It’s now nearly the end of January, and it’s already been a busy year so far. Steve (DOS) and I reached a 20th anniversary milestone in early January, though we nearly forgot about it as we were preparing for a cross-country train trip, and getting together our warm clothes! As it turns out, I got a serious ear infection somehow and we had to cancel the trip and our would-be anniversary celebration at a nice restaurant in San Francisco.
We had planned on taking two Amtrak train trips actually; one was a new route on the Florida Express, which just started running from Miami to Chicago, with umpteen quick stops along the way. It actually stops in Orlando, but we wanted to take it the whole way, so we were going to take the high speed Brightline train to Miami, overnight there, and then take the two day journey to Chicago the next morning on the California Zephyr. We took the 52 hour journey from Chicago to Emoryville, CA (San Francisco Bay Area) a couple years ago, and really enjoyed it. Living in Florida we don’t see snow very often, and going thru the Colorado Rockies in Winter-time offers spectacular views!
As it turns out, my jaw was hurting initially, and I thought a couple of my teeth were pressing together, but it turns out it was an ear infection that was draining down to my jaw causing extreme pain there and in my ear. We went to an urgent care clinic, and they then sent us to the ER next door, as they were concerned about us traveling with an ear infection. I’m glad we went to the ER as they took a CT scan of my ear and jaw, and fortunately confirmed it wasn’t abscessed. They put me on antibiotics and told me to go see an ENT specialist, as well as recommending we didn’t go on our trip. We were going to stay in San Francisco a few days, and then fly home from there. Flying with any type of ear infection, or even a cold is not something you should ever do, due to the cabin pressure at high altitudes. We were concerned just going thru the high Rocky Mountains in the train might be bothersome as well, so we canceled the trip.
We have another train trip scheduled in March going thru the Canadian Rockies, from Toronto to Vancouver, which we already had planned, and still plan on taking.
As for our 20th anniversary; well we will officially celebrate that soon, most likely on our next cruise on Virgin Voyages, which leaves in a couple weeks now from Miami. Twenty years together, Steve DOS and me; wow did that go by fast! My sister, Jenni, gave us a black and white canvas plague she had done, which shows “UNO” and “DOS” at twenty years.
It’s a simple traffic sign like design, with our nicknames pointing out directions: UNO and DOS with the year we met in 2005, but it’s so meaningful to us.
We had a smaller photo we had in a frame that said “This is Us”, which we hung above the canvas plaque.
In the meantime, I’m felling much better from the ear infection due to the antibiotics, and instead of taking the California train trip, we’ve spent some time down in Daytona Beach. We checked in for nearly three weeks, although we didn’t stay there every night, coming back home for a few days here and there for a couple Doctor’s and Dentist appointments. It was actually cheaper to check-in on a cheap rate, and “stay” the whole time, as the rates went up drastically for the Rolex 24 Event, and on weekends as well. Our rate stayed the same however as the rate depends on the check-in date, unlike some hotels where it is variable even during your stay.
Not that it was warm enough to swim while we were there, but the outdoor pool is still not repaired from one of the hurricanes from over two years ago! We take photos each time we go to the Hyatt Place at Daytona Shores, and it’s come a long way from what it was post hurricane Ian, I believe. The pool has a larger but more simpler rectangle shape now, and the pavers which will make up the pool deck are still in wrappers in the rear parking lot adjacent to the pool area. Hopefully by summer the pool area will be open again.
For comparison here are a couple of photos of the pool previously; the first one was taken in 2021 a couple years before the hurricane damage, while the second photo was taken a couple weeks after the hurricane damage in 2023. Compare that to the photo above with the pool not yet completed, but in a different shape.
While we were staying at the Hyatt Daytona Beach Shores this visit in January 2025, the Rolex 24 Race was being held. While we didn’t go to the Rolex 24, (so named as it’s a 24 hour marathon race), we did go by the Daytona 500 Raceway where it’s held, a couple days prior to the race to pick up some souvenir gear: a cap, and both short and long-sleeve T-shirts.
The weather during most of our mid-January Daytona stay and even back in Orlando was unseasonably cold, drizzly, windy and overall yuk, but it was nice to just have some relaxing time and going to some of the local restaurants for dinner. We saw quite a few vendor teams in town for the Rolex 24, as noted by their same company-logo’d jackets they were wearing. Lots of various vendors, including one which providing portable VIP seating and canopied sections for the race area. I wore one of my Rolex 24 jerseys to dinner one night to “fit in” with the racing crowd!
