We leave Sunny Florida today.

Thursday, March 27, 2008

This morning Wilma and I got up and were ready to head out of Fort Wilderness RV Resort and go say our good by's to the Kids. The weather was already in the mid 70's by noon! Wonderful.

Wilma and I bought each of the gang a little souvenir and were going to give it to them before we all parted.

As you can see from the picture above, the daughters were not too thrilled about leaving and going back home to the cold Michigan weather.

This will be a memory for all of us to have for the rest of our lives. Once again I am thankful that I could do this for my family.

Another great adventure and memory.

Until tomorrow, be safe and God Bless.

Another Day at Epcot

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Today everyone did their own thing. The kids originally were planning on going to Animal Kingdom. Don’t know if they all made it or not. Wilma and I went back to Epcot for about 6 hours.

We had a delicious lunch at China. Another great meal! After the 6 hour mark we had seen enough and left to go back to the RV. Angel wanted to have dinner with us at the Trails End. They, Angel, Brooke & Rebecca showed up around 5:15 and we were seated at 5:30. We all had a delicious buffet meal together. Tina was at her motel resort with her kids. They decided that they all couldn’t get together for a set time for dinner, so we told her we would see them tomorrow prior to them leaving for the airport.

It was another beautiful day with temperatures in the mid 70’s and full sun. Just great! Tomorrow they are calling for the temperatures to hit the mid 80’s. Which Wilma and I agreed might be too hot for the kids and they could have gotten a bad sunburn if it was that hot all week.

It has been a vacation of a lifetime! Wilma and I will never forget it, and I hope the daughters and grandkids won’t ever forget it either. I’m so blessed that I could do this for my family at this time in my life.

Another great Adventure in our lives!

Tomorrow we leave sunny Florida and start our journey back home. We are planning on arriving late Saturday or Sunday morning. Then back to work Monday morning. Blaaaa.

Again, be safe and God Bless.

A Day at Epcot

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Today we decided to go to Epcot. As the crowds came on quickly we all decided to go our separate ways to make the best of what each wanted to do for the day. Angel and Brooke left to do what they wished to do for the day. Tina and her kids stayed with us for the most part of the day.

The crowds were exceptional, so we were back at the MH by 3pm. We agreed to meet with Angel by 5pm back at Epcot to have dinner and watch the fireworks. Tina suggested they might be back for the fireworks also, but didn't know how tired the kids would be.

Again, Disney did a superb demonstration of fireworks along with water fountains in unison with music. Wow what a memory! Following the firework show, we decided to take advantage of the later hours for visitors staying within the park system and went over to the China and Japan sections. Just had to buy a couple egg rolls from China. Mmm good!

On our way out of the park we all saw Tina and her kids! She was planning on staying later and also take advantage of our extended hours for visitors who are staying within the park. We said our good bys for the night and parted. Angel and Brooke got on their bus to be taken back to their motel, while Wilma and I got on a separate bus to take us back to the RV park. As it was quite late we all mentioned that we were going to sleep a little later in the morning.

Another wonderful adventure and memory!

Until tomorrow, be safe and God Bless.

Cool Day at Magic Kingdom.

Monday, March 24, 2008

The first morning we all agreed to meet at Magic Kingdom at 8am. Wow were the grandkids and daughters excited. I tried to get ahead of the group to get the pictures of their faces. After walking half way down main street I gave up on trying to keep ahead of them. I felt I was missing some of the excitement.

We had a wonderful day, a little cool with the temperature reaching a high of around 68 degrees. We ALL were quite cool as we were expecting temperatures to hit the mid 70’s along with the thousands of others that were at the park.

Tomorrow we will definitely dress for the weather a little smarter, with long pants and sweatshirts.

Until tomorrow, be safe and God Bless.

The "Kids" arrive at Disney.

Sunday, March 23, 2008

We had gotten a phone call from Angel around 4am telling us how neat the limo was that picked them up to take them all to the airport. They are really excited going to the airport to fly to Florida.

We got up this morning to cloudy skies and 68 degrees. Finished getting the MH ready for travel. We pulled out of Dunedin RV Resort around 8am. Headed for Lake Buena Vista, Fl. The place where ol Mickey Mouse lives.

On the way to Fort Wilderness, we passed several small rain showers. We both said we hope it won’t be raining at Disney World when the family arrives from their flight. It turned out to be a sunny day when we arrived, temperatures around 73 degrees. The family arrived at their hotel about the same time as we arrived in the RV Resort. We unhooked the car and drove over to see them. They are about 8 miles from us.

We all had gone to the restaurant area of their hotel and had lunch. Afterwards all the grandkids went swimming in the outdoor pool. They really thought it was wonderful that they left home this morning with snow on the ground and this afternoon they are swimming outside!

