The hurrier I go the behinder I get!

Three weeks since our last post. Time is flying. Friends are returning home, the Atlanta Braves Spring Training is nearly over, we've had guests visit and toss in a healthy dose of work shifts. There, I've have all my excuses out of the way.

Jim and Judy left two weeks ago but not to go home. They headed to Colorado for several weeks of skiing with the family. Do ya think they would've selected a warmer place. Considering they left here it was in the eighties, they hit the mountains with snow and winter clothes. Today just before we headed to Winter Garden for our next to last "organized" bike ride, Joan told us of the phone call she received from Judy and Jim. If you can believe this, they were sitting outside with light clothes enjoying the warm temps (mid 60's). Sure, they'll come up with anything to stave off the guilt of leaving! Kidding aside, they're having an awesome time and sharing it with their family and everyone here wishes them well and miss them.

Our biking friend Jack, had never been to Sweet Tomatoes so we headed there for lunch. To kill some time, I asked Jack if he has ever toured Dinsey's Animal Kingdon Lodge. Having never seen it he thought that would be a great take. So off we went. We were treated to a very special surprise. It just so happened to be feeding time and they brought some very special guests up close to the resort viewing area....

That turned out to be a great "spirit of the moment" experience.

Pat and I enjoyed a couple days with our friends Ed and Sandy. We visited the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex. Ed works for the New England Patriots so he felt right at home at the Sports complex.

They got to see another side of "Mickey."

From there we headed over to the Animal Kingdom Lodge.

Although our time together was brief we had a great time. We hope to connect with them in Massachusetts this summer.

Then, our best friends, George and Judy flew in for a week. Just off the plane and heading home we talked them into eating at the "Earl of Sandwich" in DownTown Disney. (I think they got the idea right then and there they were in for a busy week!)

We spent a day at the Magic Kingdom and it was hot. The sun zapped every one's energy so we backed it down a notch and simply kicked back and enjoyed each other's company. While visiting the Magic Kingdom, you'll never guess where we had lunch... at the Wave. And, you'll never guess what we had for lunch... Reuben, Reuben..... oh you've heard that before!

We did drag our "gang" to EPCOT however. (That is George and Judy, Bill and Angela, Buzz and Darlene and Pat and I.) We made a bee-line to "Soarin."

They loved it! We used Darlene's special "Fast Pass" and got to ride two times that day.

We didn't do everything but we spent nearly the entire day there eventually closing the park with the "Illuminations, Reflections of Earth" finale.

Believe it or not I didn't take a lot of photos while they were here, George did.

The parks were packed. Spring Break was in full swing. I ended up working a few of the days they were here so Pat became their "tour guide" and they had a great time.

We're looking forward to their return in the future but we'll be sure to pick a less busy time of the year.

Working at Wide World of Sports for the Braves Spring Training has cut in to our weekly bike rides for me. Well  I made it today.

It turns out that Pete announced that next week will be the last "organized" bike ride. (I guess after that we'll just have to have "disorganized" bike rides!)

Our group, dressed in uniform, formed up at the Winter Garden parking lot for the last time this season to ride the West Orange Trail.

We reserved twenty-five seats at the Winter Garden Pizza Company and headed out.

Here's a "stitched" photo of all of us at our "pit stop"...

(Hint, if you click on it you can view it larger. Also, if you're really good, can you pick out who made it into the photo two times!)

(While taking the photo, one of our members walked into another frame of the picture.

I'll give you the answer in my next post.)

We enjoyed a relaxed lunch and bid farewell to Ray and Rose who will be headed out in a few days.

I guess its that time of the year. Lately, it seems the topic of conversation is more and more about the dates our friends will be packing up and heading for home... and less about making plans to go here or there and where to have lunch!

We're heading into the beginning of the annual "snowbird" migration....

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"Wagon's Hooooooooo!"

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But I don't want to leave!

