Final Three!

 We are winding down here on the west coast of Florida!  

Monday we drove to my sister’s home in Punta Gorda. She and husband Spence were delighted to see us. We got caught up on family news and looked at books and photos she is working with for posterity. She was raised in my dad’s family and I was raised in my mother’s so we both know different relatives!  But we get along famously. They both have had health issues so we had lots to cover.

We left for dinner at a local BBQ bar where I got fish!  I hoped it was fresh from the ocean,  Not sure if it was but it was delicious! 

We left later than we expected to so we arrived in Fort Myers after dark. Our GPS led us right to our motel but we were stymied checking in using Register Assist computer to do so.  There is a guy on TV that tells you what to do.  Our first wrinkle was I made the reservation so he needed my DL!  So I went in and eventually got our keys spit out of the machine!  The motel was fine and breakfast was great.  We had maid service the next day so we were ok!  

Tuesday we drove to my brother’s condo that he is closing to sell this week and has bought a house in Rotunda West. So they were pretty sparse in what was not packed up yet. We sat at their dining room table with the balcony doors open with sunshine and a warm breeze enveloping us! 

For dinner we went to Bimini Bait Shack Bar where I chose tuna. Again, a good choice.  Last time we were all down for a vacation on Sanibel Island we had eaten here. We had seen each other last August at the shooting competition in Marion OH so not so much family news to share. But we enjoy visiting. Dan is probably the relative of mine Ted is closest to. 

Wednesday we visited Lee and Ira, camping folks that we have enjoyed trips with.  They lost their motorhome during Hurricane Ian and because of their age chose not to replace it.  So we are both in the same boat with no RV!

They have a very nice house in a beautiful neighborhood.  Ira can do anything and was so proud to show us how he took a three piece entertainment center to make it for a much larger TV. What a beautiful job he did!  

We went to Bahama Breeze where I had coconut shrimp. Third day to eat fish!  I wish we had more time to spend with them but Ted wanted to make Lake City by dinnertime.  We made it, stayed in an Econo Lodge, had a burger at Culver’s and turned in in time to watch Survivor!  I remember who got voted off and then nothing!

We took off about 10 o’clock. Ted has been taking NyQuil for a cold so I let him sleep until he woke up on his own.  We missed the breakfast closing time of 9:00 so somewhere in Florida we stopped at Waffle House where I was charged $7 for TWO scrambled eggs. 

We will stop somewhere in Louisiana and finish up tomorrow.  There is nothing pressing at home until Thursday so we can take our time.  I haven’t mentioned the three family members who passed away recently, all younger than me.  David Homer, Kellie Ruhe and David Reik.  They lived in Florida, Ohio and Kentucky.  Lives cut way too short.  It has been a very good 2+ weeks on the road for us but these deaths remind us to always be kind because at some point it will be the last time you speak to someone.  

A Little Bit of Everything!

 Saturday was check in day to our condo.  It has 3 ensuites upstairs with king size beds, one for each couple.  A very nice kitchen, laundry room, half bath,  double living room and huge covered patio with grill, table and couches.  Quite a nice set up.

Pat and Kelly were arriving later in the evening so Bill, Kara, Ted and I went to get pizza since we had not been to the store yet.  We all turned in pretty early.  Bill awoke with a fever and cold so stayed in their suite for 1-2 days until his fever broke.  The four of us went to church and then Kara and Pat went grocery shopping and Ted grilled burgers outside for dinner and we all sat around the table.

Monday Kara continued to cook and we had fajitas, again outside at the table.  I cut up the chicken!  I was content just settling in and pretty much being waited on.  The kids had made reservations at Yachtsman’s Steakhouse at Disney’s Yacht Club Resort to celebrate our 60th anniversary early since we were all together.  Kristin drove back and forth each day if she was going with any of us. 

 

The food was delicious and Disney provided congratulation pins, a champagne toast and chocolates for us. 

