The "Palm Tree Bikers" are back!

Our eager but tiny group of "early (snow) birds" headed for Fort Wilderness. I believe our leader, Pete felt it best to kick off the 2011-12 season with a lunch at "The Wave" for our... NO, I'm not going to say it! No way, I'm not going to say it! Pete and Joan, Judy and Jim, Steve and Pat and I met up in the Fort Wilderness parking lot to dust off the cob-webs from our bikes and stretch our legs.

Dressed in our "uniform", except for the "rebels," we headed out.

As usual we headed to our "pit stop" in preparation for our first ride.

It might have been the cooler temps or our first time venturing out but Pete led us at a blistering 5-7mph tour of the campground. Actually, the pace made for a pleasant ride and great observing of some of the Halloween decked out campsites.

...this is ONE site! The campers picked a huge corner lot and unloaded their 14 plastic storage bins from the back of their car and voila! The couple said they love doing it and have a great time meeting all the people dropping by to see it.

We made our usual stop at the "Trading Post."

Pete kept mumbling something about a "golf cart parade." He had the Manager calling the "hot line" and the Corporate Office to find out about the parade! He managed to get the cashier to go on the web to find out about it in case the Manager couldn't. Once that crisis was handled to Pete's satisfaction we hit the road... after we were escorted out of the Trading Post!

We weaved through the campground as we made our way to the boat dock for lunch. Nope, I'm NOT going to say it! Our bike ride belied the stiff wind that awaited us on the boat ride, but our "ever the delightful" boat Captain, Daryle (not) entertained us and got us to our destination at the Contemporary Resort and "The Wave." Nope, I'm not going to say it!!!

At the top of the ramp leading into the restaurant, our friend and super hostess, Betty caught sight of us and had to come out from behind the desk to greet all of us. Betty met us with hugs and lots of laughs.

First off, Betty felt she needed to remove her name tag and equalize our party by partnering with Steve for lunch!

Betty wanted to make sure I got into the photo.

Of course, Betty also wanted her fellow Hostess, Mel to get into the photo as well!

We'd all have to agree, The Wave has become a special and favorite lunch stop for all of us. We have a great deal of fun with the staff. Just about all of the staff know of the "biker" group and they look forward to serving us. Lunch was excellent.

We hit the dock and made sure we boarded the other boat. (Not Daryle's.) Due to our "relaxed" ride before lunch, we picked up the pace... 8 to 10 mph! We completed just over 10 miles and we were all thankful we went the distance. Except for Steve who made a "bee-line" to EPCOT for a food tasting at the "Food and Wine Festival," I think there might have been more than a couple "naps" in order.

By the way, after lunch Steve was still trying to find a GPS satellite.

Reuben!

Ahhhhhhh, that's better!



Wagon's ho!

Time to pack up the "wagons," punch in the GPS coordinates for Lake Magic and head south! Several "snowbirds" have already started "nesting" at Lake Magic. We've also heard from several of our Palm Tree Bikers that mid October is their planned arrival.
We've visited a few of our regular haunts and got to take care of some minor house chores before we get into the hustle-bustle when all of you return. Pat and I got a super welcome from our super Hostess, Betty, at the Wave and she asked when all of our Palm Tree Bikers will be returning. Yes, the Ruben was excellent!

We headed for Animal Kingdom and took in a show...

The Festival of the Lion King is always a good take.

Then we did something we always talked about with Buzz (of Darlene and Buzz), to go to the big Gun Show they have down here.

Talk about firearm "overload." We couldn't believe how big this show is. Florida has a huge gun show just about every month. This show was held at the Central Florida Fairgrounds located in the Pine Hills section of Orlando, just about 25 miles from Lake Magic. Pat and I attended several Florida Winnebago Rallies there so we were very familiar with the location and set-up. This show filled the entire huge pavilion building another good sized building and the fairgrounds road between them. Amazing!

Never having attended one of these shows it turned out to be really fascinating. People were carrying guns every where. People bring their guns in to either trade or sell. Before someone carrying a gun could enter a building the FL Highway Patrol checked for a firearm and ammo. The people were allowed to enter after the firearm was "secured" with a wire tie through the barrel or cylinder.We saw more than a few guys walking around with their rifles on their shoulder with "for sale" signs on them. If any attendees were carrying a gun case, the vendors would approach them and inquire about a trade or sale. Even if your not a gun enthusiast there was a lot to see and a great mix of people, men and women and Dads with their kids. Some of the collectible firearms were really fine examples of workmanship.

But, this is what we left with....

a photo of this....

My back was hurting me just looking at this thing!

I also made it a point to get back to woodcarving this year. Between relocating, settling in and working, last year is a blur. All I did was put my carving kit on a shelve and there it sat. I used the excuse that I was used to carving outside the motorhome so I didn't have to deal with dust and chips. Well, after "surfing" Woodcarving Illustrated I put together a vacuum system that allows me to carve with minimal dust.

A silent vacuum system...

The Blower is fastened to the stool and the lapboard sets on my lap. I carve directly over the opening and voila, no dust. Its configured so that I can secure the lapboard to the legs on one side of the stool making is easily portable. Now I don't have an excuse.

You guys gotta get down here so we can get back into the swing of things because this is how were getting down here....