Listen, do you hear it? The faint sighs and tentative sniffles of a few of our friends actually talking about heading north! Take for example, Jim and Judy. In less than a week they're headed to Colorado to go (are you ready for this) skiing! They'll be driving so they'll get to see the seasons change on a daily basis. Talk about going from one extreme to another.

Then last week we mentioned Ray and Rose bought a new home just down the street from Lake Magic Resort, and they're talking about heading north as well. Around the camp ground you hear others already setting dates to return home. Geesh, it was just yesterday that everyone settled in for the winter!

But have no fear. Things are going along nicely in spite of those few making plans to leave. The Atlanta Braves are here for Spring Training, school vacations will mean more visitors and the EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival will be in full swing tomorrow. http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/parks/epcot/special-events/epcot-international-flower-and-garden-festival/ We can look forward to the Flower Power Concert Series. We'll all miss Davey Jones this year.

However, we did a few things this past week to talk about. Pat and I got to see a few characters "hangin' around...

Leave it to the Disney "Imagineers" to make you look up at the ceilings inside Disney University.

It was a great morning to walk around the Magic Kingdom. It was March 1st and we think most of the people who (literally) spent the night (Feb. 29th, 24 hours of Magic Kingdom) had enough.

From there we picked up Bill (Angela had to work) and we headed to one of our (other) favorite lunch stops, The Earl of Sandwich. This was Bill's first time this year for him to enjoy one of his favorite sandwiches at The Earl of Sandwich. (Don't ya hate it when work gets in the way of your retirement!)

Before leaving to see if we can connect with Angela over at ESPN Wide World of Sports, we stopped in to see the resident baseball bat maker at Team Disney (and our free Ghirardelli chocolate sample). We were impressed with his talent. So wasn't this little boy. When the bat was finished he brought it out for us to see and I think it make this kid's day.

We did bump into Angela and she told us about these "giant" multi-legged insects she had to walk around as she did her rounds. Oh they were dead. Angela says she can clean-up just about anything, but she doesn't do bugs!

Then it was time for another Palm Tree Biker Social!

Once again we headed to Jim and Judy's site and Larry set up the "Corn-hole" game.

Larry coerced some of the attendees to try their hand at tossing the bean bags in competition.

Rather than write out all the specifics, I'm going to let the photos tell the story....

Remember, they say a picture is worth a thousand word. Here are a couple of photos of the winners....

First, Larry's "winners dance" worth a thousand words.....

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Then, Peter's "winners dance" also worth a thousand words...

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and finally, this stitched photo says it all...

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We ate so many goodies, Monday couldn't come fast enough so we can burn off our "guilt!"

I know, this picture looks like all the others we've taken on the West Orange Trail.

So, how's this one....

Thank you Kathy and Joepy!

....of course the guys have to solve all the "world's problems."

Then, it's off to Killarny Station...

...and the obligatory rest!

Then we got to watch Ed install  his new handle bar bag...

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...and install...

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...and install...

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...and work at it he did. 

One of our fellow riders was the first to come to Ed's aid. Bill and I almost got up to add our two cents and four hands!

(It's a good thing there were only two straps holding the bag on.)

Everyone made it back albeit some of us were more than close to our limit of the ride! Of course we headed for lunch and, no no one had any trouble making it to lunch. It's that burst of energy you get when you know you're headed for something you really enjoy.

Along the way I spied our friend the Osprey who nests in the water tower. You may remember this fine feathered friend from an older blog. Well, this time our friend gave us a striking pose.....

Yep, that's him (or her) on the fence of the water tower.

Here's a better look....

Awesome!

Then of course, lunch!

Twenty-eight of us took over the "back room" and two large booths of the Winter Garden Pizza Company.

And that's how our week has been. 

It's no wonder time is flying by!

Let's leave you with this....

...the most expensive bicycle...

You can read more about this $500,000 bike and a few others at: http://most-expensive.net/bicycle