Yes, the day was much warmer and Jim and Judy set up the picnic tables in the shade making for a most comfortable afternoon.
The Activities Director Larry, pulled out all the stops this time. I mean all the games he had in his camper bays. Below, Bocce Ball took up most of the site.
Who would've thought bean bag toss would be so popular?
We enjoyed a perfect day with lots of excellent food and awesome conversations.
The afternoon went on much longer than most of our get-togethers. Some even hung in there until the lights came on.
There, I feel better now!
Off to the West Orange Trail for the last "official" ride of the 2014-15 season.
Weather was perfect and everyone meant business. Many of our riders are packing and heading out over the next two weeks. However, some of us "hangers-on" are still planning a ride or two before we call it a season.
We get our thoughts together, and plan our lunch reservations. About half went to the old stand-by the Winter Garden Pizza Company and the rest have taken to the newer restaurant the Al Fresco, http://www.alfrescowintergarden.com/
It sounds pretty good we'll give it a try some time.
You may recall the Bald Eagle family in the tree along the trail watching over their chicks a few blog posts ago. Well, this is one of their chicks! The fledgling was patiently waiting for Mom or Dad to return with some food which gave us a chance to see him/her out of the nest.
Some of our riders sure make it look like they've been on the trail for a long time!
Pete was kickin' back this ride. He let Jim take the helm.
Here's a map of the West Orange Trail. You can make a day of it if you really want to tack some miles onto your routine.
Above you can see how long the trail is.
Below you can see how much of it we ride!
(From black dot to black dot.)
On our return leg, the fledgling was still "hanging out" waiting...
Then, just as we neared the center of town a hawk flew by just ahead of us and we couldn't resist trying to see what he had in his talons. It appeared to be (as Bill surmised) a mouse. Just as the hawk was to enjoy a tasty nibble another hawk bumped him on the wire and knocked his lunch out of his feet. It all happened so fast I couldn't catch the action.
It's safe to say this picture just about says it all as he watched the other hawk fly away with his lunch!
Speaking of lunch....
And, that just about says it all.
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Although, there is one thing left to say.
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You better think twice before you let my mistakes float around in cyberspace again without letting me know about them in short order!
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In other news!
Bill and Angela and Pat and I were heading to Downtown Disney for an evening and when we arrived to pick them up we couldn't help notice a group of campers gathering around something on the ground. It turns out this little critter (a Florida softshell turtle) was trying to make his way toward only it knows where. We think he was overheated from being on the pavement and out of water for a long period of time. There's no water in the area for him to cool off. Bill dumped some water on it and he stood up on all fours. Eventually, another camper put it in a box and brought him to water.
We all marveled at the massive amount of construction taking place at DownTown.
There are many musicians throughout the grounds and we had to listen to a few of Nicholas Marks' fantastic guitar renditions of various songs.
Then, I finally caught Lilly in action... as she destroyed "Rudy!"
At first I noticed just a couple of "puffs" of "Rudy" on the carpet but when I bent over and checked out under the table, there it was, the evidence!
She can't help herself. She latches onto a tiny filament of thread and before you know it Pat's stitching it back together again.
Although, Pat is giving up saving all her toys. We're getting down to but one or two now thanks to her destructive ways.
What did you do?
She even took it out from under the table so she could show me how she does it!
Fortunately, "Rudy" has two heads! We decided to remove the chewed one and let her chew on the rope instead.
Oh well, this May we'll be celebrating her second birthday.....
we hope we'll have seen the last of the "terrible twos" by then!
