My husband, the ultimate hardworker, took an unusual few days off around the 4th of July holiday.  Usually the only time we take a vacation it seems is to go see one of the kids.  The last three years or so that included scheduling their weddings into our vacation time.  One got married in Maine, one in Wisconsin and another in Kentucky. 

And then with the arrival of grandkids that will have to be scheduled in as well.  We've had two with another on the way in December.  That most likely means another trip to Ohio. 

To take a few days off with nothing pressing to do is very unusual so we decided to explore.  Explore we did.  It was alot of fun.  The first two days of vacation fell on Friday and Saturday.  We worked around the house.  He put up a front storm door on the 4th that ended up taking about six hours to put in.  After a run and a shower we settled in to watch a movie planning on doing some exploring Sunday and Monday.  Two days of work.  Two days of fun. 

So on Sunday after church with our new GPS toy, a packed lunch, some towels and sunscreen we headed out.  We thought first we'd go to the National Forest about an hour or so from the house.  We plugged that into the GPS and away we went.  Not sure what we could do there we kind of just drove from one end of the forest to the other looking for something to beckon us to stop the car.  Nothing really did. 

While fiddling with the map on the GPS looking ahead I noticed we were only 32 miles away from Daytona Beach so I suggested we just keep heading on this same route and it would bring us right into Daytona.  We've never been there before. 

We drove into the typical beach town with stories high hotels and looked for a place to park.  As we drove down a side street it was our lucky day.  Just as we pulled into the small side street parking area a car pulled out and we slid right into a  parking place just a few feet from the beach.  It even had public restrooms!  Our lucky day. 

So prepared ahead of time with the sunscreen and towels we took our lunch and headed to the beach.  Since we left the church we hadn't eaten and we were both pretty hungry.  I had changed into shorts by slipping them under my skirt while he was driving and with a tank top under my dress jacket I was all set to go. 

It was a perfect, sunny warm beach day.  We only spent about two hours there but it was very enjoyable.  I love the sound of the waves crashing to the shore.  We were quite amused at the way the cars and trucks drove right onto the beach.  Never ever saw that in Maine and I practically lived on the beaches all thru High School.  The water at Daytona, first cool to the hot feet was like warm water compared to the icy frigid waters of New England.  No comparison.  Also there were many more people actually in the water here than I think I've ever seen in Maine.

It took about an hour and a half to go home.  We decided to stop and get some seafood (scallops, tilapia, catfish) and a movie and call it a relaxing day.  It was a good day. 

The next day, Monday, we went to Crystal River, on the Gulf Coast, and after spending the first couple of hours meandering around that township we decided to insert onto the GPS what we read on a map as a road to the ocean hoping that it might lead us to a small beach.  We were told this town was surrounded on three sides by water but didn't really have a beach like Daytona.  Unlike the sunny day before, this day was cloudy with bouts of sprinkling and a threat of more to come.  So we went looking and found this ocean road that according to the GPS led to a large body of water ahead which just happened to be the ocean.  

The stretch of  road was a few miles long.  As we were going along at first especially, I noticed houses on stilts.  According to the GPS as we kept going, there was water on both sides of us, closing in on us as we traveled.  Mostly both sides of the road were treed so I couldn't really see the water but every so often we'd go by swampy land or an occasional house or two along the way, again, on stilts.   We figured this road must get flooded over on occasion especially during storms.   I can only imagine what it must be like there during the hurricane season. 

The GPS then informed us we were at our destination but the road beckoned and we kept going seeing no beach in sight yet. 

Then I started to get freaked out.  The rain started to pound.  It was getting very dark.  There were no other cars on this  now  desolate road  but more than that, I noticed the GPS I held in my hand said we were IN the water.  As in submerged! 

So I'm starting to say, "let's turn back because I'm getting nervous here."  Actually I think I said that like about ten times.   My husband laughed and kept on going telling me later he was watching the tree line and knew we were safe.  I just kept looking down at the GPS getting more and more nervous; definitely uncomfortable.  It seemed as though we were going in deeper and deeper everytime I glanced at the GPS. 

Finally on our left a little narrow beach appeared.  The ocean was churning, the wind was blowing and the rain was coming down.  We got out and checked this desolated little hideaway beach.  It wasn't all that big and the water really wasn't that far from the road we stopped on.  I'm thinking the road to the water couldn't have been 50 feet with the little beach inbetween.   It looked like high tide. 

We couldn't stay long because of the rain, so we got back into our car and decided to go to the end and see how far this road did go.  Just a few feet later we came to the end of the road staring at a boat ramp that led right into the ocean. 

So just like God who directs us above, seeing it all, so too did our little GPS inform us of what we could not yet see.  If we had kept on going, we would have most certainly been driving right into the ocean.