Did Someone Say Free?!?!

It’s been another week busy with medical related trips, either visiting a doctor, taking Scott for a medical procedure, or running to the pharmacy to pick up pills. Last Wed. Scott was scheduled for a colonoscopy and since they don’t allow you to drive for 24 hours after having anesthesia, he asked if we could give him a ride. We were happy to do so even though it took longer than anticipated because the facility got way behind schedule. On Thurs. it was time to take Russ in to have the skin cancer removed from his arm. The doc did it right there in his office, injecting local anesthetic around the area, and taking out a nice size chunk. He got 6 stitches and was to keep the pressure bandage on for 24 hours. The nurse used the whole roll of the bandage so it looked much worse than it was. For the next few days I treated it with peroxide, Bacitracin ointment, and regular bandaids. He’s now got it uncovered and will go Mon. to have the stitches removed. Today we went for a follow-up visit to my GI doc to discuss further options for dealing with my Crohn's. The fun never ends!

The resort here has a number of activities though not as many as the place we stayed last winter, Sunset King in DeFuniak Springs, FL, but enough to keep you busy if you want. So far we had only attended a pool party and a couple meetings, but Mon. I decided to attend the weekly cardmaking class. For a $5 fee, the instructor (who lives here at the park) provides all the supplies needed to make 3 cards and instructs you on how to make them. I love learning new craft ideas, and these were lots of fun to make. Who knows, you just might get one of these in the mail!

Yesterday we took advantage of the nationwide Denny’s FREE Grand Slam breakfast! You know how us retired folk are....if it's free, we're there! There’s a Denny’s right across the street from the resort, and we decided to go about 10:30 to hopefully avoid some of the crowds. We waited in line only 15 min., but when we left the wait was probably about an hour. Scott had gone at 6:30am and said he walked right in, while Paul and Anne went at 1pm and said they had about a 15 min. wait. Not too bad for a free breakfast no matter what time of day you eat it!

For those of you who may be jealous, thinking we’re basking in the warm Florida sun, don’t worry…it’s become downright chilly! For the last couple weeks it’s gotten into the mid-30s a couple nights, was 36 last night, will dip to 24 tonight and 26 tomorrow night! Brrrrr!! But as you can see, we still get gorgeous sunsets.

T-Rex

This past week started off great with a visit from one of my best friends, Linda, and her daughter, Angela. Because it was a holiday, Linda was off work and Angela had no school, so perfect time for a visit. As you may recall, Linda and I have known each other since 4th grade in St. Louis, and she’s lived in Tampa the past 16 years. I hadn’t seen Angela in about 5 years and she just celebrated her 8th birthday this month! To celebrate we went to Downtown Disney, an outdoor shopping, dining, and entertainment complex that requires no admission fee. We ate lunch at DD’s newest restaurant, T-Rex, billed as “a prehistoric family adventure”. What a cool place! A giant T-Rex greets you at the door roaring and moving. (His presence also separates the restaurant area from the gift shop.) T-Rex is divided into distinct areas each with their own décor and filled with giant audio-animatronics creatures. As you enter the restaurant you pass by the Coral Reef/Shark Bar area complete with saltwater aquariums. Above the bar is a huge octopus whose tentacles slowly moving to and fro, and you can see the jellyfish light fixtures in the picture. As the hostess took us to our table we passed the Kitchen of Fire (with little flames shooting up along the service area and above the servers’ window that exposes the working chefs), the eerie-looking Ice Cave, and to where we were seated, the Fern Forest. We were told it was the section of the Herbivores (plant eaters). Every 20 minutes a meteor shower takes place. The lights dim, the sky shimmers, “meteors” streak across the ceiling, and all the dinosaurs roar and move in fear. The Ice Cave changes colors from an icy blue to pink, red, orange, and purple before returning back to its original color at the end of spectacle.

Our server told us about the drink specials and Angela thought the slushy blue-raspberry sounded yummy. It comes in a tall, plastic T-Rex “bone” for $4.99 with refills for $1.99…not really a bad deal. The server told us that the nachos were quite large so Linda and I decided to split an order to start, and boy were we glad we did…it was huge! We couldn’t even finish them and didn’t order anything else. Angela dined on mini corn dog poppers with two sides from an extensive kids’ menu, and it was too much food for her, too! T-Rex is owned by Landry’s, the same people who own the Rain Forest Cafes, so you might notice some similarities if you get the opportunity to visit.

