Heading Home - Friends & Dragons Along the Way!

With reluctance, we bid adieu to Kissimmee and a wonderful winter escape. 
We stopped for lunch with RJ & Frances Loucks in Ocala. RJ is a grade & high school classmate of Bob's from Greensburg. Unfortunately, we just didn't think to take any photos!

We drove in beautiful weather with big fluffy clouds to Perry Ga to have dinner with Dave Gillmore, a friend from Naval Avionics Ctr days who now works at Warner-Robbins AFB. Again, unfortunately, no one thought of the camera!

Next day, Sunny skies gave way to rain, but the sun kept trying to peek through with this rainbow the result!

Look! The rainbow ends just up ahead! Keep your eye out for the pot of gold.

When we went to Israel with Jeff Cavins in 2009, we met Sue Hanson from Atlanta. Sue and her Dad, Frank Kraft have supprted Fr Rick Frechette and his mission in Haiti for decades. Fr Rick was also on the Israel trip with a number of his Haitian friends and workers. We met Sue for lunch at Jason's Deli.

Sunday, after mass in Atlanta, we drove the parkway toward Steoch, NC where one of Bob's former shipmates from the USS FD Roosevelt days lives. We anticipated a twisting mountain road, but were pleasantly surprised when the majority of the way was four lane highway!

In one town we passed through, the center divider was lined with trees in bloom - Peach trees? Maybe!

As well as flowers in bloom near the road!

With the modern road, this area has become a popular place for some very nice houses on hills!

As we neared our destination, the road became more like what we had anticipated. The Blue Ridge Mountains are lovely.

We arrived without incident - the tiny white flecks are SNOW!

Vernon Barmes was Bob's Electronics Officer aboard Roosevelt. He was sharp and expected the best from his young sailors. His work ethic and example has guided Bob over the decades. Vernon lives in Steoch NC less than a mile from NC 28, the "Moonshiner's Run" highway - a highway full of twists and turns. Moonshiners would rely on their hopped up cars, stiff suspensions, and knowledge of the road to outrun the "Revenuers!"

As we left Steoch for Knoxville, our path was down highway 28. It is twisty but also lovley!

Highway 28 gives way to Dealy's Pass better known as the "Tail of the Dragon!"

This notorious road has 318 turns in 11 miles and lays claim to being the "curviest road in the country." I don't know if that is true, but it is an interesting drive - especially in a Ford sedan!

Along the road there are frequent sightings of the Tennessee River.

We made it through the Tail of the Dragon in one piece and stopped for the night in Knoxville, TN.  Tomorrow, its a short 6 hour drive to Greenwood. The weather forecast for Central Indiana is very nice and Bob's golfing buddies have an outing set for Tuesday morning - so you know where to find Bob! 

Leesburg - Golf with Jan & Dan

Every year, we look forward to seeing friends when we come to Florida. Some live in Florida year round and some are fellow "snowbirds."
In the later category are Jan & Dan Anderson, friends from Greenwood.
Dan & Jan recently purchased a new home in a community near Leesburg, about 50 miles north-northwest of Orlando

Dan & Jan live in a gated community with a wonderful array of centers, pools, and golf courses.

The grounds are beautiful and well maintained.

The golf course is interesting and moderately difficult.  The greens were all in great shape.

The wildlife is abundant throughout the complex and are not shy.

The wildlife are not all feathered and "cute" :)

Kissimmee - Mickey & Mary

The reason Kissimmee (and all of the Orlando area) has literally grown by leaps and bounds was the vision of Mr Walt Disney. Having successfully created Disneyland in Anaheim California, he wanted to expand. 
Surveys revealed that only 10% of the Disneyland visitors were from west of the Mississippi River, even though 70% (at that time) lived east of the Mississippi!
He examined many possibilities and focused in on the tiny town of Reedy Creek, just south of Orlando. He used a number of dummy corporations to conceal the move and ended up buying nearly 30,000 acres of what was mainly thought to be useless swampland.  When he died prior to the park being opened, his brother Roy renamed the new park Walt Disney World, in his honor.
We enjoy Walt Disney World and have visited several of the theme parks - Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, and the Magnolia Golf Course (OK, I know that technically that's not a Theme Park).
But there is a ton of stuff you can do at Disney that doesn't cost a dime! So we spent some time at Disney just doing "stuff."
(By the way, Reedy Creek was renamed Lake Buena Vista)

Everything is Mickey! There are signs with flasher along this stretch that prohibit stopping for any reason!

