Tallahassee, Florida (and dogs)-

After leaving Orlando we headed north to Ocala for a night and then 2 nights at Flagler Beach which is near Daytona, famous for its car racing and bike meets. It was with regret that we headed this way instead of south to Miami and the Florida Keys which we had initially planned on but December and especially Christmas/New Year time is the busiest time there and we could not find any accommodation under $200 US per night. We then thought we would stay in Miami and drive to and from the Keys in one day but at about 3-4 hours each way it seemed rather silly. We therefore decided to skip the south of Florida and will instead have to visit another time when it is less popular and prices are not at their peak.

We met up with fellow Wellingtonians the Dawes again in Orlando as they are here for a week vacationing from Washington D.C.

The weather is still great and about 25 degrees so we went and built sandcastles at the beach yesterday and the kids had a dip in the Atlantic Ocean.

Today we drove north west to the Florida 'Panhandle' and have two nights in Tallahassee so we shall celebrate New Year here.

En route we stopped at a flea market to see if we could buy another suitcase as our shopping is accumulating but we had no luck. Everything else was there however including puppies for sale which Kennedy rather fancied. Americans love their dogs and as I think I've said earlier there are many shops catering specifically for them, selling clothing, iced doggie biscuits, jewellry etc for them along with the more unusual dog 'prams' designed specifically for pushing your pooch along when his or her legs get too tired (see photo). The clothing in the photo is all for your dog.

We have also seen 'dog washes' where you pull up in your car, unload your dog on to the special bathing platform, put your money in and wash your dog (see photo).