After we were done eating, we walked around visiting several of the shops including one of the largest Disney stores and a store one with the largest selections of Mr. Potato Head parts I’ve ever seen. We also passed the LEGO Imagination Center that is not only a store for buying LEGOs but has a play area for kids. It’s also home to a life-sized vacationing family and a 30-foot sea serpent in the adjacent lake, all built from LEGOs. The trip was not going to be complete without a stop at Ghirardelli’s Ice Cream and Chocolate Shop. Since the day had turned a little breezy and chilly, Angela opted for hot chocolate, but it didn’t stop Linda and me from each getting a scoop of yummy Ghirardelli chocolate ice cream! We had a great visit and plan on getting together again before Russ and I head out May 1.

Sunday we went to the weekly pool party held here at Lake Magic. Scott and I went briefly a couple weeks ago, but this week the three of us went shortly after it started at 1pm. Hamburgers and hot dogs were on the grill ready for purchase, a combo was playing a variety of tunes, some folks were line dancing, some were in the pool, and some were just mingling and having a good time with friends. Paul and Anne showed up around 2pm, just in time for strawberry shortcakes, which are sold every other week at these pool parties. A nice size piece of shortcake piled high with sliced strawberries and topped with a nice helping of whipped cream for $3. Because Anne can’t be out in the sun long, we sat around inside the clubhouse afterwards chatting and getting all the latest gossip.

Other than that this week, a new President was inaugurated, and I had two medical tests done for my Crohn’s. Quite an eventful week. :-)

Is that a hearse??

Over the last couple weeks we’ve only visited Disney World once so not a lot to report there. However the day we did visit, we arrived at Animal Kingdom just before they opened. The day began overcast, and as we walked towards Kilimanjaro Safari, the Tree of Life was barely visible through the fog. But that didn’t stop the opening festivities…the arrival of Minnie, Goofy, and Pluto! The crowd is stopped at this specific point while the trio checks to make sure they’ve got everything needed for the safari, but golly, the “guide” was missing. Never fear, Mickey suddenly appeared in front of the Tree! The ropes are dropped and onward to your destination!









Overcast and rainy days are the best times to see animals on the Safari, and each ride through is different. We went twice this morning, and the first time saw no giraffes (an actual first for us cause you always see the giraffes), but the second time through the giraffe family (mom, dad, baby) were standing right alongside the road. As the truck approached, dad started moseying across right in front of the truck so the driver had to stop, and the baby was sniffing the folks sitting on that side of the truck! We saw lots of animals including the lions (many times they are laying completely prone and are hard to see) and one of the newest baby elephants.











Afterwards we decided to walk the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail where you can see gorillas, meerkats, birds, fish, and many other animals essentially from the backside of the Safari. As we walked through the Trail and the park, it was amazing how little of the English language we heard. There seems to be a lot of foreign tourists in town which should help the economy!




Then it was time to catch the next showing of Finding Nemo-The Musical an exciting and entertaining original stage show that brings the “Finding Nemo” movie to life, merging puppetry with live performances. Since the holidays are over, the crowds are smaller and we were able to get seats in the 2nd row even though we arrived only 20 min. before showtime…unheard of when it’s busy! Later we decided these were probably not the best seats because with the elevated stage you sometimes missed things that were happening on the other side, but we had seen the show a couple times before so it wasn’t a big deal. However I was able to get some good pictures since flash photography is not allowed. The show is very well done and lots of fun.

It had turned into a beautiful day, and though it wasn’t quite noon, we decided to head home. We arrived at the front of the park in time to catch the next tram, but just as we sat down, a cast member came and asked us if we’d like to be part of a magical moment. Sure! So we followed her over to a golf cart and were told that she was going to personally drive us to our car. She gave us a Walt Disney World “Where Dreams Come True” certificate that reads “Across the miles and over the years, you’ll always remember this Certifiable Magical Moment from the Walt Disney World Resort”. Then she gave us each a button that read “Honorary Citizen of Walt Disney World Resort...Where Dreams Come True”. She wasn’t going to be able to drive us directly to our car but only to the end of our row, and of course by the time she filled out the certificate and the paperwork and drove us over to our row, it would have been quicker to take the tram, but hey, then we wouldn’t have had this magical moment!

