What'cha doin'?

Here in Indiana we're going all out! Yep, up in the morning, head over to Buzz and Darlene's and  sit down to....

... watch our daily marathon of the Casey Anthony trial from Florida.

Since we arrived here in IN Pat and I get up in the morning and head for Buzz and Darlene's house for our daily dose of this sadly profound drama. Except for taking "Winston" out for a walk the four of us become "couch potatoes" from dawn to dusk. (We have to include the expert commentaries that follow the trial each evening.)

Fortunately, Buzz enjoys three days a week of shuffleboard with his friends and I felt the need to tag along today. Although, I might have been better off staying with Pat and Darlene today.

Buzz' friends are a wonderful mix of friendly folks. Today, after a hiatus due to health issues, their friend and long time shuffleboard player, Eula showed up to play. Eula is a sweet little lady who just happens to be 96 years young. Bill (of Bill and Angela) got to meet Eula last year and he knows well of what I speak. But don't let this sweet demeanor (and poor vision) fool you, this little lady is a "viper" on the court. Hardly able to see the other end of the court, Eula, in her typically sweet manner, asks, "is it good?" Being polite and always willing to be nice to Eula, we all tell her which puck is good and where they are on the shuffleboard triangle. Now, me being her opponent, graciously (albeit reluctantly) tell her the status of the pucks at the other end. She then proceeds to either clear my pucks off the score or into the "kitchen!"

Buzz' shuffleboard group made plans to play early this Monday to beat the heat and Eula said she'll be

playing. I think I'll be staying with Pat and Darlene and watch more TV!

You know we're not too active when Buzz has to look for things to do. Buzz thought he'd do a good deed and remove a few things that have been hanging around his rental properties. He loaded up his Ford King Ranch and turned his typically spotless truck into a "Clampert" mobile! Buzz pulled his hat down over his ears and actually drove his fine (and embarrassed) pride and joy to the scrap yard.

I'm sure (GMC lover) Bill can appreciate seeing Buzz' Ford in such a... well... demeaning predicament...

(These pitiful photos had to be taken without Buzz or his Ford's acknowledgement.)

I'll leave you with another "blast from the past."

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Ladies and Gentlemen, the real "Easy rider!"

Ray is one of our "Palm Tree Bikers" ride leaders! We have to keep reminding him that he cannot use this bike on our rides.

Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore!

Actually, we're in Indiana. We thought we'd take several days for the trip but once we hit the road we just plugged along with a stop-over at rest area 38 in TN. We pulled into the Walnut Ridge Campground two days early and before the office closed for the day.

We headed to Buzz and Darlene's house that evening. Darlene is doing very well and Buzz works on his shuffleboard game nearly three days a week. Be ready Lake Magic Resort players. Buzz plays on courts that are racked by years of harsh winter freezes, so Buzz can really play the "angles!"

We're enjoying our stay with Buzz and Darlene at the Walnut Ridge Campground five miles away from their home.

The campground is surrounded by picturesque corn fields and just far enough from the main roads to make for a really quiet stay. The only catch is that the campground is missing a few amenities. Something I never expected is that there are NO sewer hook-ups in the entire campground. They supply a "blue tote" for transients. Now this is an experience I'm not used to... dragging a plastic blue "honey" wagon to the dump-out every few days. The campground's WI-FI is restricted to the Office building and the signal barely reaches outside the building where there are a few seats outside. Here's something we never expected, they charge a $2.50 fee per person, per day to use the pool! According to the staff other campgrounds in the area charge for pool usage. I hear it has something to do with the up-keep due to the harsh winters up here.

All in all the campground is serving our needs just fine as most of our time is spent at Buzz and Darlene's.

Well, Gnorm finally had an accident. Actually, I caused the accident. After traveling across the country and back down to FL without any issues, while setting up our camper, I knocked Gnorm over and he hit his head on the edge of the brake pedal.

Ouch!

Gnorm underwent his "surgery" in commanding style.

What a trouper! Gnorm never lost his cool and is as good as new...

We just had to promise to take Gnorm on some of our excursions while we're away from home.

Aside from Gnorm's traumatic experience we have been glued to TV following the Orlando, FL "Casey Anthony" trial. We're finding ourselves getting frustrated by the way this trial has drawn us in. The trial began just before we left on our trip and to beat the heat of the afternoon we ended up watching this spectacle.

Unlike FL, the weather here in IN has been a welcome change. Variable temps, rain and some severe weather has been our experience so far.

We miss all our favorite eating venues. It's forcing us to eat in which might not a bad thing!

Let's tweak your memories again....

Till next time!

...these are a few of my favorite things!

Hi Everyone,
I know, what's up with the Blog! Well, we've been making ready to explore. We'll be heading north for some travel and to get out of the 90' temperatures. I'll keep our blog up as we visit with some friends and take in a couple of states in the north.

We got to visit with our friends Cathy, Don and Anne for a day. Cathy is Pats best and long time friend and Don is married to Anne. Anne is Cathy's sister. Don is a Floridian and when he married Anne they moved to New England to raise their four children and establish his Dental Lab. After putting their kids through college and kicked (oops) sent them out on their own Don longed to return to Florida to downsize and enjoy all they've worked for. Besides being good friends, Pat and I got to assist Don and Anne on occasion with their Competition BBQ contests. As many of us do as we age, we take those "forks in the road" so we can enjoy our "golden years." So Don finally got his "toy!"

What a trip! Here in FL you get to ride these hot rods sans mufflers! Nice!

To top it of the power plant is a 454 Big Block!

Ah to be a kid again!

