Getting Last Kicks in!

Lots to catch up with before everyone leaves us for home! Encore Lake Magic is "thinning" out. There's lots of empty sites and many more residents soon to follow the paths of "snowbirds" who are already home. But then again, there are those "die-hard" soles who just have to be the last to leave!

A couple of weeks ago a handful of riders headed to the West Orange Trail for the (last) "unofficial" bike ride of the 2013-14 season. They tell me they enjoyed the ride under the guidance of Jack. Then, just last week the "Magnificent Seven" headed to Fort wilderness for another "last unofficial" bike ride! Jack, Big Buz, Little Buzz, Bill and Angela, Steve and yours truly hit the loops on a beautiful spring day. We started out strong and rode pretty much in the reverse order of loops that we normally ride. When we stopped at the Trading Post, Big Buz took advantage of the rest. We really didn't have the heart to wake him so.... we quietly mounted our bikes and headed out.

We were greeted by our very special hostess, Betty! By now we've become celebrities at the Wave. Nearly the entire staff know us and we're typically visited by, Mel, Brian, a couple of Managers and many of the wait staff. Gee, it's nice to be wanted.

 

We made a toast to our "last" ride!

 

We also managed to grace "Clark" with another bag of "Gummy Bears!" He was looking for Judy saying that he knows she put us up to this!

 

Oh... remember Big Buz? this is how we found him on our return from lunch.....

 

Last year Encore Lake Magic lost a long time camper/resident. Tom, lost his wife Mary Ellen. In her memory, he planted a palm tree on their site along with a beautifully engraved stone. Carol (Everett & Carol) gave a wonderfully fitting tribute to her memory. Everett & Carol are their neighbors. Together they had many years of camping and were very close. It was a warm and touching get-together to honor a wonderful wife, friend and fellow camper.

 

 

Darlene had a Birthday! Six of us gathered around the table at Miller's Ale House for a lunch before Darlene's friends, Sandy and Craig headed north.

 

Darlene and Sandy's favorite waiter, Klod.

From left to right: Buzz, Bill, Angela, Darlene, Sandy, Pat, Dave and  Craig

(You can tell by the seating arrangement that the ladies planned some serious talk time!)

We're beginning to think Sandy and Darlene had an ulterior motive for their lunches at the Ale House!



 

What's a Birthday without a Publix cake? Yummy!

 

Four of us headed to EPCOT for a few hours. Pat and I planned how we'd like to enjoy our time up north!

Notice the "Space vehicle" RV port?

 

This is how I drive most of the time.... hmmmmm, perhaps that's why Pat always tell me to watch where I'm going!

At least its something to look forward to.

 

The highlight of our week was a long planned lunch at the "Sci-Fi Dine-in Theater."

If you haven't had a meal there your in for a unique experience. The host/hostess will escort you to your "car!" You're dining in a "drive-in theater!"

 

The food was good. The lighting is very low which made for identifying who gets which plate a comedy skit! 

 

The only problem was those of us in the front seats had all we could do to control the two "kids" in the rear seat!

 

Naw, they weren't boarding! So we settled for the show instead....

 

Darlene, Buzz, and Pat and I took in a car show.

 

From there the ladies took a Friendship boat to EPCOT while Bill drove the guys in the truck to EPCOT.

"Off-Kilter" has always been one of our favorite bands but lately we've noticed a couple of new faces and miss the bag piper.



 

One last park for Darlene and Buzz and it was a fitting way to bid farewell till next year....

 

 

 

 

Tempus Fugit

Late March and you can feel the let-down of friends beginning to make their plans to head home. It seems like yesterday that we were driving through the park to see who is the latest to arrive for the winter. Now, with a bit more reluctance the exodus is in the works.

The Palm Tree Bikers held their last "official" party on March 16th. The weather cooperated and everyone enjoyed each other's company, conversation and a terrific sampling of home-made foods and desserts. The day was bitter sweet for our hosts, Jim and Judy however, over the next few days they would pack and prepare to head north for skiing in Colorado with their family.

Before we set the afternoon in motion, Gary offered a prayer for Ray and Rose. Ray suffered a stroke several weeks ago and is improving at home.

 

Jim and Judy are the first of our group to head out. They are headed into the snowy mountains to meet their family for what now seems to be an annual event. (I think its Jim's way of saying "follow me" instead of him following the girls around Disney World while they run!)

 

....and so it goes at this time of year. The last "official" party, the last "official" bike ride, but fear not we'll keep the "flame" lit... at least in our hearts and minds.

Besides, I'll try my best to "stir the pot" and rattle the cobwebs on your mind until everyone returns later this year.

 

Pat's best friend Cathy her sister Mary and husband Kevin along with their grand daughters managed to escape to their Time Share for a few days away from New England.

Our friends from up north had a long and busy day. They started out in EPCOT, lunch at Sweet Tomatoes ending up at DownTown Disney.

 "Bruce" was more than happy to accommodate the triplets for a photo!

Sarah felt right at home on this bike!

 

We got to watch as the Rainforest Café volcano blew it's top... after we all got our chocolate at Ghirardelli's that is.

 

Thanks to a friendly coordinator, we managed to tour several floors of DisneyQuest before they closed and the girls couldn't resist a photo op with one of their favorites, "Wreck it Ralph!"