Behind the Contemporary Hotel

The Contemporary Hotel has a monorail track right down the middle (you can see the trains to the left if you look closely). To the left of the hotel is the new Disney Vacation Club.

This photo of the Contemporary Hotel is from the beach at the Polynesian Hotel (the first to be built).

The Grand Floridian is right out of The Great Gatsby! This photo also from the beach at the Polynesian.

The Grand Floridian wedding chapel sits near the hotel but is a totally separate structure - with a wedding planning shop close by. A wedding was in process, so we did not enter.

The lobby of the Grand Floridian

The Polynesian really does a great job of giving you the impression you are in the South Pacific

In addition to the monorail, there are water craft that will take you all over the place. A "Jungle Boat" will take you to most of the resorts

The two stern wheelers carry thousands of people each day from the Transportation Center to Magic Kingdom.

The Animal Kingdom gives park goers an up-close and personal encounter with animals.

The lodge at Animal Kingdom gives the feel of African Wilderness.

The residents of Animal Kingdom Lodge can walk out on their balconies and see many different animals - all without entering the theme park area. Visitors can park for free and walk into the "back yard" area of the lodge.

The animals are of a wide variety

And include four footed and birds of all kind

The rangers bring an afternoon snack for the animals. Giraffes like to munch from the treetops.

The animals aren't the only wild life in the lodge! These drummers entertained the diners in the lodge's dining room and help convey the African "feel."

The"Downtown Disney" area is a wonderful blend of retail shops, entertainment venues and just fun places! We drove and parked (for free). But you can also come by Disney (free) buses, or by boat.

The lakes at Disney maintain the ecological balance and allow what was, at one time, a swamp, to be a highly developed commercial area. Disney was and remains decades ahead on ecological issues.

The variety of venues is remarkable. This "River Boat" is a restaurant and doesn't go anywhere!

The only boats on this lake are the "Water Taxis"

The landscaping at Disney is everywhere perfect. You expect to see Bambi and Thumper jump out at any time!

The band shell hosts a variety of emerging entertainment offerings. This chorus from a girl's high school in New Orleans presented a wonderful reprisal of the USO shows over the decades.

Toys are big at Disney! There are a number of stores where you can purchase high quality toys and games for children of all ages.

Theresa's favorite may have been the Christmas store. The 101 Dalmations surround the slightly off level fireplace.

The Lego store is very popular and was packed with kids. The displays outside show just what is possible with Legos!

You can see from the people in the background the size of the dragon - all Lego!

My favorite was the sea serpent!

The sea serpent is HUGE - all Lego! (And, fortunately, he looks friendly! :)

Doing "stuff" at Disney can be exhausting. Back to our hotel - this was the view out of our window.

This former Best Western is still very nice and has a great pool!

A little sunbathing and reading by the pool will help calm the frazzle of all that Disneying!

On a more serious note, Walt Disney World attracts literally millions of visitors each year. The Archdiocese of Orlando very early recognized the need to minister to visiting Catholics and held masses in local hotel dining rooms. Through the generosity of visitors, that venue gradually gave way to Mary Queen of the Universe - located directly across I-4 from downtown Lake Buena Vista. We visit every year and love the magnificence and beauty of this basilica.  Here Mary plays with a young Jesus.

Inside is this larger than life figure of Mother and Child.

The parking lot is frequently visited by Florida wildlife.

As we wind down our visit to Kissimmee, we reluctantly prepare to head back north. 
During the last week, we were out for a walk and went a different way from what we had walked before. We walked past several resorts and wrote the names down. Back at the condo, we searched out info on the internet. One of them, Windsor Hills is a resort complex where all of the units are owned by individuals who then, in turn, rent them to vacationers. As you might expect, the prices run over quite a wide range and we were able to find a nice 3 bedroom flat in a four story high rise that seems to meet all our needs. We've reserved 2 months next tear from mid-January to mid-March. This represents a shift in our method to date where we seldom stayed one place more than a week or two. But O Kissimmee is centrally located and will allow us to visit our friends in Florida and at teh same time become more of a part of the Corpus Christi parish and the community.
We're excited to enter this new phase of our "snowbirding" life.