Since then we’ve been busy, and there’s been good news and not so good. The good news was from the IRS. Several months ago we received a notice that we were being audited for 2006. Nearly all our records were in storage in Baton Rouge, so we called to let them know we wouldn’t be able to access those records until the first of the year, but we did have the contract for our RV that we purchased that year showing the tax amount we had paid on it. By mailing a copy to them we hoped that would go a long way towards satisfying their curiosity and audit request. Bottom line is that when we called last week to follow-up and see what else they’d need, we were told the case had been closed and no further info would be needed. The not so good news was that a biopsy done on a small scaly patch on Russ’ left forearm turned out to be the early stage of skin cancer. It’s scheduled to be cut out on the 29th and that should take care of that.

We’ve become friendly with Paul and Anne who are staying here at Lake Magic till April 1, and they make regular trips to Tampa to visit family. On the way there is a place called Plant City, which sells among other things delicious, fresh picked strawberries. They picked up a quart for us a few weeks ago, and they were so good that we then offered to split a flat with them. Scott had them pick up a quart for him at the same time, and then proceeded to make some strawberry jam, which he shared with me. Yummy!

One of the funniest things we’ve seen in our travels was about a week ago on a trip to the Publix supermarket. Parked at the very back of the lot was a hearse with a ghoulish looking skeleton peeking out the side window! Turns out that it belongs to one of the guys who works in the meat dept. He used to park it closer to the store but was told he had to park it further away because it was freaking people out. What a hoot!

I’ll close this post with shot I took on Jan. 10th of the “biggest full moon of the year” known as a “perigee moon”. The moon’s orbit around the Earth is an ellipse with one side closer to the Earth than the other, and astronomers call this point of closest approach “perigee”. It’s a phenomenon that occurs once or twice a year making the moon appear larger than normal. I just wish I had grabbed my camera a couple minutes sooner because when it was just above the tree line, it looked even biggger and was the largest looking moon I’ve ever seen!

Happy 2009!!

Another day dawns and a new year has begun….Happy New Year!! Did you ring it in with a bang? Did you party hearty? Or did you quietly usher it in, perhaps even sleeping through it? Ours arrived with a bang…lots of them in fact! Epcot had special fireworks at 11:40 on New Year’s Eve around the World Showcase lagoon, and about 9:30pm we headed over to check it out. We parked across the street from the Boardwalk area in the self-parking lot and at the bottom of the stairs on the Boardwalk a DJ was spinning tunes while a couple hundred adults and kids danced and partied. We arrived at the Epcot gates about 10pm, and as we expected, the place was packed. Several stages were set up around the park with DJs blaring music, crowds dancing, people blowing horns, and just a general sense of merriment. A couple of the spots where we normally like to watch the fireworks from were 10-15 people deep, and they were closely monitoring that people stayed within the taped off areas. As we walked past the Canadian section, we noticed a large group of people sitting on one side of the steps leading up to the pavilion. We walked up the other side, and by standing right behind them, had a great view of the lagoon where Illuminations takes place. Of course, that meant we had to stand there about an hour, but some things are just worth the wait! The group on the steps in front of us was a South American tour group and was having a blast continually blowing their noisemaker horns, and though it did get a bit annoying, we weren’t giving up our spots. Their group seemed to keep growing but we stood our ground! In fact a couple times Russ asked people to move when at the last minute they tried to jump in front of us and the folks standing next to us. (Afterwards as we were leaving, the one guy next to us told Russ he was his hero for making those people move!) Finally it was 11:40, and the show began with an abbreviated version of Illuminations. As it turns out, this really was a great place from which to watch them! Then the New Year’s portion began as over the loud speaker they announced that though the U.S., Canada, and Mexico would soon celebrate the beginning of a new year, first we were going to enjoy the celebration of other countries. They said that at 10am Japan and China had welcomed in the New Year and suddenly fireworks went off over the China pavilion followed by fireworks over the Japanese pavilion. This was followed by the announcement of the other countries’ times and then each country’s fireworks display around the lagoon and it was so cool! Now it was time for our countdown to midnight, which appeared in large LED lighted numbers on the Earth globe in the middle of the lagoon with everyone counting, and along with 70,000 others we watched one of the most spectacular fireworks displays we’ve ever seen!! We could actually feel the vibrations in the concrete below our feet!! Wow! What a way to bring in the new year!!

