What I learned about convertibles in Florida

Last week Jenny and I took a 20th anniversary trip out to Florida. This turned out to be more fun that I had every imagined. When we got to the rental car place they asked if we wanted to rent a convertible at no extra charge. After a loooong deliberation of at least .00001 seconds we jumped at the chance. I’ve never driven a convertible before. Here are some things that I learned.

Wind isn’t always your friend
After we exited rental car place we immediately pulled over and put the top down. Even though it was hot and humid outside cruising with the top down is the way to go. Man it was nice. I was driving and Jenny was navigating with a stack of papers in her possession which included a map to the condo and the access code to get us in. Once we got onto the freeway I noticed that the wind was throwing a couple of loose objects around in the back seat. In fact, one or two of these things flew out. Luckily, the items in the back seat weren’t important. When this happened Jenny made sure that she had a really good grip on our directions and access code. Wind is a really sneaky thing. Even though Jenny had a really tight grip on those papers, out they came and down the freeway they went. We both looked at each other in disbelief for what had just happened. There was no turning back for the papers so after a minute or two of panic Jenny started to make some phone calls. One to Barry who got the directions for us on the web. The other to Eileen for additional instructions. This turned out really nice because Jenny was able to visit with Eileen while we drove. They hadn’t spoken in years so it was nice for them to catch up. Lesson learned, if you want things to stay put in a convertible you need to bolt them down or at least duct tape them.

Sunscreen, Freeways, and Convertibles don’t mix
On our second day in Florida we decided we would spend the day at Disney World. This was about an hour and a half drive. Before we left we put on our sunscreen because we are from Washington State thus we never see the sun for longer than 20 minute bursts at a time. Of course we decided to drive with the top down because it was warm, sunny, and most importantly it was the cool thing to do. We cruised down the freeway in style with the top down but after 45 minutes or so I noticed that my eyes were starting to water from the constant wind in my face. Normally this wouldn’t have been a problem but I also had sunscreen on my face. If you haven’t had sunscreen in your eyes before it’s not a pleasant feeling. In fact, it’s very similar to getting a good dose of shampoo in your eyes while in the shower except there’s not water handy to wash it out. Anyway, the last 20 minutes of the drive it was getting so bad that I was having a hard time seeing. Of course we didn’t stop to put the top up. We were being ultra cool driving around with the top down. I didn’t want something like eyesight to get in the way of that. Lesson learned, put sunscreen on after you get to your destination.

Driving around with a convertible is way cool if you can follow some simple rules. If we lived in a warmer climate I would love to have one so I could do more cruising with my favorite navigator.


Jenny enjoying the breeze


Mike doing some cruising