March 17, 18, 19, 2008 Disney World

These three days were spent working with Mickey. One more three day week to go, then the last day of March and then no more Disney for a while. I will probably have Goofy withdrawl. Tomorrow we are going to go shopping and also check out some of the other campgrounds in this area. Wonder where we will go the rest of this week. So many places to go and things to see and so little time to do it in. We are hoping to go to Texas next winter but I will have to work a short time at Disney to keep myself active with them. Either work a short time and then go on to Texas or Texas first and then back to Florida. Such decisions. And you thought that we had it easy, huh?

March 15, 2008 Disney World Animal Kingdom Lodge

We have been hearing from other Disney cast members that the theme parks are not the only places to go to see some very interesting sights. It was suggested that we go to the resorts so today we started with Animal Kingdom Resort. The front of the lodge was magnificent. It was so large that it could not all fit into the picture frame. This entire lodge is done with an African theme. The lobby was huge with hand carved statues and figures throughout. The ceiling was three stories plus tall. In the rear is a park containing exotic birds, wildebeests and zebras. In the fourth photo, look back to the left and there are two zebras, behind the wildebeests. There were supposed to be giraffes, too, but we did not see any on this trip. The rear gardens were lush and tropical. Carol looks tiny standing there. In the entrance to the lobby, stones were colored and placed into the floor. It was described to us as something that is done in Africa. People color stones and place them on the floor to greet guests and so it was done here the same way to greet guests, too. I keep on being amazed at how this entire operation has been devised and put together - with little things like the colored stones at the entryway to greet guests just one of many items incorporated into the park. In the rear, overlooking the animal park, the rooms of the lodge all have balconies overlooking this park. What a way to wake up - a cup of coffee out on the balcony and the birds and animals below. Now we will also tour the other lodges around the park. There is always something to do here that is interesting and exciting.

March 13, 2008 Plant city, FL

NEVER AGAIN will I go into an "all you can eat" buffet. Last night we went to CiCi's Pizza in Orlando with friends. This is one price pays all and besides we had a Disney discount. I could hardly move after leaving there and Carol said she was stuffed too. To make matters worse, today we went to Plant City, Fl, a small town west of Lakeland that advertises itself as "The Strawberry Capital Of The World." Friends met us at the Parkesdale Farm Market. They had told us about the delicious strawberry shortcake there. Oh man, they were delicious. We each had one and one of our friends had two. I thought about ordering another when I finished mine and am I ever glad that I waited before doing it. All of a sudden I felt stuffed and, here it is 5 hours later and I am still full. It still amazes me to find fresh fruit and veggies here in the middle of the winter. When we first came to Florida, we were amazed at road repairs being done in January, February, flowers growing and palm trees. This fresh fruit and veggies that we ate and bought to bring home today just add to the "wow" factor for us snowbirds. Sitting outside in 70 degree plus, sunny weather enjoying strawberry shortcake? Who-DA-thunk-it? not too long ago. TOMORROW the diet resumes, after eating Carol's great cube steak/baked potato dinner tonight, of course.

March 11, 2008 Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Endeavor Liftoff

We actually witnessed history at 2:38 AM this morning. We saw the last night lift-off of a space shuttle, The Endeavor, and one of the last lift-offs of this entire program. It was spectacular. We went with two of our MOC friends, Rich and Helen, and arrived last night around 8:30 PM so that we could get a good position. We went to a local park right across the Indian River from the launch pad. The pad was about five miles away but, because we were looking over the water, it looked much closer. We saw the event from the steamy start to the disappearance into the clouds. When we arrived, the sky was clear and about midnight, the clouds started coming in. They were not bad enough to scrub the mission, though, and it was grand. When we arrived, there were people around but we were actually surprised at the low numbers. Then, as the night progressed, the numbers began to swell. We had the park and a sidewalk behind us and a marshland and the river in front of us. This made for some beautiful shots of the booster rockets flaming images being reflected in the river. Although we were 5 miles away, it seemed much closer, probably because we were watching over the water. First came the smoke (steam?) then the flames, then the lift-off. OMG, as the kids would say, it was beautiful. The crowd, as with the crowd that we were part of for the last space shot a few weeks ago, cheered and clapped upon lift-off. A truly happy group of people from around the world. Because of our close proximity, we could see everything from steam to lift-off. Because of our distance of five miles and slight breeze over the water, it took a long time for the loud roar to reach us. The cloud cover was low so the shuttle disappeared quickly but grandly. Several minutes later, as we were leaving, we looked back at the pad and saw that it was still smoking/steaming. Also as we were leaving, we were amazed at how huge the crowd had grown into. It took us a long time to get out of Titusville proper and then another huge traffic jam on I-95 at the Orlando and points west exit, which was probably five more miles away from the main part of the original traffic jam. It took us an extra hour and a half to get home because of the traffic. It was truly worth the wait, though. We were able to photographically memorialize this experience, from our MOC amigos to the lift-off, and can share some of it with you now. ENJOY!