Closer to home I’m doing well physically, but still have some follow-up doctor appointments, as well as some “clearance” appointments for my knee-replacement surgery in mid-April. As I take Warfrin (a blood thinner) I have to have a temporary bridge-type medicine for a week or so prior, and will need to get clearances from a few of my doctors for this. I was supposed to have a heart ultrasound this week followed by follow-ups with two of my Cardiologists, but unfortunately the ultrasound machine was broken, which required rescheduling not only that but those Cardiologist appointments as well.
On the political front, we have a new President, and while we weren’t invited to the inauguration (LOL!) we did watch some of the festivities on TV. This year the actual inauguration ceremony was moved indoors to the Rotunda of the Capital due to the near zero temperatures outdoors as well as for security.
From the looks of things, the first week of the Trump Administration has been a whirlwind of activity! There have been lots of Executive Orders, and while the “no-tax on Social Security benefits” was not one of them, I do hope this comes to fruition via Congress this term. Neither DOS nor I collect Social Security yet, but taxing benefits (which were already taxed during our working years) at 85% does not seem fair, especially since the income limit for taxing benefits has not been raised since Social Security was implemented in the 1980’s. One can only hope! Anyway Congratulations to President Trump and his new Administration!
Moving along to a different subject; ie. “On the WOW we can order now” front: We ordered a new Juniper Y series Tesla! (Actually Elon was at the Inauguration, so not too far off the subject track! LOL!).
DOS and I have been wanting a new Tesla “Y Model” for months, however we wanted to wait until the 2025 Juniper Y series refresh was available. Tesla is so secretive about lots of things including release dates, but after watching loads of Youtube videos it was rumored to be coming out soon. DOS and I were having dinner in Daytona Beach, and he just happened to check the Tesla website around 9pm, which must have been the first day the Teslas in the US could be ordered. DOS literally ordered the new Tesla Y Launch series from his phone, while we were having dinner! How cool and easy is that for getting a new car! No hassle, no annoying salesmen, no push to upgrade or use the dealer financing etc. Just a super simple Tesla process, which we put down a small (i.e. less than a thousand dollar upfront payment to reserve the car, with the rest due at delivery.)
We already knew what we wanted, (Red color, All Wheel Drive, 19th inch wheels, white interior, and Full Self Drive supervised) and the Launch series includes all of these features (and more) as standard. The Tesla delivery date is showing as beginning in March, which is much sooner than we had anticipated.
Back in Orlando, we spent part of the day going to the Tesla showroom in Florida Mall. While they don’t have the new refreshed Juniper model Y on display yet, they do have the existing Y model there, and it’s fitted with the red exterior and white interior, similar to what we have ordered. We took a few photos, asked our Tesla advisor lots of questions, and took a 45 minute test ride as well. The Tesla Y was actually much easier to drive than we anticipated as they tout one pedal driving for the most part, with the regenerative braking which occurs from releasing the accelerator pedal. We even had time to use the Full Self Driving (supervised) feature which is so futuristic and unbelievable, it’s truly amazing! I was a little bit nervous at first using it, as I had one of my hands lightly on the steering wheel, and it literally turned with my hand on it; it really startled me at first, but the Tesla was automatically changing lanes!
After the drive we spoke briefly once again to our Tesla advisor and he answered a couple more questions, such as trade-in, and if the 7,500 tax credit is still applicable, etc. We are going to trade in DOS’s Subaru, (keeping my Audi Q5) and the trade in is done online via some photos you send in to get a quote; bringing the car in upon delivery. Full payment is due then (although they have financing and leasing options, we’re not going to use them) and that’s it. Tesla makes everything so easy in the car buying process, and there is absolutely no hard-sell or push to finance or add options; quite refreshing from the typical car-buying experience! We can’t wait to get our Tesla, but for now we’re watching more Youtube videos to understand the many new features available.
On the upcoming travel horizon, Steve (DOS) and I are taking a Virgin Voyages cruise next week. We honestly didn’t know when we originally booked it, (it was actually rebooked from our original booking due to one of the new ships not being ready and our ship was moved to accommodate it), but the 8 night cruise falls over Valentine’s Day, President’s Day, and the Super Bowl as well! I’m sure there will be lots of colorful and loud celebrations aboard on this adults-only cruise; our second sailing with Virgin Voyages.
So that’s it for now. The weather now at the end of January is beautiful here in Florida, and we’re back to wearing shorts again today instead of jeans and heavy coats! Will post again soon closer to our cruise departure date.