We needed a return trip to this wonderful world. Stephanie and I decided to visit Islands of Adventure today. During our visit, we were privilaged to visit Ollivanders – “Makers of fine Wands since 382 BC”. The clerk at Ollivanders demonstrated to us how he matches wands to the wizard. It was quite interesting. John enjoyed a few roller coasters and we ended the day on the Cat in the Hat trolley ride. It was a great way to spend Valentines Day.

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I think I know whats happening. Its been a running joke between Pat and Brian and Stephanie and I. Every time they come down and visit us here, Florida experiences record cold spells. This year when they arrived with their grandson Riley the temperature was in the high 20′s. The day after he returns home, Florida dips to 0. thats ZERO!! The day after they leave (Monday) the teperature is supposed to hike up again into the high 20′s……go figure.

This visit deserved its own posting. I have to admit that I have not kept up with all the Harry Potter books or movies. The series started getting a little dark for me. But Universal has done such excellent job on this portion of the park its fabulous. Riley and I started with the Dragon Challenge, the blue side. Next was Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. This was an IMAX style ride with a little mix of real set pieces. We finished with the Flight of the Hippogriff. We didn’t wait any longer than 10 minutes for any of the rides. We then took some time and explored the store fronts. All the Inhabitants of Hogswarts and Hogsmead were very helpful at answering any questions we had.

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A first time in Florida…
We were travelling in Miami when I got clocked folowing traffic at 77 miles per hour. A mere 12 miles an hour over the speed limit. This is offically my first ticket in the United States and only the second time I have been pulled over. The first was many years ago when I was returning from Whiteface Mountain with some opemikon Crew Mmembers. I let one of our new memebers with his learner permit drive, and we were stopped going 5 miles to fast.

You can’t visit Flordia without a trip the the Keys. This will be a first for Pat Brian and Riley. We left Homestead and took our time driving down Highway 1 until we reached Mile 0 in Key West. After an afternoon of touring the area we had dinner at the Sunset Pier. Another tradition that Stephanie and I have.

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