A fitting party!

The central Florida storms of today made for a very interesting afternoon to hold our final official "Palm Tree Bikers" party of the 2012-13 winter. Our party goers waited patiently in their vehicles for the driving rain to abate to scurry into our house. Those are 4" downspouts!

 

Fortunately, we decided to hold our party inside rather than outside. You see, our final party was also to be a surprise birthday party for Darlene. We pulled one over on her! We had to do a couple of sleuth emails and kept Buzz out of the loop. Everyone did their job. Darlene walked in the "trap!"

Watching the rain blow sideways made Darlene an easy "mark."

Friends "appeared" from the corners and caught Darlene off guard.

Still reeling from the initial surprise Darlene proudly donned her birthday "deelee-boppers!"

It was time to party.

Although, a few party goers just didn't want to leave the view of the intense rain.

Eventually the migration to the interior commenced (when the food hit the table).

Now that's more like it!

We dodged a few leaks in the lanai.

But we didn't have any trouble finding the counter and table where the food was.

Bellies full it's time for some serious chatter.

The crowd meandered from the lanai to the kitchen and back. We lost power just as we welcomed our last arrivals and we made the best of the afternoon with no problem. A battery lantern enabled us to find the scrumptious homemade goodies on the table. That is, until we realized we needed the lantern in the spare bathroom. Fear not, the power eventually came on just as the sky was showing breaks in the clouds.

Our group got to enjoy the company of a couple of visitors to our group. Pat's long time best friend Cathy, was visiting with us for the weekend. (Who always managed to hide from the camera!) We also welcomed Alice's return, Jack's better half.

Everyone enjoyed the "meet and greet."

 

What's a party without cake? Of course we had cake, and what a cake.

(Disregard the wine bottles, Larry and Judy along with Ray and Rose were told they were walking home in the rain! No one wanted to be the designated drivers, the roads were to slippery to drive.)

All in all our final PTB party was a huge success and the stormy weather never dampened our spirits.

Best of all the "Birthday Girl" was surrounded by so many awesome friends on her special day.

"Happy Birthday Darlene!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pete (and rePete)

Twenty-nine of us gathered at the clubhouse for another bike ride this Monday. We're enjoying a great turn out of members for another week or so and then our numbers will begin to dwindle. We headed to Celebration and the Celebration Town Tavern for lunch.
Gathering in down town we thought it wise to split our group up again. This time I just had to ride with the "fast" group to give them "equal time!" Pete was our leader. We made great time getting to our first stop the Celebration Hospital. We were clocking just over ten miles per hour and new we were in for a quick ride. But, after our brief stop for water and a visit to the restrooms the "slow" group" pulled in.

Above, we're ready to hit the trail and.....

the rest of our group arrives.

OK, now we're going to "kick it up a notch!"

Eleven, twelve miles per hour, we're pumping now!

We buzz by the new construction past the golf course and now we know we're way ahead of the "slow" group.

Here the "fast" group catches our breath and hits the saddle.

Look at the determination, the sheer aggression and fight in this group.

 

From here on out our leader found every right and left corner turn he could as we traversed the streets of Celebration. Sometimes to repeat some sidewalks more than once. Hence one of our riders called out, "Pete and rePete!" We became quite adept at turning tight corners but our speed was reduced to an average of five miles per hour. But fear not, none of us (except Pete) knew where we were headed.

We zoomed past nearly a half dozen gaters as we passed over a wooden bridge but we ain't stoppin'.

We even found a street in Celebration where homes actually have their garages on the front of the house. (Most homes in Celebration utilize a back alley for garage parking.)

 

As we turned onto the last pond of our trek there is was. One cute baby alligator getting some sun.

With a cautious eye this little fella (about 14" long) let me get to within several feet of him.

 

All in all Pete more than made up for our multi-corner, repeat sidewalk ride because we actually got to see a great deal more of the complex nature of this town.

We all enjoyed our ride and of course our lunch as well.

 

Sometimes reality hits you when you least expect it... another birthday that is! Thanks to Pat, Bill and Angela and Buzz and Darlene we enjoyed some great steak and cake at my expense....