On Wednesday Bill and Kara were picking up his sister and brother in law at Coronado Springs to show them around Disney especially the Grand Floridian which is their home timeshare.  Pat had met up with Larry for lunch so Kelly, Ted and I took advantage of all the free transportation at Disney to ride around.  We parked for free at Hollywood Studios since we had Bill in our car with his DVC ID.  Kara parked their car using her ID. Nothing to sneeze at since parking is $25 per day!  

We took The Skyliner to Epcot, took a boat to The Boardwalk and then a bus to Magic Kingdom where we rode the monorail to the Grand Floridian.  It started raining so we had a snack at Gasparillo’s in the Grand Floridian waiting for the foursome to arrive for dinner at Narcoosie’s.  Marilyn and Dave were pleased we waited for their arrival to say hi before we caught a bus back to Hollywood Studios to drive home.  This is a great way to get an idea of the enormity and flavor of the park without paying $169 a day to go in!  The kids all have annual passes and go in and out frequently.  

Thursday Patrick went to St. Petersburg to kite board while Ted, Kelly and I went to see Conclave at Disney Springs.  We ate a late lunch there at the Polite Pig before heading back to the condo.  Our evening would be spent at Port Orleans Riverside Resort to see Yeehaw Bob Jackson.  This guy is a hoot!  We did the Hokey Pokey, YMCA, singing competitions with the other side of the room, etc.  So much fun!  He sure can tickle the ivories!  He gave us a shout out for celebrating our 60th anniversary.

Friday we were all home during the day.  Bill put the dash cam back in our new car, Kara did laundry and I just took it easy.  Pat and Kelly went to Universal Studios and we didn’t see them until Saturday morning.  We had gone to the dueling pianos at Jelly Rolls piano bar on the Boardwalk.  We again got a shout out for our anniversary and a song (Going to the Chapel) which was a hit in 1964.  When we sent up a request for Last Date (a ‘60s Floyd Kramer piano song) Scottie said “this has to be from Ted and Donna who are the only people in this building old enough to know it.”  He said it had not ever been requested and he had not played it in decades but he would try.  With no music and no other info, he did a beautiful job!  The later we stayed the less we knew any of the songs.  They did play Cecilia which is CeCe’s actual name so that was fun.  Big night!  I had a Peach on the Beach and Ted had 3, count them, 3 beers!

Saturday was Kelly and Pat’s departure day.  They had to pack his kite board to have Ship Sticks return it back to their Michigan home.  They were going to pick it up Tuesday at Kristin’s so they needed to stop there to drop it off before heading to the airport.  Kristin and Larry spent the day together for their anniversary so Bill spent the afternoon there waiting for Kara’s computer to be delivered needing a signature.  It had been scheduled for Friday so that put a wrench in the day!  Kara was meeting Disney friends who were all in to run the Disney Princess 5K, 10K and half marathon.  Ted and I just stayed behind helping get everyone where they needed to be.  We went to church, got gas and stopped at Olive Garden for dinner.  Bill had joined Kara at Disney and I went to bed  before they came home.  Kristin stopped by to say goodbye to us.  Everyone arrived home so all is good.  It is Sunday morning and we leave here and head to Clearwater for the theater and to spend one night before moving on to Punta Gorda and Fort Myers for some visiting.  

What a wonderful story!  Gander, Newfoundland on 9/11. Our interest was a couple we know who met there and married. They live in our town and she belongs to the same club as me. However, I was blown away at the emotional and heartwarming recollection of that fateful day.

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Look Out, Mickey!

We had a whirlwind 10 days unpacking, laundry and repacking before taking off again to Florida.  We did our regular daily routine stuff punctuated by three card games!  Both Ted and I won at the country club and he won at Mardi Gras evening. The third game was ladies only and I, again, was in the middle!

We left home Tuesday morning and drove to Pensacola. The next day enroute we were informed Kara and Bill, who are at Grand Floridian, had free tickets to Animal Kingdom Moonlight Magic free evening for DVC owners. So we had to arrive by 3:30!  Our GPS gave us a 2:15 arrival so we said OK.

We met K&B at a Hilton where they turned in their rental car and then drove them to AK to meet their friends we know, also DVC owners. 

