Gotta Have Friends

The last half of this month started with a visit from one of my best friends, Linda, who lives in Tampa. She had Presidents’ Day off, and we made plans to spend the day together with no particular goals in mind. There were a couple of shops I wanted to visit, but other than that we were going to wing it.

I had heard of a place called A World of Orchids, and it was on the way to where we were heading though off the main road. There’s an Oriental design to the exterior, and stepping through the front door, you enter the retail portion of the facility where beautiful orchids abound. However, once you step through the back door into the greenhouse, much of the beauty fades away. At first glance it doesn’t seem so bad, but as you look closer amidst the greenery, you see the damage. After crossing over a little bridge under which several Koi are swimming, you continue along pathways where venting systems hang by wires, missing roof tiles leave the area open to the elements (and the damage that creates), and dried and dying plants are visible here and there. You can see the vision of what once was and hope will one day return. However, as we were leaving, we happened to meet the owner, and those days are gone. Having been hit by hurricanes several times, he finally decided not to sink any more money into major repairs after the last one. They have another wholesale facility not far away and that is their main focus though it doesn’t seem they have any plans to close this one any time soon. Even so it was an interesting little side trip off the beaten path with some beautiful flowers.

We spent the next few hours just tooling around town, shopping, chatting, and enjoying each other’s company. Having both grown up in St. Louis, Steak ‘N Shake is a favorite, and that’s where we ate lunch, spending way more than our allotted time in our booth (apologies to our server :-). It was time for Linda to head back to Tampa, but we hope to get together one more time before I leave FL.

The very first friends we made after we hit the road fulltime were Bob and Kathy. We met them at the campground in Tellico Plains, TN, where they were planning to build their dream home, and we made an instant connection. Their Golden Retrievers, Elkie and Summer, enjoyed meeting Mikey and Abby, and the four of them had a great time exploring Bob and Kathy’s property when they took us for a visit. That was in June 2007, and though we’d kept in touch, we hadn’t seen them since. So what a great surprise it was to learn they were only an hour away for a few days and wanted to get together! They were getting work done on the RV so could only come for a short visit, but we told them the doggies were more than welcome, too. Elkie had passed away not long after we met them, and they had gotten Buddy, another golden, as a companion for Summer. She is now a senior citizen like Mikey, and Buddy is about Abby’s age so this was going to be a fun visit.

Initially we sat outside catching up on life these past 3-1/2 years and letting the dogs get acquainted. The Missouri basketball game was about to start so we went inside to watch it while we chatted and enjoyed some Bloody Marys. Buddy soon found Abby’s stuffed tiger and a tug of war ensued. It was obvious Abby had a new boyfriend as he kept enticing her to play (which doesn’t take much) and licking her face. Of course he also licked Jo-Jo’s face, and I wish I would have gotten the camera in time to catch her expression! Mikey had decided to stay outside (as he does most everyday) while Summer watched the antics of the younger “kids” inside with us. However, Mikey did join us for awhile and suddenly we had an RV full of big dogs!

After the game, we continued to chat, and while munching on some peanuts, Russ obviously had Buddy’s and Summer’s undivided attention. Not sure where Abby was because she never misses out when there’s food around! At one point Bob asked if we wanted to see Buddy’s trick, and he picked Buddy up and sat him on his lap like a baby. Buddy then laid his head back on Bob’s chest and seemed very relaxed. Bob said he will lie like that for hours if he lets him!

We ordered pizza for dinner, and all too soon it was time for them to leave. Hopefully it won’t be another 3-1/2 years before we see each other. In fact they might make a trip out west later this year while we’re there!

Pick-A-Pearl

We had a great visit with Terri and Bill. After picking them up at the airport around 8:30 a.m., we headed for their hotel, Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort. Figuring their room wouldn’t be ready for several hours, the plan was to drop off their bags, pre-register, and head out for breakfast. Surprisingly the room was ready, and they had been upgraded to a room with a fantastic view from their balcony of the Magic Kingdom across the lagoon. After breakfast, we dropped them back at the hotel and made plans to return later that evening. Bill was treating us to dinner for his 60th birthday!