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dwindling Bike Rides

Just a few weeks left! Lot's of folks are talking and making plans to head north in the next few weeks. This week we headed to Fort Wilderness and "The Wave." We split up to let the fast riders do their thing and the sigh-seers to take the time to check out the Wilderness.

Here we are as Jim (on the right) discusses the plan for the ride, while Pete (on the far left) silently protests that he's not the leader. Actually, he didn't complain at all. Pete wants to weave in and out of the line along the trails.

You'll notice the group in the far rear. That's us!

We had another fine lunch at "The Wave" and got to say hello to all our hosts and hostesses that put up with us.

We happened by the pony stable and got to see the handlers showing off this pony...

Bill wondered if they still had the pony Ashley (their granddaughter) rode nearly 20 years ago.

It's always touching to see all the "traditions" Disney continues over the years.

We had a great ride and we're all getting just a bit saddened knowing that another season is coming to an end.

 

In other news, by now all of Florida knows of the massive expansion that will begin this Spring at DownTown Disney so we're passing it on to you. Over the next three years Disney will add two huge parking garages, more than double their retail outlets, add seven thousand square feet of merchandising space to the World of Disney store and twelve or more new restaurants. It will also completely redesign the look and storyline of Pleasure Island, the Market Place and the West Side. Believe me, it looks awesome. We're preparing for some stress as the construction begins and progresses but it will be well worth it. Disney will be incorporating many of the wishes and suggestions our guests identified over the years into the new "Disney Springs" in 2016.

 

 

Two Bike Rides Behind

I've been working on another writing project and let our Blog take a back seat lately. A couple of weeks ago Disney held it's 2013 Princess Half Marathon. One our "Palm Tree Bikers," Judy, and her two daughters ran the Half Marathon. A touching story evolved surrounding Judy's decision to run the marathon. I'll be posting the story to our "Blog Friends" shortly.

Now to attend to the business at hand. First,  I'll have to dust off the cob webs of my mind and bring all of you up-to-date. February 25th we headed to Celebration.

Thanks to Steve, Kathy, Kathy and Rose doned their Madi Gras beads and proudly showed them off just prior to our ride

Our usual "pit stop" at the Celebration Hospital.

At our second stop Rick and Kathy wanted a photo.  (Oops, I forgot they wanted a copy of this photo! Sorry, I'll get that to them right quick!)

The "decision makers" plan our ride. (We still got lost!)

No, she didn't fall off her bike.

See, she was just trying to see things from a different perspective.

Aha! We spy the first of six gators on this ride. Here, let me blow this up for you...

 

Our leader, Pete, guided us around the Resident's pool/recreation area at the end of our ride.

It was a nice change of scenery.

 

Next we "bit the bullet" and braved one of the cold days here in Florida. (No comments from all of you up north! We all know how bad your winter is this year. We're not trying to rub it in.)

Winter Garden and the West Orange Trail.

Yes, we bundled up as we headed out but the sun and exercise warmed us up and our return ride was very comfortalbe. But we were all ready for lunch.

Sixteen of us enjoyed our meal at the Winter Garden Pizza Company along with lots of friendly talk.

We also discussed our last PTB Party of the 2012-13 Season.

Leaving the Winter Garden parking lot we noticed a feathered visitor had returned and was looking for her nest. You may recall last year we posted a photo of the Osprey in the nest of the water tower. Well, it looks like they want to return to the nest. (So to speak.)

In the distance you can just make out the Osprey on the right of the crow bar below the tank. Also, you can see what appears to be either off-spring or "suiters" on the left bar below the tank.

Here's a better view...

We look forward to watching the new nest being built.

 

This being Florida, you also get to see some pretty large bugs. Like this Dragon Fly trying to hitch a ride on my handlebar.

You can judge its size by the brake lever above it. The poor thing was a victim of the cold temps. He was alive but needed to sit in the sun to be "revived."

Judy's new found fame as marathon runner has made her think like a kid again! She says, "I'll stick to my running but my bicycle days are over as she stepped over the seat of the Harley.

 

And so, our Winter season is waning here in Florida. This weekend we turn our clocks ahead and folks are beginning to talk about the ride back to their various home states.

April begins the exodus for many.

