A fun end to a fantastic week!

One more park and a show. We saved Disney's Magic Kingdom for last. Bill was off work and Ashley was looking forward to sharing a couple of rides with someone at the Magic Kingdom and Bill was up to the task. First stop, "Space Mountain!"

Ashley was calm and showed little emotion as she and "Pa" prepared for "blast off" on "Space Mountain."

She had to go for another ride on this Disney classic later in the afternoon.

"Pirates of the Caribbean" was next. Then....

"Splash Mountain!"

a little quiet conversation and then....

(Pardon the quality of the photo, this is a blow-up of the original photo.)

I think you get the picture, Ashley's so quiet and reserved!

Then we headed for...

The show was better than ever!

Now, it's time for a nap!

Tomorrow is a day of rest and an Easter dinner put together by Pat, Angela, Darlene and Ashley. After our dinner gathering we'll all attend an Easter service together for a most fitting way to wind down an outstanding week for all of us. Ashley returns to Azuza Pacific University in CA early Sunday morning.

Well its here, the last full day with Ashley. We relaxed and planned a great Easter dinner. We had everyone over and (kinda) surprised Ashley with a birthday cake!

It was yummy!

Of course we had to take the obligatory group photo!

FIRST TAKE...

Funny! Ha ha!

SECOND TAKE...

Funny! Ha ha ha!!! NOW LETS TRY THIS AGAIN!

FINALLY!

What a week! Lots of fun, great get-togethers and great times together!

In the morning Ashley flies back to Azuza for exams and then home to MA.

God speed Ashley! Thank you for visiting with all of us and for sharing so many wonderful moments with us.

We returned from an Easter service and were blessed with another view of God's "art work."

What a fitting way to top off this outstanding week!

A week to share with a special visitor!

No bike ride this week! Our few remaining members were either working or didn't want to ride so we took a day off. This is also the week that our Greatneice, Ashley visited with us. Ashley is Bill and Angela's Granddaughter. Ashley flew in from Azuza Pacific University in California to be with us for this week. Just before Ashley arrived, another Greatneice, Sara, was competing in a chorus group in the area. Sara is also Bill and Angela's Granddaughter. We caught up with Sara during a visit to Downtown Disney.

Even though it was a brief visit, it was wonderful getting to see Sara. She looks terrific and a lot taller than when Pat and I last saw her! Later that evening, Bill and Angela got to watch Sara and her chorus sing in their competition.

So far the week is blistering by. Each day (as you'll see) we did a bunch of things and Ashley also got to sleep-in (typical college kid)! Fear not, we weren't going to let late morning risers put a crimp in our plans.

Ashley arrived just after eleven at night and seeing she was on CA time, a 1:00am stop at Denny's was no problem. Angela and Bill, Buzz and Darlene, Ashley and Pat and I (the only ones in Denny's) had a "meet and greet" in the wee hours of the morning.

The next day Ashley, who wanted so badly to be in a warmer climate, got her wish. Temps got into the 90's most days. Sun Bloc became part of the morning ritual. Off we went....

First, Disney's Animal Kingdom...

"Festival of the Lion King" was first!

We just had to have a close-up of Ashley with "De Vine!"

We had to see how the animals spend their time at the "Kingdom!"

Then we headed out for a Safari.

They too seemed to be in a kinda "kicked back" mood.

As you might expect, the animals were taking it easy in the heat of the afternoon. However, we did get to see quite a variety of them.

Then it was off to EPCOT...

Ashley offered to assist Darlene as we toured some of the attractions.

A kid at heart, Ashley couldn't resist the water fountains or a chance to "hang" with some of her Disney friends...

Or act silly (at Darlene's expense)!

We all got to see Juice Newton. (Although, Ms. Newton didn't do much for Ashley!)

However, Ashley did like...

"Off Kilter"

and

"The British Invasion!"

The next day, Disney's Hollywood Studios...

first off we took in the Indiana Jones Stunt Show and waited for the Pixar Pals Parade where she got to "meet n greet" "Al" from "UP!"

Then an art class where we all got to draw Eeyore.

Ashley opted for the "Beauty and The Beast" Show over Lights, Motors, Action.

While watching the show, Ashley began to fidget in  her chair. All of a sudden she burst toward the stage! She couldn't contain herself and just had to be a part of the show. She began dancing along with the performers....

Her style was somewhat unorthodox to say the least. However, she had a great time... plus we all had to depart in a hurry!

Next, some fun with "Mulch, Sweat and Shears!"

The band has a great deal of fun, most of it at the expense of the audience. As you can see here they really get the guests to take part in the show.

Above, the band Manager, Morris tried in vain to enlist Ashley to the "stage!" That didn't happen!

We moved on. Ashley got to "High four" one of the Disney Characters.

Take time for a few photo ops...

... and head out.