After a couple hours of watching them swim, their moms called them out of the pool. Don’t want to have a sunburn the first day. We left and headed back to the RV.

Around 5pm we, Wilma & I went to dinner at a restaurant here at the RV Resort. Open buffet, great food, we of course stuffed ourselves.

We caught a shuttle bus back to our RV site and I worked on the hot water tank. Early this morning it backfired and shook both of us up a little. So it seems that I have it fixed for now. If not we will have to use the Resorts showers which are only a couple hundred feet from our site.

Tomorrow we are planning on going to Magic Kingdom.

Be safe and God Bless.

Saturday, Clean up day

Saturday morning, another great morning. Was woke by the announcement of "All you can eat pancake breakfast for $2.00" Can't pass up a deal like that we were up and eating withing a half hour! Gotta say they did a great job and the pancakes & sausage was perfect! So we filled up. Mmm Good.

We returned to the RV to straighten up a bit and relax. It started to rain around 2pm so we stayed in and watched TV. I am planning on taking Wilma out for a steak dinner tonight.

We will be leaving for Disney tomorrow morning first thing. We probably won't have Internet connection so I won't know when I'll be able to update this Blog.

Looking forward to seeing the daughters and grand kids tomorrow! Let the fantasy begin at Walt Disney World!

Be safe and God Bless.

Friday is Shopping Day

Woke up this morning (Friday) having our coffee outside under the canopy. Great weather, already 75 and it's just 10am. Just loving the weather.

We knew we wanted to try out another restaurant so after our coffee we left on a mission to find "Sweet Tomatoes". They serve your choice of salads and about 9 different types of soup. A great restaurant for lunch.

Following lunch we went grocery shopping for a few items, then back to the RV to get a few shots of the RV Park.

Tomorrow we are planning on packing the car with the daughters suit cases, along with other items that they may need while at the hotel in Disney on Sunday.

Another Beach to check out.

We had a little rain last night, it started out around 4am. So by getting woke up at that time in the early morning, we both slept in a little later than planned.

After a pancake breakfast we got ready to head for the number 1 rated beach in North America in 2005. It being Fort De Soto in the city of Tierra Verde, Florida.
It was a great beach, as far as you could see, it was all beach! White sand beach. It also had a souvenier stand along with a concession stand and comfort stations. Maybe it was the size of the beach along with the services available that made it rated #1. But both Wilma and I agree we rated Howard beach #1 by far.

On our way back from Ft. De Soto, we wanted a restaurant where we could get some great sea food. Traveling through Treasure Island, and St. Petersburg, we came upon a restaurant called "Crabby Bill's Seafood". What another great dinner we had! We both ordered the King Crab Leg dinner plate. A full pound and a half of King Crab. WOW! So much, Wilma couldn't finish her portion, so I sacrificed my great figure, and ate what she couldn't. Ha. Ha. Ha... Neither of us had ever seen crab legs this large. And fresh and tasty! Mmmm. Mmm. Good!

Leaving Crabby Bill's, we headed back to the RV to change into some long pants as the temperature was dropping to the high 60's and we wanted to go back to a beach to get some sunset shots.

We headed for our favorite, Howard beach. With in an hour we had some great pictures of yet another great Florida sunset.

Don't have any plans as of yet for tomorrow, but will write again tomorrow.

Until then, be safe and God Bless.

Honeymoon Island State Recreation Park

We decided last night that by applying sunscreen we could withstand the sun at Honeymoon Island Beach today. So this morning we did just that.

It was so windy today that I had to put up the awning prior to going to the beach. Wind gusts of around 40 miles per hour. With the awning rolled up, we headed for the beach. But had to make a detour to the Dollar store so Wilma could look for some "good deals". Finding some deals, we left and headed for the Beach.

After paying a $5.00 entry fee, the attendant warned us of the high winds and that the ferry boat ride to another island was not running. We went ahead anyway on our adventure to a new beach.

WOW WAS IT WINDY!

We walked up and down the beach looking for shells, found some interesting coral that we will keep as a gift from Florida.

Afterward we stopped here for a basket of shrimp with fries and hushpuppies. Mmmmm Good!

Back at the RV now and in a little while will be going to the pool to take a refreshing dip. Temperature now at 5pm is a great 80 degrees! I just love it! I notice on the web that back home it's 37 degrees and raining.

Till tomorrow....be safe and God Bless

Downtown Dunedin, FL.

Today we planned on going to check out the town of Dunedin, Fl. A really nice town close to the water. Plenty of shops to see, arts & crafts etc. Lots of places to eat, all privately owned and very unique.

