First Pajama Party

As mentioned in our last post, we were expecting out-of-town guests, and they would be the first to stay overnight in the RV. Steve and Patty were flying in from St. Louis the evening of Mon., Mar. 8, to spend 5 days with us. Patty had never been to FL and Steve wanted to play some golf (St. Louis winters aren't good for that). The cold weather down here was predicted to lift with at least a couple of warm days while they were here though rain was also forecasted for a couple days.

We had invited them to stay with us and said we were game if they were! You see our sofa folds out to a double bed and goes almost all the way to the kitchen counter when open. It has an air mattress that seemed pretty good to us, but we’d never slept on it so weren’t sure how 5 nights on it would be. Our only concern was getting past the bed when the dogs wanted to go out early in the morning. As it turned out, there was a wide enough gap between the bed and the counter to pass through when you turned sideways. We also needed to plan for where they would put their luggage as we have no extra drawer, cabinet, or dresser space, so we moved things around in the compartments below. It was going to be tight in here with 4 adults, 2 big dogs, and a cat in about 400 sq. ft. for 5 days, and we hoped we’d all still be friends when they left!

We picked them up from the airport, and even though their flight was delayed, we figured we could still make it to see the Magic Kingdom fireworks. They didn’t have tickets and we can’t get them in with our passes, but the fireworks can be seen from many locations for free (some better than others). We took the monorail to the Grand Floridian Resort and watched from the boat dock. Not as impressive as other spots but at least the music and narration were playing over the speakers. On the way home, we stopped for a very late dinner (10pm) at Santa Fe Cattle Co. restaurant (http://www.santafecattleco.com/).

The guys were scheduled to play golf the next day at Legends Golf & Country Club (http://www.legendsgolforlando.com/). We dropped them off about 12:30 since we only had one car, and after a light lunch at Olive Garden, Patty and I headed for Lakeridge Winery. Yep, my second trip in about 10 days! She’d never been to a winery, and I was more than willing to go again! We arrived just in time for one of the tours followed by a sampling of 6 wines. We stopped at a couple of shops on the way back to the RV to feed and walk the dogs, and then it was back to Legends to pick up the guys followed by an excellent dinner at San Jose’s Original Mexican Restaurant right near the golf course (sorry, they don’t have a website).

The next day the guys were scheduled to play golf at Osprey Ridge Golf Club on the Disney property (http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/golf/osprey-ridge-golf-course/). A golfing buddy of Russ’ works part-time at Disney and offered to try to get a tee time for the 3 of them while Steve was in town. Normally it costs $165 to play, but Darryl’s discount would get them on for $30…what a deal on a great course! We picked up Darryl around noon, dropped the guys at the course, and Patty and I were off to see the sights. (This Mickey golf cart is parked right outside the clubhouse…too cute!)

I had decided to take Patty on a modified tour of Disney. As we’ve mentioned before, each of the resorts has their own theming, and she had been really impressed with the beauty and grandeur of the Grand Floridian Mon. night. Today our first stop was the Wilderness Lodge, which is inspired by northwest National Park lodges. The 7-story lobby is magnificent with its lodgepole pine throughout, Native American décor, and an 82-foot-tall fireplace. Out back a mini-waterfall cascades into the swimming pool (where we found a couple ducks and their baby swimming with the guests), and at the far end is an area reminiscent of Yellowstone National Park complete with a small geyser that jets water 120 feet into the air, but we had just missed the eruption.

Next it was on to the Animal Kingdom Lodge, another African-styled resort with rooms overlooking a savannah and roaming wildlife. Within this 7-story lobby, a colorful African mask from Nigeria is displayed that stands 16’ tall and weighs nearly 200 lbs. At the far end of the lobby is a floor-to-ceiling window overlooking the courtyard and savannah where we found zebra, African Spoonbills, giraffes, Roan antelope, Greater Kudu (another form of antelope), and a Red River hog (at right). A cast member, who was originally from Nigeria, was standing nearby, and she told us that until she came to work at Disney World, she had never seen a Red River hog because they are found in Africa’s inland regions…not in Nigeria.

It was time for lunch and we headed to Downtown Disney's T-Rex Cafe, a dinosaur themed restaurant. I had eaten there once before and thought Patty would get a kick out of it. Every 20 min. the restaurant erupts with a “meteor shower”…shooting stars blaze across the ceiling, colors in the “ice cave” change, and all the dinosaurs come to life making a lot of noise. A fun place to see even if you don't eat! After walking through the World of Disney store and past the Legos sculptures, it was time for dessert at Ghirardelli’s Soda Fountain & Chocolate Shop….oh yeah! We still had a little time before picking up the guys so I took her over to Epcot where we boarded the monorail from which she could see some of the Intl. Flower & Garden Festival since it travels through Epcot on part of its journey. After we picked up the guys and dropped Darryl back at his place, dinner was Long John Silver’s. Yes, I realize that seems odd, but there aren’t any close to Steve and he was cravin’ it.

The last two days had been beautiful, sunny, and warm, but alas the weather took a turn for the worse. The guys had planned a day of rest from golf anyway, and we had invited the neighbors to join us that evening for BBQ. The rain started in the morning and stuck around most of the day while we hung out in the RV. About 6:30 it finally stopped for awhile so Russ and Steve could start the pit, but our pork steaks and ribs were going to take 1-1/2 hours to cook, and that was going to make it too late for Paul and Anne, so they took a rain check for another day.

The rain continued into Fri. so no golf again for the guys…thank goodness basketball was on! Patty and I decided to go see Blind Side with Sandra Bullock. What a great, inspiring movie! We’d highly recommend seeing it if you haven’t already. I made chili and cornbread for dinner, and Patty and I finished off the Sangria we had made the day before. Another nice day…except for the weather.

Unfortunately the next day it was time for them to leave and wouldn’t you know, it was sunny and clear though windy. Shame they couldn’t have stayed one more day. We got them to the airport in plenty of time for their flight, and bid a fond farewell. They said the air mattress was way more comfortable than anticipated, and oh, by the way, we’re all still friends!