked up the car at noon & we checked in for our flight. He has always been right on time for us. Exceptional service. Lunch at Quizno’s. We got in line for Passport Control at 1 p.m. Finally got to our gate at 2:15 p.m. with boarding at 2:35 p.m. What a zoo!!! Lots of confusion, pushing, shoving, & yelling. A number of passengers had to be extracted from the mob of departures as their flights were boarding after over an hour in line. Some may have even missed their flights due to the inordinate amount of time required to get thru Passport Control. Not my idea of a good time. Poor organization by Passport Control. This will probably sour a number of visitors and their plans to return. I hope they fix it soon or that it was just an aberration. Arrived in Miami on time and were off to the Sofitel on the free shuttle. Cool hotel. We got a great rate @ $80 before taxes. The bar has interesting munchies. Mixed olives, wasabi peas, & a crispy fried snack. Prices are high, quality is good. Try it if you need to overnight in Miami.

Sunday morning was an early one. I don’t like MIA and this just confirmed it. Check in took 30 minutes at 7 a.m. and getting to our gate took another hour!!!!! Security was quick, maybe 15 minutes. We had to walk the entire length of the D & E concourses, get on a tram, & then walk another 100 yards or so. Few signs that were accurate and airline people who looked at you with an air of disdain when asked a question. The terminal maps are horribly wrong and need updating. When we finally got to gate 30 on the E Concourse, there was one horrible little snack place open that took forever for one to get served and then they forgot your order at least once while filling it. The sandwich girl had her phone out the entire time and barely acknowledged anyone trying to order. I finally settled for a coffee & a tea. Canned tea & bad coffee. $10.

Our arrival at ORD was 30 minutes early. They changed our plane for a 777? Double the size and nearly three times as fast. Personal entertainment systems. Better seating. I liked this flight. Picked up the car from Avistar & off to home.