CNBNews

By Bill Cleary

(CNBNEWS.NET)-I LIKE YOUR GOVERNOR! In March we made our annual "Snow Bird" trip to the warm Florida coast. The 1,100 mile ride takes about 18 to 19 hours. We take a couple of days to make the trip. Why hurry we have the time. Stopping along the way gives us the opportunity to talk with people from all over the country. One thing that amazed us this year was how many people, perfect strangers, who told us how much they like our governor, Chris Christie. People from up and down the east coast and from the mid-west all said the same thing, "He would make a good president. I would vote for him." I don't know about you but I found this interesting that our Governor has that much of a following from people in other states.

In case you were wondering, two United States presidents have ties to the Garden State. Grover Cleveland is the only New Jersey native to become president. Before becoming president, Woodrow Wilson served as governor of New Jersey and president of Princeton University.

By now you must have heard that Gov. Christie was named one of the most influential people in the world by Time Magazine on April 21.  Christie was recognized for his “forcefulness and candor. For the full list of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People of 2011, click here.

DESPITE THE ECONOMY-When we left for Florida in February gas prices were about $3.25 to $3.35 for a gallon of regular, heading home in April the price for the same gallon of gas ranged between $3.75 and $3.81 a gallon. Today a gallon of gas in Washington DC area is averaging $4.99 a gallon while in Orlando Florida the cost of a gallon is $5.89 the highest in the country. You would think because of gas prices and the economy there would be less people on the road but that wasn't the case. The roads going down and coming home were heavily traveled both ways. You would also think the recession would keep people from going to Disney or Universal but again we were surprised at how many people were visiting both venues. By the way, forget the new Harry Potter exhibit/ride that opened recently at Universal. It is not worth the $87 it cost to see it or the 90 minute wait.

TORNADO! LOOK FOR A DITCH-On the day we were coming home the weather took a turn for the worst. Rain, thunder and lighting and 60 mph winds slowed traffic to craw along Interstate-4. As we approached Tampa a tornado warning was announced on the radio. "Emergency! Emergency! Comes the warning. A  tornado has touched down in Tampa, said the radio announcer. "If you are inside a building seek shelter away from the windows. If you are driving in an automobile, stop and find the nearest ditch and lay face down in it." We are riding on the beltway that takes you around Tampa when the warning is sounded on our radio. The sky is so black you would think it was midnight. Hail starts pounding the windshield. Torrential rain is pounding our vehicle. The wind increases. If there any ditches on the side of the road they are under water. Anyone who lays in one will drown. We decide to take our chances with the tornado, and luckily we made it. But for what seem to be an eternity it was pretty frightening.

All and all though it was a great trip. We are glad to be home. 

 Many of our Gloucester City friends were also staying on Anna Maria Island or nearby. Such as Bob and Janet Bevan, Mart and Claudia Sherry, Ron and Donna Henefer and Bill and Babe Tourtual .

Sunset on March 3 from left, Claudia, Connie, Janet, Donna, Phyllis and Babe. Below, from left, unknown, Torch, Bob, Mart and Ron.