We began the evening with drinks at Mizner’s Lounge and then walked over to Narcoosee’s, both located at the hotel. The restaurant is situated on the Seven Seas Lagoon, and we were fortunate to get a window table with a great view of the water. Russ and Terri shared the Fried Oysters Rockefeller to start while Bill and I each got a bowl of the Butternut Squash-Tomato Bisque Soup. Ohmigosh was it yummy!! Terri’s favorite dish at Narcoosee’s is the Crispy Whole Snapper, which is served upright on the plate and has a crispy exterior with a deliciously moist and flaky interior. Russ ordered the same, I ordered my “usual” Grilled Filet Mignon (ok, it’s only the 2nd time I’ve eaten there), while Bill enjoyed the Surf & Turf. (Are you hungry yet??) All came with delicious sides, and we were stuffed by the end of the meal, but of course we managed to save a teeny bit of room for dessert. We ordered two to share…the Crème Brulee Duo and the Bittersweet Chocolate Mousse Dome with Raspberry Sauce to which the restaurant added a candle and “Happy Birthday” wishes on the plate. After managing to roll ourselves out of our chairs and the restaurant, we returned to their room to watch the Magic Kingdom fireworks from their balcony.

On another day we all met at Epcot planning to just hang out in World Showcase. We enjoyed walking “around the world”, stopping in many of the countries' shops, getting a bite to eat in America, and drinking margaritas in Mexico. At Canada this little waterfall is located just outside one of the shops, and as you can tell by the photo, it was a rather chilly day! At Japan Bill insisted that I choose an oyster from the Pick-A-Pearl tank because he likes to watch the production the cast members create in opening each one. As they bang sticks together and clap, an announcement is made to gather a crowd. The young lady then asks everyone to count to 3 (first teaching us how to say it in Japanese), and with a quick flick of her blade, the oyster is open revealing a beautiful little pearl tucked within the meat! You never know what you might find inside…sometimes there are even two pearls or occasionally the rare black pearl. Mika made a little game of measuring its size and explained the process of cleaning it as she did so (though quite frankly we hardly understood anything she was saying because her accent was so thick!) But it was fun, and I got a 7-1/4 mm cultured pearl…thanks, Bill!

As we exited the shop, the Japanese Matsuriza had just begun their performance of Taiko, a form of drumming. This is one of Bill’s favorite things at Epcot, and the ladies are amazing to watch as they bang the drums in well choreographed rhythm.

Of course their trip wouldn’t have been complete without a trip to Steak ‘N Shake, which is where we enjoyed lunch on Sat. Bill and Terri had come down to escape the cold and snow of NJ and enjoy some warm FL sun. Unfortunately it never got warm enough for them to enjoy any time at the pool but at least it was warmer than home…and there was no snow! On the drive back to the airport, however, we told them they could take the cold weather back north, and the next day the temp here reached 71. :-)

The following week Russ and I returned to Epcot, but on this day stayed on the Future World side and arrived first thing in the morning planning to ride the very popular Soarin’ a few times before the lines got too long and they ran out of Fast Passes. Traffic along the way had been surprisingly light so we arrived at the park 30 min. before opening. What Disney generally does is at about 15 min. before the park opens, they allow everyone to come through the turnstiles up to a roped off area where you’ll wait the next 15 min. A few minutes before 9 a.m. several of the characters come out to greet the crowds, and after the countdown, they lead the way further into the park. The cast members do a great job of keeping order (and the people from running) all the way to the entrance of The Land and inside, down to the lower level where this most popular ride exists. It’s kind of funny though because people are constantly jockeying for position as they walk, heels on heels. In fact it reminded me of a car race with all the weaving back and forth. I started out right behind the cast members and Russ was a couple rows back. By the time we got inside and downstairs, I was 5 rows back and Russ was about 10 back! With arriving early and the use of Fast Passes, we were able to ride Soarin’ 3 times by 11:30, which is really good given the crowds this ride attracts.

While waiting for the entry time for our last ride, we walked over to The Seas to catch Turtle Talk with Crush, a 10 min. interactive “discussion” with the dude himself. Though geared mainly towards the littlest dudes and dudettes, we totally get a kick out of it and especially of what comes from the mouths of babes! After leaving the show, we strolled around viewing the 5.7 million gallon saltwater aquarium and even found a hidden Mickey!