It took us 45 minutes to just get out of the parking lot once we got back to the car, and as we were driving home Russ suggested that we stop for a drink to bring in the new year. Several weeks ago we had passed a place around the corner from where we’re staying called The 19th Hole Bar & Grill. We weren’t sure how late bars were open in FL but decided to check it out since it was close by. Contrary to what you might think, it is not located at a golf course. When we pulled up the door was open and the bright lights were on, which usually indicates time for everyone to leave, but we got out of the car and tried to ask someone if the bar was still open. The few folks that were outside seemed to be busy with their own concerns, so we walked in and asked the DJ who was announcing something to the effect that they’d get things rocking again shortly. He told us to go on up to the bar, and there we stood waiting for a bartender to emerge. It was rather a chaotic scene and we were trying to figure out what was going on. We started chatting with another couple about our age at the far end of the bar, and as it turns out, some guy had gotten jealous about his girlfriend’s attention to someone else and a fight had ensued. We just happened to show up right afterwards! The bartender finally emerged, handed us our drinks, and as Russ was giving her the money, the manager came back behind the bar all upset, saying he was closing the place down (evidently the ruckus had continued out in the parking lot), started apologizing to us, and told us our drinks were on him. Well, ok, that works for us! So we stood there talking to our new friends, Freddie and Donna, and watching the “show” that was still going on. Turns out one of the inebriated participants in the ruckus was the owner! The bar still wasn’t closing, so we ordered another drink, and never did have to pay for that one either. Wow! Drinks and entertainment for free! Just your typical neighborhood bar on New Year’s Eve! Bars evidently close at 2am in this area, and finally they were making everyone leave but not everyone was ready to go home. Freddie, Donna, and a few others were going to head over to a place called McNichol’s in the Westgate Inn just down the road because supposedly they served until 3am. Hey, ya only live once, right?! So we followed, and as we walked in, seemed like half the people there knew Freddie, but it was 5 min. till 2 and they had stopped serving. Freddie said not to worry, went out to his car, and came back with four Budweisers he had in the cooler in his car! So we stood there in McNichol’s watching the commotion and revelry, drinking our Buds. This is definitely a night we won’t easily forget!! We can’t tell you the last time we were out till 3am!!

Earlier in the week we caught one of the last performances of the Candlelight Processionals which was narrated by the husband and wife team of Angela Bassett (ER, What’s Love Got To Do With It) and Courtney B. Vance (ER, Preacher’s Wife, Law & Order:CI). What an incredibly wonderful performance. Both have powerful speaking voices and really brought the narrative to life.


Since Richard and Shelley were going to leave right after the New Year to head south to Miami for their next job, we met them for lunch at Cici’s Pizza on Mon. the 29th. The place is connected to a miniature golf course and has this cool waterfall out front so of course we had to have a picture in front of it. We spent a few hours chatting and walking through the nearby touristy gift shop before saying our goodbyes. Hopefully we’ll get a chance to visit again when they return for a couple of weeks in April. And the day ended perfectly as we watched our Missouri Tigers defeat the Northwestern Wildcats in the Alamo Bowl on TV that night!

New Year’s Day Scott brought over a Honeybaked ham, cornbread, and some home cooked black eyed peas…a traditional New Year’s dinner for him. I supplied scalloped potatoes and a chocolate covered banana cake for dessert. Good meal with a good friend to start the New Year!

This week starts the real reason for being here in the Orlando area…establishing relationships with new doctors. We’ve met our primary and are in the process of getting bloodwork and scheduling other appointments. Since there probably won’t be much happening over the next few months, the blog entries may not be weekly, but please keep checking in. You never know when something fun (or was that funny) and exciting like the bar hopping on New Year’s Eve might happen!