March 9, 2008 Davenport, FL Mouse Mountain CG Talent Show

Today was the 2008 Mouse Mountain Campground Talent Show and Ice Cream Social. The evening started out with tons of ice cream being ladled out, followed by the show. The ice cream got people like me to attend and after listening and watching to the talent, Carol and I are both very glad that we attended. It started out with Randy, the emcee, being interrupted by a Minnie Pearl lookalike who wheedled her way into singing In My Easter Bonnet. Then our MOC friend Helen sang, another MOC friend,Cheryl, showed us that she is now a clogger, and the Mouse Mountain Floozies sang, followed by the Mouse Mountain Floozie Chasers. One of the cloggers is an 83 year old lady and one of the Floozies is 93 years old. These folks give us hope that maybe we can be productive for a few more years. There were other acts that only people in the park would know of but there were absolutely no bad acts. Tomorrow, we are heading for Kennedy Space Center for the Shuttle lift-off. The photo portion of this program is not working at this time. Hopefully it will be back on line so that we can put photos of the space shot in the entry describing the shot.

March 8, 2008 Sanford, FL Fleaworld

We went to Fleaworld of Orlando in Sanford, FL. It is advertised as "America's Largest Flea Market." We have been to a few flea markets but are in no position to judge comparative sizes of the markets but this one was, as Ed Sullivan used to say, "A really big show!" From the highway it didn't look like much. We even almost missed it at first pass. When we finally entered the parking lot from the side we started to get an idea that the frontage was like the tip of an ice berg, a small taste of what was hidden. There was a huge grid of pole barns, all joined together, that formed a gigantic maze of shops and stalls. For those of you from Southeast Michigan, like a Gibraltar Trade Center on steroids. We went with friends from the MOC that are also at our campground and of course couldn't get out without buying some "must have" items that may or may not be used now that they are home. This place even has an attached amusement park complete with rides and rides on a real elephant. Haven't seen an elephant ride since we took our grandson, Jon (he was Jonathon then), to his first circus and he rode the elephant a dozen years ago. The national cold snap has arrived in Florida. Friday the temperature was in the 80s and Saturday it was mid 60s and very windy, feeling much colder. Saturday night was supposed to get into the upper 30s and then a return to normal temperatures to return Monday. Sunday evening at the campground features an ice cream social followed by a talent show. Gotta go the social because I am an ice cream junkie. Then we will waddle up and watch our neighbors sing and dance. Should be great fun.

March 6, 2008 Disney World Animal Kingdom

Wow, was it beautiful. Disney World Animal Kingdom is the great escape for city folks like us. When we first entered, some of the "bugs" were posing with the kids for photos. We traveled to "Deepest Africa" and took a safari ride through a large African park. So many large, fantastic beasts and birds roaming in their natural habitat and we were right there with them. At one time during our ride, we had to stop because an ostrich was standing in the road and was not quite ready to move on yet. A toot of the horn finally got it to slowly amble away. When Carol and I were married, we took the. kids with us for the second half of our honeymoon and one of the stops was the African Safariland Park, near Toronto. That was really nice but the Disney park was HUGE! I really wish my vocabulary was greater so that I could describe the raw beauty that we saw today. Since our friend Bob made us a great bird feeder that we keep stocked with sunflower oilers in Michigan when we are home, we have discovered that we really like looking at and listening to the different birds. Today was everything we have seen and heard before and multiplied by a large number. I don't believe that I have ever seen some of the colors before that we saw on some of these birds. Then there was the crane that was sitting down on its legs that were bent at the knees BACKWARD. The proud American Eagle that was part of a show in the park. There was a show called "It's Tough To Be A Bug" that was shown in a theater. This showed life as seen through the eyes and thoughts of bugs. There were animated characters and three dimensional effects that were unheard of not that long ago. We were watching the characters on the stage and butterflies and other flying insects would apparently fly right up to our faces and we even tried to reach out and touch them, to no avail, of course. Portions of the seats and seatbacks moved at times when the "termites and roaches were rushing out of the theater so as not to be stepped on." Carol really jumped at this, thinking something was passing under her bottom. The character parade was also fantastic - so many characters singing and dancing and really having a grand time. The baby chimpanzee that was "too pooped to pop" and sleeping after foraging and eating. The crocodiles that are menacing, just looking at them from a distance. The African Prairie Dog type animal acting as a lookout while the rest of its family searched for food. And, of course, the parade with Mickey and all his pals that is always a big feature of all the parks here. This was another perfect day.