After our final Soarin’ adventure, we walked next door to catch the return of “Captain EO”, the 17-min. musical 3-D space fantasy adventure film featuring Michael Jackson. Created and first shown 26 years ago, we remember seeing it for the first time back then and being amazed at the technology, the special effects, and being wowed by the music. Its last showing was in 1994 so this was a big deal when Disney announced last year that they were bringing it back for a limited time. This was going to be our first time seeing it since back in the 80s, and as excited as I had been beforehand to see it, I was kind of disappointed afterwards. Perhaps part of it is because cinematic technology has advanced so much in the past 26 years that this now seems almost ho-hum. It was still good, but we probably won’t make a point of going to see it again. (You can see how excited Russ was about it. :-)

Epcot was busy preparing for their annual International Flower & Garden Festival with many of the topiaries already in place, and before leaving the park, a cast member offered to take our picture in front of Mickey, Minnie, and Pluto. Looking forward to returning when all the topiaries are up!

An Exciting Opportunity

The last few weeks have been relatively quiet though busy…and we haven’t even been back to Disney since the end of December! We finally decided to eBay some of our Dept. 56 collection that has been in storage, and it’s more work than you would think…almost seems like a full-time job! Researching, cataloguing, making sure each piece is in mint condition, photographing, creating listings, and then once an item sells, packaging and preparing it for the post office. Our couch is literally filled with boxes! We’ve sold a few of the buildings so are making a dent in the 17 dish-pack sized moving boxes they’ve been stored in.

However, we do have some exciting news. A few weeks ago we submitted an online application for positions as campground hosts at some national parks out west. After a couple of phone calls, e-mail exchanges, and the ranger talking to 3 of our 4 professional references that were requested, we got a call offering us the position at Capitol Reef National Park in Utah! (Here's a link about the campground http://www.nps.gov/care/planyourvisit/fruitacampground.htm).

The position was supposed to start mid-March for 4 months, but when we originally talked to the ranger, we had mentioned that I had a doctor’s appointment April 1 (which I began thinking that I could probably postpone till we return at the end of the year). When she called to offer us the position, she told us we could wait to start Apr. 5 or 6 to accomodate my appointment. It's about 2,300 miles from here so will take us 4 or 5 days. She said that last year during the last few weeks of March there was still snow on the ground so the hosts really didn’t have anything to do, and she said if the weather was nice this year, the ranger staff could help out till we arrived.

There will be another couple doing the same job, and we will work 4 days on and 4 days off…and we don’t have to clean bathrooms!! Each morning we’ll report the number of vacant or soon-to-be vacant campsites to the ranger staff, check again after the checkout time, make sure that everyone has their generators turned off at the appropriate time, clean out the fire pits, answer any questions campers might have, and though it’s a self-service registration, we may assist campers in finding a spot. I’m sure there will be other duties, but those are the main ones.

In exchange for volunteering, we get our campsite, water, sewer, and electric (which the rest of the sites do not have), phone line for free local calls (we can get long distance and dial up internet through the local phone company if ours won’t work there), PLUS we'll be paid $15/day that we work (for both of us, not each)! Most campground hosts are not paid additional money, but we figure this is probably to compensate for gas mileage. They will also provide us uniforms shirts, jackets, and hats while we provide our own slacks/jeans.

We've driven through Capitol Reef a couple times, along the main road, stopping to see some of the sights, but never for an extended stay (though we did earn a Junior Ranger badge from there). It's probably a good place for our first campground hosting gig since there are only 71 sites and though busy, wouldn't be as busy as larger and more well-known places like Zion or Bryce Canyon. It is kind of in the middle of nowhere, and though only a few miles from Torrey, UT (not a very big town), it's like 100 miles from the nearest Wal-Mart! However, we're excited about this opportunity and really looking forward to trying our hand at being campground hosts.

As you can see, our blog postings have been sporadic since we arrived in FL and probably will continue to be so over the next couple of months since not much is going on though we are looking forward to Russ’ sister and her husband coming in town for a few days next week.

Happy New Year!