At least we've got some rides and warmer weather still to come.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The "Mainers" spend a week!

They're heeeeeeeeere!

Angela and Bill's kids, Dawn and "Little" Bill and their kids, Cody, Chase and Jordan that is.
They pushed their long drive south and arrived Friday evening. Pat and I (strategically) arranged their sleeping quarters by various requirements, i.e. most needy, distance from the refrigerator and silence. Of course the above "requirements" most benefited our needs!
Dawn and son Cody drew the camper. Bill and son Chase, the air mattress and the Princess, (Bill's daughter) Jordan the spare bed room. Which somehow switched during the week. Suddenly, Jordan is on the air mattress and Bill and Chase are in the spare bedroom. I think the Coo Coo clock drove "Little" Bill out.

Angela was working so Bill and the kids settled in at Denny's for a late evening meal and vent off their long ride boredom and confinement. Then it was off to Dave and Pat's. Everything was staged, greetings exchanged and Taps echoed through the halls.

Thinking they drove out of the cold, they were in for a surprise. A cold northeast wind followed them to central Florida. The short lived mild temps they enjoyed the next day were driven out and they will be dealing with a day or two of unseasonably cold temperatures.

However, they're in Florida and nothing is going to deter their exploration. But first, Dawn needed to visit a local Wal-Mart and then we'd all go see what ESPN Wide World of Sports looked like.

Dawn ventured onto Rt 192 in front of Encore Lake Magic and turned right in search of the mile away Wal-Mart... which was to the left!

 

Dawn, ever the explorer...

...was more than willing and determined to find the Wal-Mart store (just around the corner).

 



She drove and drove all the while the kids were thinking shouldn't the Wal-Mart be closer? 

After more than a few phone calls and some nail biting, the errant explorer returned. We all managed to visit and tour the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex and yes, Angela was on time for work.
The kids didn't realize they were actually inside the stadium and home of the Atlanta Braves Spring Training. For an added treat, we made our way to the batting cages for the Braves and all the kids got autographs from a couple of the Braves players.

Once settled in, Bill and Angela's children, Bill and Dawn began their attack on Disney World.

We got to watch the Goodyear Blimp fly over our home....

They started out in Disney's Hollywood Studios.

I figured I'd leave the crowds to them and bid them adieu! They were on their own.

And that's how their week went. Out in the morning, return sometime in the evening, reminisce about their day and do it all over again the next day. The next day was Gatorland. There, Bill met a long time friend and together the group enjoyed the day amongst the gators.

Our hardy group of Northerners had a long day at Animal Kingdom watching all the wildlife. With visions of trekking about in the Magic Kingdom they realized "elbow to elbow" with nearly a capacity crowd wasn't for them. Except for Space Mountain, they spent most of the day in EPCOT.

 

Now the last day and they're "kicking back," buying gifts and taking a dip in the Lake Magic Pool.

The adults on the other hand are taking a nap!

It'll be interesting to see what each of them consider to be the best part of their week in Florida.

I think Dawn was most happy just watching the 5' gator that inhabited the retention pond behind our house. Here's Dawn, Cody and Jordan "exploring" the retention pond.

Though they tried hard the gator had nothing to do with any of them. But the fun was trying to get as close as they can. But, that never happened. This guy couldn't be bothered!

 

 

At least they all got to act like kids for a few days....

 

 Just before dawn we could hear rustling, groaning and moaning as one by one our guests reluctantly began to prepare for the trip north. We bid farewell as the mini van backed out of our drive and out of site. A brief stop to "tank up" at McDonald's, and one last visit with "Ma" and "Pa" they leave for home. 

Now they have that long dreaded trip back to Maine, especially with a weekend storm expected to move in Sat. or Sun.

We wish them a safe trip home.

Stay tuned for our next Blog and a report on Judy's (Jim and Judy) Disney's Princess Half Marathon run!

A couple of bike rides and a little magic

The "Palm Tree Bikers" split in two this past week. We didn't "break up" we simply realized the group was getting very large so we split up and one group headed to the Van Fleet Trail and the other group set out for a meandering, sightseeing tour of Fort Wilderness.
Thanks to Judy and Steve we have a couple of photos of the Van Fleet Trail riders to show you.
First off, Steve "hunted" down a couple of the "locals."