After a "kickin'" ride we hopped into our Toyota and purrrred off! (Where's the fun in that!)

Oh, our good ole friend and travel companion, the one and only, "Gnorm the Gnome" is coming with us.

Those of you who faithfully followed Gnorm as our travel companion, came to be more interested in his adventures than ours. I hope those of you who do not know Gnorm will come to enjoy this "publicity hound" as others have.

So, now is the time to "rub it in" to all our "fair weather (winter) friends. Here is a little reminder of....

.....a few of OUR favorite things.......

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(I added the "Earl of Sandwich" because I'm sure most of you enjoy their sandwiches!)

See you on the road!

Our Blog continues!

Yes, in spite of the heat, (and all of you deserting us) the "beat goes on!"

I'd like to welcome two new "Blog Friends" to our list. Jane and Dennis winter here and work at Disney's ESPN Wide World of Sports. They're also interested in joining us for a few of our bike rides next year! Welcome aboard Jane and Dennis! Be aware that once you are on our "Blog Friends" List you run the risk of finding yourselves (whether you want to or not) part of our Blog... literally!

With a little begging and pleading my case I managed to secure an "ER" (Early Release) to ensure Pat and I got to see the very last show and entertainer of the "Flower Power" Concert series at EPCOT.  Peter Noone and Herman's Hermits put on an outstanding show!

Peter and Herman's Hermits kept us moving in our seats and clamoring for more. He sang all the favorites and had us laughing between songs. Thanks to my Managers, Kevin and Jeremy, Pat and I had a great evening and topped it off with Sweet Almond Pretzels in "Norway" and another fantastic "Illuminations: Reflections of Earth" fireworks display.

SEE WHAT YOU'RE ALL MISSING!

Low and behold we had another day off! Animal Kingdom was the Park of the day. Naturally, a good walk-about and the "Festival of the Lion King" made for a great spot to get out of the heat.

Now, you all know that I'm keeping my eyes peeled for any suspect critter that crosses our path. So, wouldn't you know it, while watching the monkeys climbing in their habitat, I spied this critter making its way toward us in the mote around the Animal Kingdom monkey habitat!!

Fear not "bravehearts!" After checking the "Florida Backyard Snakes" website and conferring with Daniel (the site owner) I was able to confirm that this little guy is a non-venomous Florida Banded Watersnake.

I'm kinda getting into this "critter discovery" thing!

You guys haven't been gone so long that you forget what a Hot-Air Balloon is right? Well, the other morning while taking out the trash I was greeted with a rush of high pressure gas very close by and looked just across the pond in front of our house and this is what I saw.....

The pilot was doing some rather fine "contour" flying over the trees and our houses. We talked back and forth and they dropped some of their pamphlets. Now that was pretty cool!

Today just so happens to be my last day off before my last five days to work! What do you think we did?

Of course, we went out for lunch! Well Jack, ("Just Jack" that is) we just had to try......

Yep,  you guessed it....

The food was very good. (Jack, sitting outside in 95' just didn't seem like fun!) We didn't try any of their specialty drinks or dishes. We went for the Burger and fried chicken Sliders! They were tasty and more than we needed to eat. Oh, and by the way, Sweet Tomatoes (right next door) just opened as well! YUM!

Don't worry, we'll leave plenty of food for all of you!

This will make you think twice about leaving us again!

Are you ready?.....
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 I'm sure you all know what this is......do I have to say it??????
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Alright.... "Reuben, Reuben, Reuben!"



...................... and it was delicious!!!

Oh, and Betty says "hi" to all of you!

Anybody there?

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Hello................Hellooooooo.................Helloooooooo!
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Is there an echo in here? HEY! Where are you guys?????
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Hmmmm, lets look over here....

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Maybe over here...

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Maybe here....

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Here???



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Darn, how 'bout here....

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Man, we've gotta go somewhere there's people we know!

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We know this guy from "Off Kilter"...

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Oh, and most everyone knows this guy from the Monkeys!

Whew! For a minute there we thought we were all alone down here!

Puppies left alone!

No, this isn't a story about "puppies!" Although, after watching everyone head for home recently Pat and I have a good idea of what it feels like. A few days ago we said farewell to Bill and Angela and later that morning we escorted Buzz and Darlene North on 27 as they too headed for home! Another good analogy of our morning on that day is to picture the last scene (after the credits) of "Finding Nemo." The scene where all of the Dentist Office Aquarium fish made their "escape." They're floating on the water in the bay, finally free! As they flounder aimlessly in their "plastic baggies" the Blow fish says.... "now what!"

All our close friends, Palm Tree Biker friends and so many other "Snowbird" friends are either home or on their way. I guess the only thing we can do is visit all of our usual lunch Oasis' to refresh our memories of all those great gatherings.

At least I do have one caveat to pass along. The morning they were to leave, I heard that Bill and Angela couldn't get their Chey (GMC) truck started! A call to Buzz (and Darlene) for some assistance made Buzz extremely proud. Buzz bolted from his fifth wheel, cape on and fired up his FORD to rescue a CHEVY (GMC)! Yes Blog Friends, you read it correctly. Buzz is in his glory! Bill's Chevy (GMC) needed to take a hit of battery "juice" from a FORD to get it started. Buzz triumphantly jumped into the seat of his truck and both he and his King Ranch road just a little higher off the road that morning!

I guess a "picture (or two) is worth a thousand words!"





We heard that Buzz and Darlene made it home in good order the next day. Bill and Angela will be stopping along the way and should be home in just over a week.

I've been working and Pat's organizing as we prepare to head north ourselves. But, for now we're like a couple of puppies waiting for their "masters" (read, friends) to return...