Hope everyone had a safe, healthy, and happy New Year! Sorry we’re a little late with our New Year’s greeting, but we’ve been a little under the weather since the first of the year. Evidently we picked up a flu bug either at Disney World or New Year’s Eve night at the 19th Hole. McNeely’s 19th Hole Sports Bar & Grill is your typical neighborhood bar and located just a couple of minutes away so we didn’t have to worry about being on the road for long with all the drunks. It was more or less a last minute decision to go, arriving about 11:30pm. We had visited the place two years ago on New Year’s Eve so we weren’t expecting much, but we discovered that the place had been expanded and seemed a little bit nicer. There was a good sized, mostly young crowd waiting for the countdown with some guys playing pool, football showing on a couple TVs, Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve on the others (all with the volume turned down), a DJ spinning tunes while some folks danced, and everybody drinking! Russ ordered a couple of drinks at the bar, and we found a table along the wall. The gal next to us was trying to take a picture of her 4 other friends so I asked if she’d like me to take one of all 5 of them. She was delighted, and we soon became fast friends. As it turns out, she was in town for a couple weeks visiting her friends, and just as an announcement was made that they would not be serving champagne at midnight (but you could buy shots for $2), she informed me that she had brought a bottle of Korbel and wanted to share it with us. A couple of her friends left right after midnight, but over the next hour and a half we had a great time with this fun group! Thanks Nancy, Ken, and Doug for helping us ring in the New Year!

Another Magical Year Ends

Our time the last two weeks of 2010 was generally spent hanging out at the RV, eBaying some stuff we had in storage, and of course going to Disney World. We finally ventured over to the Magic Kingdom to catch Disney’s Main Street Electrical Light Parade, a 20-minute nighttime procession featuring floats and live performers covered in half a million lights timed to a synchronized soundtrack. The parade made its return engagement this summer replacing the Spectromagic parade, and has been extended indefinitely. Tinker Bell leads off the parade waving to the crowd from the basket of a hot air balloon followed by Mickey and Minnie on the Electrical Parade train driven by Goofy. Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, and Pinnochio are just a few of the other floats, and the entire parade ends with a float called “To Honor America”. Though this is a very popular parade and fun to see, personally we still prefer Spectromagic and hope it returns.












We stayed to watch the Wishes fireworks spectacular that happen above and around the backdrop of Cinderella’s Castle. The Castle is stunning this time of year with more than 200,000 tiny white lights attached to netting that drapes over the Castle creating a glistening icicle effect. During the day, you can't even see any of the lights or netting and then magically at night the lights are turned on, and voila! The Castle changes colors throughout the evening so if you don’t particularly like the color it is now, stick around for a few minutes and the color will change!


During 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. We’d seen some of these in the past, but there were others we hadn’t. Russ didn’t really care one way or the other about seeing them, so one afternoon I went over by myself. It turned out to be a beautiful, warm Florida day, something we hadn't had for a couple of weeks down here. Though the telling of each tradition is only about 5 minutes long, there’s no real flow to the timing so that you can simply go from one country to the next. I had sort of mapped out a plan and managed to see 7 of the 12: Papa Noel – Canada, Pere Noel – France, the Daruma Vendor – Japan, Kwanzaa – U.S., Helga – Germany, The Monkey King – China, and Los Tres Reyes Magos – Mexico plus I passed Santa and Mrs. Claus with children lined up ready to sit on their laps. Unfortunately, the timing was just off to see the others. In fact I had planned to catch Julenissen and Sigrid at Norway even though I had seen them before. While waiting for their first performance of the day at 3:10pm, a cast member informed us that the 3:10 performance was cancelled but we could return for the 3:50 show. Well bummer!! I knew I wouldn’t make that one because I had to get something to eat and then get in line for the 5pm Candlelight Processional performance narrated by Thomas Gibson (Dharma & Greg, Criminal Minds). He was alright, pretty much just reading it straight and very dry, but the music is always incredible.




















We returned a few nights later to catch country music artist, Trace Adkins, narrate the Processional. Beforehand I wondered aloud if he would be wearing his cowboy hat, and sure enough he came onstage with it on, but before he started reading, he respectfully removed it till the end. His big baritone voice was perfect for the narration.