We used our free snack tickets to get chicken pot stickers, fries, Mickey pretzel and Mickey ice cream bar. 

Up

Not a great dinner but free is free! 

We took the safari tour, a great opportunity to sit down!  Here are a few photos taken on the fly because there were no lengthy stops to take photos.  

The others had an opportunity to continue the free evening at Magic Kingdom so at we took K&B back to the Grand Floridian to catch the monorail that took them to Magic Kingdom and would take them back there at the end of their evening.  

We arrived at Kristin’s afterwards.  Longgggg day!  We rested up on Thursday after our two days of driving. 

On Friday I had agreed to help Kristin and her friend with a second grade Valentine’s Day party.  It went pretty well. This was a Title One school and only two children had ever had a Happy Meal!  Then they were supposed to take a pack of Valentines and address them to the other children. Didn’t work too well. But the decorating paper bags to receive Valentines was a big, messy hit!  We had gift bags for each child plus a decorated cupcake and a heart shaped cookie at the end of the day!  Whew!  Kristin’s FitBit told her to take it easy the next day. I was pooped. I tried keeping the decorations for the bag decorating centralized and picked up trash!  My attempt at decorating ideas!

Ted and Larry went to lunch and had a nice time. Ted cooked filets for our Valentine’s dinner and Larry’s sister joined us. I went to bed early!

A Lost Week and a Vacation Week

Both of my “card parties” went well.  My refreshments were well received by the participants.  There  were some leftovers but not too much. 

We  had a quiet rest of the week until the unlikely happened ..  Snow!   We got a few inches and the whole area shut down.

 We had decided to get a pizza for dinner and Jet’s was closed. So was Chik Fila, Whataburger, Dominio’s and two others!  Finally Subway was open!  It stayed that way for about 3 days. Ted said nothing was open but H-E-B and the roads were empty. By the third day our snow was gone. 

We are on our way home now from the Rio Grande Valley so whatever happened before we left on 1/26 is not making it into the book!

We drove down Sunday a week ago with no problems and made our way to McAllen, meeting Tom and Eileen at Cheddars, then moving on to BJ because of the crowd.  Then we went together to the condo we rented together.  It was not the Ritz but roomy, clean and comfortable!  We both had our own bed and bath plus kitchen, dining room and living room.  Then began the learning curve.  Front gate needed a card that was in a lock box.  It didn’t work so we tried the code provided and it did so we put the card back in the box.  The condo lock was a number plus my phone number, we’re in!

We gave the king bed suite to them and took the queen room with the hall bath right next door.  There was a LR with couch and loveseat and big TV.  It was necessary to stream our own subscriptions which is very common anymore.  Of course it was a learning curve.  We have Prime, BritBox, Netflix, Masterpiece Theater and Xfinity Streaming but signed up for a trial week of Paramount so they could watch football.  I canceled it Saturday night.  I am not sure just what we did but eventually found what we were looking for!  But I can’t explain step by step, more like trial and error! 

We went over to Mexico three days, had lunch with a Retama neighbor one day, shopped a bit, walked a lot in the flea market only to buy some tomatoes and vanilla, visited the gift shop at Our Lady of the San Juan Valley Basilica.  We went to a mariachi Mass there on Saturday night.  This is the only photo I took all week, the outside tower of the basilica.  

We ate lunch out and had breakfast in and snacks in the evening,  Only glasses, cups and silverware made it into the dishwasher.  We just didn’t use any dishes!

We went to three shows while there and we certainly picked really good ones.  They are moving away from just country western vocalists and bands.  We saw an illusionist (magician) who was very entertaining!  Next was a ventriloquist, also very good with lots of laughs.  I learned a new curse word toro poo poo.  

Last night was a Las Vegas lounge singer who worked the crowd really well.  He had a moving salute to veterans and our country. We were one of 5 couples invited to dance to honor 59+ years of marriage. I even won a $5 Chili gift card!  A great end to a memorable week.  

We are less than an hour from home and have less than two weeks before leaving again.  

Happy Groundhog Day!

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