Christmas

Hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas! It was a quiet week for us with not much going on other than going to Epcot a couple times to watch the Candlelight Processional and the fireworks. Both nights the guest narrator was Christian singer/songwriter, Steven Curtis Chapman, and as you can imagine, he sang along with most of the songs. What an incredible experience it must be to stand in the midst of those hundreds of gloriously singing voices! I told Russ I want to work at Disney so I can audition to have a chance to sing with this group! :-)

The first night we went this week the temperature had dipped into the 40s, and the wind whipping off the lagoon cut right through you. Surprisingly crowds were light, and undoubtedly the weather had something to do with that. However the next day the temperatures were back up into the 80s, but for one night the chill in the air made it feel even more like Christmas. The other night we went was appropriately Christmas Eve, and we met up with Richard and Shelly. The place was much more crowded, which isn’t surprising, and we just barely got in for the 6:45 performance. Afterwards we walked around and talked as we admired the decorations. We staked out a spot near the front of World Showcase to watch the fireworks, and I tried taking a picture of the giant Christmas tree from where we stood, but no matter how low I got, I could not get the entire tree in the picture…it’s huge! Illuminations was spectacular as always, and we decided that this particular spot is probably from where the creators envisioned this incredible event should be watched. Though it can be seen from anywhere around the lagoon, everything seems to be really geared for viewing from this vantage point. As we headed towards our cars afterwards, we felt like salmon swimming upstream because we were going in the opposite direction of nearly everyone else in the park! We had a great time with Richard and Shelly, and as you can tell, we never tire of the Candlelight Processional. We’d have seen it even more often this year had we gotten to Orlando sooner, but with the ever increasing crowds between Christmas and New Year’s, it can be such a hassle.

Christmas Day was quiet with us mainly watching movies. Santa managed to find where we were and brought me a Disney watch and Russ a pair of Mizzou flannel lounging pants. Yeah, he needed that flannel a few weeks ago not right now! We shared dinner with Scott, who had brought over a rib roast earlier in the day which I cooked along with cheesy hash browns, asparagus with Hollandaise sauce, biscuits, and cherry cobbler served with a nice bottle of Merlot…yummmmm!

This is a wonderful time of year at Walt Disney World, and I’d thought I'd share a little more of the enchantment and beauty of it with you, though these few additional pictures do not do the atmosphere justice. WDW goes all out with dazzling decorations and special events such as the Candlelight Processional and Osborne Family Lights. Because of our late arrival to WDW this year, we haven’t seen as much as in the past but I do have some photos to share, some from this year and some from other December visits. All of the hotels on Disney property get in the spirit, too, as you can see by this gingerbread gazebo in the lobby of the Boardwalk Inn and this holiday village set up in the Yacht & Beach Club lobby.











Magic Kingdom holds a special holiday parade, and if you get to the park at just the right time, you can catch a performance by The Main Street Philharmonic!










Animal Kingdom also has a huge tree out front, decorations galore, and dresses up their Jammin’ Jungle Parade with the holiday spirit calling it Mickey’s Jingle Jungle Parade!













Throughout the holidays, the pavilions at Epcot’s World Showcase come alive with Holidays Around the World. Each country brings to life their unique holiday traditions and legends through decorations and Holiday Storytellers. For instance here’s Nowell, a Canadian lumberjack who tells of their many holiday customs, and Sigrid from Norway who will tell you of the mischievous Christmas gnome, Julenissen, a truly funny and entertaining performance.










You’ve seen pictures of Hollywood Studios’ Osborne Family Lights in an earlier blog, which helps demonstrate the magical feeling of a Disney Christmas. Mickey, Minnie, and all the gang help make the holidays special for everyone, and for just a few moments you can forget your worries, harken back to a simpler time, and enjoy being a kid again. There's something for everyone at Disney World!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

As another year closes, we feel extremely blessed to have had this opportunity to get out and explore this beautiful country and to meet the "real" people that make it that way. We’ve been on the road a year and a half, and it has truly been a gift. We hope you have enjoyed traveling with us as we share our journey through this blog and will continue to do so.

Our wish is that your life will also be a gift...rich and overflowing

with many blessings.

May the joy, love, hope, and peace of Christmas

be with you always.