Our Christmas Eve tradition for the last couple of years has been to fight the crowds and attend the Candlelight Processional. Once again this year the narrator was Edward James Olmos (Stand and Deliver, Battlestar Galactica). He is another great one to see as he puts so much emotion and emphasis into the narration, sings along with several of the songs, and even translates small sections of it into Spanish. We were pleasantly surprised that even though it was Christmas Eve, the line was not too long for the middle performance nor the last one, both of which we attended. (Below are a couple of pictures to give you a little better idea of the scope and size of the Candlelight Processional.)










The last night for the Processional was Dec. 30 with guest narrator Marlee Matlin (Children of a Lesser God, West Wing, Dancing with the Stars), and of course we attended. Since she is deaf, she performed the narration in American Sign Language and was voiced by her personal interpreter, Jack Jason. The WDW interpreter signs only the songs on nights when Marlee narrates, and the whole thing is still very moving. At one point during each performance when the choir sings Silent Night, the conductor turns out to the audience and conducts us to sing along. As we sang, Marlee signed along, turning more towards the choir as if she was singing back to them, and it was very moving. During her remarks at the end, she credited the Walt Disney World Choir standing behind her with tapping their feet during the songs so she could feel the rhythm. We had no idea they were doing that and had been wondering how she was keeping the beat, swaying her body in time to the music, at times tapping her hand against her hip, and figured she was somehow feeling the music. Now we knew…very cool.

We stayed for Illuminations, and as we were heading towards the exit afterwards, we came across a party getting started right in front of the fountains near Spaceship Earth…DJ pumping music...people dancing and singing along...what a blast! It was New Year’s Eve Eve, and they were getting everybody ready for the big party the next night! We watched for a little bit but didn’t stay too long since we wanted to make it over to Magic Kingdom for the Fantasy in the Sky fireworks. We timed everything just right and arrived just as the Electrical Light Parade was finishing at the front of the park. This was perfect because we could follow along right behind as they made their way up Main Street, giving us an escort to the area where we wanted to be in front of the Castle. We found a great spot to hang out at 11pm, waiting for the fireworks to begin at 11:50….yep, we were going to have to wait that long, and we didn’t dare move from our spot! As the crowd grew around us, a DJ on the Castle stage made the time fly by with loud, pounding music, and encouraging everyone to dance and sing along. The Fantasy in the Sky fireworks are only performed a couple of times a year, and what we saw was spectacular, awesome, fantastic!! They began promptly at 11:50 as a normal fireworks show (well, as normal as Disney does!) timed to Disney music, and then a couple of minutes before midnight, Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy came on over the loudspeakers creating a New Year’s countdown. Right at midnight the grandest fireworks you’ve ever seen exploded 360 degrees around the park…absolutely breathtaking!!! I’m sure everyone felt like a little kid again…eyes wide with amazement!! Disney sure knows how to throw a party!!

Merry Christmas

“Although hundreds of years have passed, we still celebrate the birth of the baby in Bethlehem…and the joy of that first Christmas still lives in our hearts.” - from the Candlelight Processional

During this special time of year, we all take time to reflect on our lives. We remember those we have lost and those we have met along the way. We give thanks to those men and women serving in the military, protecting our country, and pray for their safety. And though miles may separate us from friends and loved ones, they continue to be close in our hearts.

Christmas is a season of hope and magic, a time to be thankful for the many blessings in our lives. It's a time to look in wonderment at life through the eyes of a child. For Christmas is not just a date on the calendar, it is a frame of mind and a way of life. May the joy, love, hope, and peace of Christmas be with you always.

