Our escape from the UK was fast and efficient, and after two breakfasts, two lunches and non-stop snacking, our 9 hour flight from Gatwick to Orlando Sanford was soon over. The Atlantic was almost completely filled with featureless cloud but as soon as we began our approach across the south-eastern states of the US, showers and thunderstorms were soon bubbling up. On our final approach to Sanford, we passed through numerous towering cumulus which were close to reaching full-on thunderstorms along the east coast sea-breeze. The turbulence and ballooning as we passed through each updraft and downdraft was a source of amusement and occasional nausea!

We picked up our hire car at Sanford - something an awful lot bigger than we were expecting. The 7-seater Dodge Durango handles like a small supertanker and has the breaking distance of the moon. However, it's like driving a huge leather armchair and even has satellite radio, so we can listen to UK stations whilst chasing US storms.

We drove the 150 miles south-west between Sanford and Bradenton, managing to dodge a number of severe thunderstorms which developed. We briefly detoured to have a sniff at a newly developing storm, but as we were both suffering immensely with tiredness and hunger (despite our 4 previous meals) we decided to continue non-stop to our base villa in Bradenton.

Thunder rumbled from a distant storm as we unloaded our car - a storm which had turned severe with hail and strong winds in Bradenton just an hour before we arrived. Fully unpacked, we crashed out by the pool as darkness fell, with BBQ spare ribs and a bottle of wine. An early-ish night should mean we're ready to face everything the weather can throw at us tomorrow.