Next up, DownTown Disney.

We had all we could do to get her off the bike!

That is, until we noticed the new Legos displays in front of the newly refurbished Lego store.

Of course, between all of these "adventures" we hit our favorite lunch spots!

Our time with Ashley is flying. We're saving the best for last; the Magic Kingdom and Cirque du Soleil. All that on Friday! Yikes!

The beat goes on!

Our last "official" bike ride came and went. The West Orange trail, thankfully shady for the hot day, seemed most fitting for a hand full of our members. Their spirits high they made their way past the animal preserve, over the wire covered bridge that crosses the Florida Turnpike and on to Kilarney Station. The bittersweet ten mile trek seemed just a bit more somber. The riders would gaze around every now and then as if to mentally fill-in our missing rider spots in line. Even lunch seemed different. The Winter Garden Pizza Company welcomed us as usual but our lunch seemed quieter than our normal boisterous sittings. Every now and then we thought we can almost hear the voices of our missing members for we know they are with us in spirit. "But friendship is precious, not only in the shade, but in the sunshine of life; and thanks to a benevolent arrangement of things, the greater part of life is sunshine." Thomas Jefferson

A couple of our friends and Palm Tree Bikers celebrated their birthdays...

Darlene and Jim shared a birthday cake which made for a great get-together.

You'll notice a few of our Palm Tree Bikers taking part in the celebration.

We even held our own "all male speaker's corner" not unlike the routine early morning "meeting of the minds" that takes place every morning through the season in the clubhouse!

We didn't solve a whole lot of worldly issues but we sure ate a lot of great carrot cake and cupcakes made by Marti (Jim's wife)!

Jim and Darlene had a great day filled with lots of laughs and friendship.

Jack and I got to finish the refurbishment of his decals on his camper.

 We replaced just the mountains/sun decals using spray paint and a palm tree stencil on the front, side and rear of his camper. It was Jack's idea for the addition of the palm trees.

Well, the end of April is coming quickly and we're going to make the best of it. Work at Disney will wind down for all of us in another few weeks or so. I guess all that's left to do is make the best of it....

We're going to Disney World!

Next to the last ride!

We manage to hit the trail for another day today. Next week will be the (sniffle) last "official" bike ride... and I've gotta work! Well, we had a terrific ride today. Ten of us, all in "blue" for the first time by the way, gathered for a breezy ride around Celebration and a lunch at the Town Tavern.

We saddled up and took a moment to pause and consider the reality of this ride...

The comfortably dry morning was "frosting on the cake." Our pace seemed a bit more reserved and somewhat somber. We made our way toward the hospital for a group photo where once our large group stood.

Thanks to a passerby, even yours truly made the photo. But, compare the above photo to the photo below...

Ah, what a difference.

Our stop at the Hospital was somewhat unusual this ride. This time, we visited one of ourown Palm Tree Biker members who is in the hospital for some tests.

Sandy (of Bill and Sandy) were surprised and elated to see our blue tees and smiling faces as we bounded into her room unanounced. Yeah, we got lots of looks as we traversed the corridors on our way to Sandy's room. She is in great spirits but really wants out of the hospital, Bill keeps talking about doing a wash! (Something to do with Bill touching the washing machine that gets Sandy a little nervous!) We wish Sandy well and hope to see her and Bill back in the saddle next year.

On with our ride.

We just had to stop in the middle of one of our favorite sections of the Celebration ride, the wooden pathway. Of course we just had to stop for the photo just when one of Florida's Cottonmouths was crossing the pathway. At least he posed for the photo! I know we search the woods and lakes for signs of wild life but this is too much. Never let it be said that the Palm Tree Bikers aren't fearless!

Pete (reluctantly) allowed yours truly to lead out of the woods and even onto the street. He knew I couldn't mess up on the wooden "fenced" trail! I repeatedly tried to get Pete back to the lead position but to no avail. He was going to let me "flounder" along and see if I could get our group back to the Town Tavern in time for our noon reservation. Have no fear, with a few corrections from Pete and a few riders I left in the dust we made it back in time for lunch.

Oh and what a lunch it was. Steve made only one mistake (besides the fall he took stepping out of his camper hurting his ankle), he sat next to me. Steve can converse with the best of them and on any topic, but sometimes you just gotta consider whom you're sitting next to! I promised Steve I'd be civil and not "take him over the coals" in our blog... but, I'm surly tempted... but I'll be good! We all had a few laughs at Steve's expense. I'll let him tell you the story.

In other news we got to visit EPCOT and check out the under-d-sea creatures....

These two kids clams never new what hit them when the flash went off!

We saw some sand art...

and a few fireworks...

Then, I got to help Jack with his camper decals....

and to top off the day, I was blessed with the opportunity to photograph a beautiful sunset...

What a fantastic way to close out the 2010-11 winter season!