Friends in Florida

Our home for the next 4 months is the same place we stayed 2 years ago, Lake Magic RV Resort in Clermont, FL, located just outside Orlando and about 15 min. from Walt Disney World. The past few weeks have been busy settling in, going to doctor appointments, visiting Disney (of course), and re-connecting with friends. Though we are at a different campground than Paul and Anne this year, we’ve gotten together a few times including an early dinner one night at Manny’s Chop House (http://www.mannyschophouse.com) for their buy one get one free fajita night and endless salad bowl! We also visited with Bob and Joanne at their new location this year, and in the “small world category”, we got a visit from Leslie and Vince, folks we met in Accord, NY, a couple of years ago. We had not seen them since then but had stayed in touch, and it turns out that while we were in Summerton, SC, they had arrived at the exact same campground the day before we left but neither of us knew the other was there. Not only were they at the same campground, but they were parked at the other end of our row, only 4 sites away! Then we found out that they were going to be spending the next couple of weeks just down the road from us here in Clermont…told you it’s a small world! We had a nice, long visit and hope to get together again when they're back in a few weeks.

We also discovered that Beth and Dick were going to be staying at the Disney campground, Fort Wilderness, for a couple of days and made plans to get together. Christmas is such a wonderful time to visit Disney World with all its beautiful decorations and annual traditions, and since this was their first time seeing the parks at Christmas, we were happy to act as tour guides. We met them at Hollywood Studios to see the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights (OsborneLights). We arrived shortly before 6pm, the time the Spectacle begins, and stood with hundreds of others in the middle of “Streets of America”. At precisely 6pm, more than 4 million lights that drape nearly everything in sight came on all at once accompanied by Christmas music and “snow flurries”…Beth and Dick were amazed. No matter how much you read about it or how many pictures you see, nothing compares with experiencing it!

Next we drove over to Epcot for the Candlelight Processional (Processional), another first for them. It’s held three times nightly at the outdoor America Gardens Theater, and in a nutshell, the Processional features a celebrity narrator reading the story of the nativity backed by a mass choir and a 50-piece orchestra while an interpreter relates all in sign language. The narrators change every few nights, and some are better than others because even though they all read the same script, some put much more emotion into the reading while others simply read the words…some even sing along! We make good use of our annual passes during this time and try to see as many as we can. This particular night it was being narrated by John O’Hurley (Seinfeld, Family Feud, Dancing With the Stars), and he did an excellent job. It seems that no matter how many times we see the Candlelight Processional, we marvel at the beauty and majesty of the sound and the performers. Afterwards we stayed for the Illuminations fireworks, and then drove them back to the campground. Quite a number of people go all out decorating their campsites at Fort Wilderness for Christmas so we drove through checking out the sights.

Our friend, John, called from St. Louis to let us know he’d be in Orlando on business the beginning of Dec. so we met up at Miller’s Orlando Ale House (http://www.millersalehouse.com/). This location had just opened a couple months earlier, and we enjoyed a great meal and a great visit. However, right after this picture was taken, John realized after all these years just how much shorter I am than him…too funny, John!

The weather here was beautiful when we arrived as you would expect Florida to be in the winter but then it took a turn. OK, so we haven’t had snow and it’s warmer than most places up north, but it dropped to the low 30s a few nights and even got down to 27 one night! What’s up with that?!

Otherwise, over these past few weeks we celebrated Thanksgiving by cooking a 22 lb. turkey (yes, just for the two of us!) and tried our hand at making homemade cabbage rolls, which actually turned out pretty good. We made a couple more trips to Epcot, and one of those trips was to see Whoopi Goldberg narrate the Candlelight Processional. We arrived at the park about 5pm with plans to see the 6:45 show, but when we got over to the World Showcase area, the standby line was already so long that a cast member was telling those of us in the back that we were in line for the 8:15 show! Now the decision was whether to stay waiting in line for 2-1/2 hours or leave, and though I had seen her narrate last year, we decided to stay (after all we had driven over specifically for that purpose). While Russ wandered around talking on the phone, I stood in line chatting with the gal in front of me who was saving spaces for her family and friends, and it made the time fly by. Whoopi did an incredible job, putting so much feeling and emphasis into the narration. Only negative would be that she obviously couldn't resist making a little funny when reading the part that says "a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed" to which she commented "some things never change". Yes, humorous, but there is time allowed at the end for each narrator to make any personal statements they'd like, and it just seems it would have been more appropriate for her to make a comment then instead of in the middle of the scriptural reading. Anyway, we finished the evening once again by watching Illuminations. We never seem to tire of this especially during the holidays when they add on an extra few minutes of fireworks performed to Let There Be Peace on Earth…one of my favorites.