Headed to not-so-sunny Florida

So, it's Friday night, about 8:40 p.m., which means in a little more than 48 hours I'll be pulling out of the parking lot at Donahue Family Church in Pineville, on my way to sunny Florida. Anything's gotta be better than the miserable rain we've having in Cenla, right?

Except I can't get away from the rain! A quick glance at the 10-day forecast on weather.com shows thunderstorms predicting every day we're in Bradenton, Fla. Every day. When we head to Universal Studios next Saturday, yep more rain -- 60 percent chance. How about on Sunday, when we're arriving back home? You guessed it, rain's gone!

But honestly, I'm not going to Florida for the sun, although I figured it'd be a nice perk. Elizabeth and I are chaperoning a group of around 60 teenagers going to a Global Youth Ministry camp in Bradenton, at the Christian Retreat Center. We'll spend five days (more like three full days and two half days) at camp, which I'm told is going to be pretty laid back for the chaperones. I'll be able to participate in worship and interact with the kids throughout the day, although most of my chaperoning duties will come making sure the three junior-high munchkins assigned to my room behave and go to sleep each night. It's cool, though, because I know two of the kids in my room and have been told the third kid won't give me any problems.

After the week at camp, we'll depart Friday at lunch to go to the beach, where we'll be met by rain. Yay! Doesn't matter. I won't let rain, rain on my parade, or vacation, whatever. It's been awhile since I've been in the ocean -- OK, so it's technically the Gulf of Mexico, but let's not be picky -- so I'll have a blast no matter what.

After the beach, we'll drive a couple of hours to Orlando, where we'll spend all day Saturday at Universal Studios Islands of Adventure. Well, everyone else will spend all day there, while Elizabeth and I have a special treat up our sleeves. We've paid a little extra money to upgrade our park pass into a two-park pass, so we'll be able to visit both Islands of Adventure, as well as the original Universal Studios right down the street.

Just being honest, I'm doing this for my wife. Elizabeth loves Curious George, and there's a CG exhibit at the original Universal Studios, where she'll hopefully get to "meet" the curious little creature, take a picture with him, peruse the store for souvenirs, etc. But there are also several rides at the original Universal Studios that I'm looking forward to trying out. The only time I've been to Orlando, when I was in fourth grade, oh so long ago, I remember going to the original Universal Studios (back then, the only Universal Studios as Islands of Adventure didn't open until 1999). I had a fun time and believe I've had a fun time again this trip.

Anyway, I write this blog to let everyone know that I'll be a little out of touch next week. While we're chaperoning a church trip, this is essentially vacation for Elizabeth and me, and I plan to treat it accordingly. I'll be available in emergency situations, but I'm also not planning to be glued to my cell phone. I won't have computer access and might not even get to read a paper for a week (gasp!). But, you know what? I'll have a blast getting away from Cenla, away from the office, away from the worries of everyday life. It's vacation time, and we're going to live it up!