We parked in the downtown area and stopped at the Chamber of Commerce to get information on what to see. Just a few blocks to the East was the Marina. That's were we headed first. All types of Charter boats docked waiting for customers to take them fishing. Very nice private yachts too.

We stopped at this Fish Market where we ordered some fresh shrimp. We will be picking them up on Friday. Wilma couldn't take the smell of fresh fish and had to go outside while I put my order in.

From the Marina we headed for a restaurant to get lunch. Wow did we have a large selection of different types of restaurants. Didn't see one chain restaurant, all family owned and unique.

We decided to try this restaurant out. We were very happy we did as the meal was great! When you entered the restaurant it was very narrow and deep. With an outside patio at the very rear.
We were seated at the last table in the restaurant looking out at the patio area which also held a full size bar. I have to say we have not had a bad meal since arriving in Florida!

Following lunch we came back to the RV where we both took a little snooze. How can one resist with temperatures around 80 and no humidity, sunny skies with a calming breeze...Wilma caught proof of this below.

Come back tomorrow for more adventures! We are planning on going over to "Honeymoon Beach" and look for shells and sand dollars. Plenty of sun screen will be applied!

Until then, be safe and God Bless.

Visiting Friends Day

Last night we wanted to see the sunset, so Wilma made us each a sub, along with a couple bottles of water, packed the camera and off we went to one of the many beaches.
The wind was blowing pretty hard, so after a couple pictures of us outside we just stayed in the car. After sundown we came home and went to bed.

This morning we had planned on going to see a couple friends of ours. First was Floyd Huetteman. I have known him for about 5 years now from the Lodge. After his wife died of Cancer, Floyd was by himself with his family all living in Florida. Then tragedy struck Floyd. He had a stroke and it was a neighbor who found him a couple days later laying on his condo's kitchen floor. His daughter came up to Michigan from Florida to take care of him and make arrangements to take him back to Florida with her. The last time I saw Floyd in Michigan he was in a wheel chair and could not speak.

This is Floyd now, doing much much better. He stays active with the Masonic Lodge in Florida and also the Shriners.

From seeing Floyd we went to see "RD". One of the friends Wilma knows from the Chat Room. This guy is pretty neat! A true Floridian, born and raised in Florida. Has many of the same beliefs as I do, so we hit it off pretty good. Wilma really enjoyed meeting and talking with him today. And I did also.

As both Floyd and RD live in Lakeland, Florida, and we are in Dunedin, we had about a 53 mile each way trip. We relied on Sleezy Sally, (my GPS) to get us there safe and sound. Well she got us there but coming back she blew it pretty good and got us a trifle lost. Dang it and I didn't have a paper map as a back up. Thanks to Wilma and her good instinct for identifying landmarks we got back without too many extra miles.

Before supper our neighbors told us of a "Comedy Show" being held in our RV Park. So we decided to go see it. Cost us only $10.00 for the two of us, for a 2 hour show. The comic was really good! Didn't stop for the full 2 hours. Not only a comedian but a great musician playing several different instruments. Also did some great impressionist of several well known actors, Dean Martin, Elvis, are two that come to mind.


Until tomorrow, take care and God bless.

We Made It - Dunedin RV Resort, Florida

Saturday March 15th.

When we arrived in Florida around 3pm Friday and stopped at the Welcome Center to have lunch. While there we took a few pictures of us standing under the Welcome sign. Went into the center to get some free info on sites to see. On our way back to the MH there was a young family taking their pictures under the Welcome sign. Wilma asked if they would like for her to take their picture all together. Yes, was there answer. The young lady saw Wilma's Red Wing shirt and asked if we were from the Detroit area. We said yes, Mt. Clemens. She was amazed, they were from Clinton Township! Went to Lanse Cruise schools. Boy oh Boy...what a small world.

Last night we stayed at the Ocala Campground in Ocala, Fl. All grass sites with full hook-up. I just hooked up the water and electric, as I knew we were leaving in the morning. Great sleeping weather, temperature in the mid 60's at night. We did have a light sprinkly but the patter of rain drops made us fall asleep easily.
Woke up and had pancakes for breakfast. Left around 9am.

Arrived here in Dunedin RV Resort around 11am. Again Sleezy Sally, our GPS took us out of the way a short distance, but we didn't notice as we were enjoying the view and the "Pelican welcoming committee"! Our temperature today reached 87. Wow it's perfect weather, blue skies, slight breeze, just enough to keep us from sweating.

Our neighbors came over and introduced themselves. They are from Indiana, just about 200 miles from where Wilma was raised in Kentucky. Again...boy oh boy what a small world.

This park is GREAT! Only a mile from the Gulf beaches. We will take pictures later and try to upload them.

Until tomorrow....be safe and God bless.