Left to right; Elizabeth, Kaitlin and Sarah.

 

 Mean while, our "resident" Sand Cranes" enjoy a walk behind our house with their two ducklings.

(You can just barely make out their heads at the bottom of the two white plastic water pipes in the center of the photo.) 

 

Then, one day I was driving by Jack's camper and noticed a women escorting Jack into his trailer.

Boy, I thought I had a terrific scoop for the Blog! "Jack entertains a strange woman!" Alas, it turned out to be Alice. Alice managed to escape the northern winter wrath for just a couple of days. Her visit with Jack was a busy one. Alice got to say hi to just about everyone and enjoy some much needed sunshine. A dog-lover, Alice just had to say hi to "Lilly" and get in a little "lap time" with her.

 

We all enjoyed Alice's surprise visit and there's hope that next year we'll be seeing much more of her.

Alice and Jack are truly a "Dynamic Duo." They both enjoy hiking, biking and everything outdoors. Alice and Jack have hiked the Grand Canyon and enjoy Blue Grass Festivals.

Another one of our couples enjoy Blue Grass Festivals, Pete and Joan.

The story goes that both couples have been attending Blue Grass Festivals for some time and only recently began to plan to meet and camp together at the festivals.

(Hmmmm, I wonder if these festivals are kinda like "Woodstock?" You know, the kind where you know you went there but can't remember what you did there!)

 

 

A bike ride, the HHR hits a "Milestone," and a couple of notable things.

Only a few bike rides remaining, and some of our riders are sporting their new tee shirts.

Below are the new.... "tangerines!"

 

 

And, here are our new.... "blues!"

Everyone likes the solid color tee-shirt and the "retro" bike emblem.

But, as you can see some of our riders are still not sporting their "colors!"

Our ride this week took us to Celebration.

With twenty-two of us riding we split up into two groups. Above, Duane's group headed west while Pete's group headed east. We designate our groups as "slow" and "fast" (not to be confused with any educational deficiency) for ride comfort.

As we headed out four of us seemed to lag behind just a little bit. The four of us decided we would set our own pace and enjoy the scenery.



We all ended up at the Celebration Town Tavern for lunch. We learned that we had two riders take a fall but were fortunate that the only injury was their pride.

 

"The Palm Tree Bikers" will enjoy just one more (official) party. Our host team of Jim and Judy will be heading out to Colorado with their family for some serious skiing.

(Hmmmmm, do you notice that Jim doesn't seem to be able to join the family in their running adventures but manages to take on the mountains of Colorado???? Hmmmmmm!)

 

Our HHR got to celebrate another "milestone!" I know, big deal! I just find it neat to watch the odometer flip over.

"Ta Da!"

 

It's not quite the same feeling as we pass through our 20's, 30's, 40's, 50's....

....that's enough. I'm scaring myself!

 

Our "old friend" the gator is still the lord and master of our retention pond.

One day he was on the far side of the pond and quietly made his was to the water. He stealthily disappeared under the water without a ripple. Normally, I don't give that routine much thought until I looked down at "Lilly" and a chill went up my back. Have no fear, I never let "Lilly" off the leash when outside. Nor do I walk her any closer than 20' from the water's edge. It's just the idea that you begin to wonder... what's the gator thinking!!!

Heck, now that the sun's getting higher and the temps are getting higher the gator is the least of our worries for "Lilly." "Lilly" is tiny, her nose is always never more than an inch from the ground....where the snakes and some of the nastiest insects roam!

Good grief, at some point she's going to have to learn how to do her business on the pavement!

 

Its hard to believe, some of our friends already have their plans in order for their trips north.

We campers tend to be "pack rats!" But, we sure are a hearty bunch!

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Thrity Riders for Ft Wilderness Please

Our troupe headed out with just under thirty riders. We thought it best to split up into three groups.

It only took us twenty minutes or so to figure out who wanted to go with who and how fast each leader will take their group. It turned out that the fast riders, averaged 8.7 m.p.h. The medium riders averaged, 8.2 m.p.h. and the slower group averaged, 7.9 m.p.h. (To us, speed is a "mind" thing!)

 

 I guess you can tell which group was the last and most leisurely ride.

 We tried for nearly an hour to make our reservations at The Wave. Just as yours truly was sitting on the boat to take me to The Wave to make our reservations in person I tried The Wave's phone number one more time and got through to the podium. Our good friend Mel answered and gladly set us up for lunch. I quickly hopped off the boat and managed to catch up with my group and headed for the boat dock.

As you can see below that our Captain Woody managed to take us all on board and made a "direct run" to The Contemporary just for us... and a few other guests.

 

Most of our riders enjoyed the Classic Reuben. At our table of twelve, Jack was the lone person to not get a Reuben. Jack eats healthy all the time... he tried to make us feel guilty.......NOT!

 

By the way our favorite Hostess, Betty says hi to everyone. Betty recently had knee surgery and we haven't seen her for a couple of months. Welcome back Betty!

 

Some of us didn't make it back on the same boat due to a number of guests already on the boat.

But we made the best of it....

 

Our Captain turned out to be none other than Clark, the Gummy Bear lover of recent blog post.

 Clark had lots to say about Gummy Bears and he gave us a "laugh-a-minute" return trip to our bikes.

 

 Ray and Rose, we miss you so much.

All our very best to both of you and God Bless.