I've been told that Steve made his way through the "jungle" to stand over this gator!

Immediately after the gator heard the shutter "click" he turned and gave Steve a "warning" hissssss and snap! No one was fast enough to get the gator making its way back to his knoll with a piece of Steve's riding shorts in its mouth!

After that experience Steve thought it best to photo a critter that wasn't quite as quick on its feet....

Ahhhhhhh, that's better.

 

After their trek on the "flattest bike trail in the world" it was time to sit and give thanks that Steve wasn't lunch! Instead they went to lunch!

Luckily, Steve is always prepared. He had another pair of shorts with him!

They circled their wagons at Miller's Ale House and maybe that's how all these "tall tales" get started!

In the mean time, a dozen of us left the parking lot of the Fort Wilderness Campground for some sightseeing.

There were lots of campers and rigs to take in. Kathy says its like a huge RV show.

There were some empty sites but by and large many people hit the parks. Fort Wilderness, unusually quiet made for an enjoyably slow pace ride.

We welcomed (Jack's) Alice to our ride and she had an awesome time.

 

Jack was a super host and gave Alice an in depth guided tour as we wound our way through the maze of loops. I can still hear Jack, "Whoa, Stop, No, left, watch the kid, Look out," you know how it went! Alice took all this in grace and style.

 

After a fine lunch, what else is there time for but a photo op....

Both our groups enjoyed an incredible day of riding, lunch and friendship.

 

Now we had some business to tend to. We've got to use up some Disney perks!

 

February 13 is the deadline! The deadline for all Disney Cast Members to use up their 2012 Celebration tickets, free photo and Popcorn and Soda coupons! Six of us piled into Bill and Angela's truck and were on a mission. First stop, PhotoPass. The park was packed and we had all we could do to get a photo with out other people in it. From there we checked out the New Fantasyland. Darlene guided us to the Haunted Mansion for our "Dooms buggy" view of the haunted world.

At last, let's find the nearest Popcorn and Soda Cart! Yummy! Our group handed the server a fist full of coupons, we needed munchies! that quieted us down for...... about..... ten minutes! What's next?

The "Electric Light Parade!"

We haven't seen this parade for some time and it seems some of the floats are different. Overall, the show was super.

The final float is a long American flag...

 

It was time for "Wishes."

 

And,

Oh yeah, the new Castle show, "Create the Magic."

Through the Magic of Disney, Tinkerbell flew about the Castle sprinkling "Pixie Dust" bringing an eclectic sample of the Classic Disney movies to life. The Castle was bathed in HighDef color and all your favorite Disney Movie Characters. It's a show worth seeing.

 

We hunkered down amidst the other 50 or 60 thousand people waiting for the show in front of the Castle. Each of us took our "shots" at the guests trying to invade our space. Darlene and another guest were side by side in wheelchairs and we had all we could do to keep the "standees" from moving into the 3'X3' space we struggled to clear so they could see the show. Angela took on a 6' x 5' guy and got him to retreat to the rear. Pat took on some Asian guy behind yours truly. The guy had some sort of gigantic camera and he kept bumping my back with the thing. He knew she meant business... he left! After the show the mass of humanity in unison began doing the "Penguin" walk to the exits. One guy drove his stroller into my right ankle three times. I didn't mind the first two times but the third time got to me. When I tried to turn and say something the stroller caught my sneaker and nearly knocked me down. Luckily Pat and Darlene were close and stopped my fall.

Another short story: "The Lost Blankie" About two weeks ago you may recall we spent an evening at EPCOT. When leaving from the park that night we scurried Darlene and the wheelchair to the parking lot. We forgot the blue blanket that we gave Darlene to sit on for the evening in the wheelchair. Darlene was devastated. The next day we called "Lost and Found." Nothing! A couple days later, still nothing. When entering the Magic Kingdom we pass by the "Lost and Found" and Pat
thought she'd try once more! Pat couldn't remember if the blanket had a stitched border on it. I was called in to check it out........ voila, it was the blanket!

Ahhhh, just another day in the parks! Oh, by the way the new show is excellent!